Monday 13th February 2012 – Well I must say it is very strange presenting Drive in a new studio but its also fantastic. It will take me quite a while to get my head around everything here but its also good to turn over a new leaf and leave my ropey start at presenting Drive at the Baytree centre. I use this studio now as a presenter with some experience as apposed to a person that has never been a presenter or DJ of any kind in her life! Lets hope I don’t make as many mistakes in this new studio…we shall see.

Tuesday 14th February 2012 – The Dangers of Sweeteners

If the human body isn’t designed to run on refined sugar (depleted vital nutrients like vitamins and minerals) then it certainly isn’t designed to run on a chemical used to sweeten foods for taste purposes. That is the only reason something I unnaturally sweetened – to make it taste more edible. This is important, as it means that sweetener has the potential to make foods that should not even taste edible taste palatable. Should we be trusting food manufacturers by eating foods that don’t naturally taste palatable? After all our taste buds would have once been our natural guide, not sell-by-dates and an ingredient list. Did Palaeolithic man pick up an apple and not eat it because he couldn’t find some written information on it?! The effects of artificial sweeteners on living organisms have been tested and caused genetic mutations and disease in lab rats.

Top 4 most dangerous artificial sweeteners include Aspartame, Aceslulfame-K, Sucralose, Saccharin.   They can be found in ‘Muller Light’ foods, ‘Weight-Watchers’ products, chewing gum, fizzy drinks, ‘no added sugar’ products, crisps, ‘light’ labelled foods such as hot chocolate and many other processed goods, even dried fruit and so called healthy cereal bars can be found to have them lurking. Aspartame contains chemicals that impact the brain and central nervous system and has been linked to headaches, fibromyalgia, anxiety, memory loss, arthritis, abdominal pain, nausea, depression, heart palpitations, IBS, seizures, neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and MS, vision problems, brain tumours, and fat storage. Aceslulfame-K is a carcinogen and has been linked to various types of cancer. It is also linked to liver and kidney impairment and can cause hypoglycaemia  so anyone wanting to take care of their blood sugar levels should definitely avoid – ironic that many products containing it are recommended to diabetics then! The pharmaceutical companies work with the food manufacturer so everyone’s a winner (except for us that is!) Sucralose contains chlorine which almost has the same chemical structure as DDT, a now banned pesticide. It is linked with inflammation of organs and tissues in the body and can cause shrinking of the thymus gland – the bodies immune system regulator. Saccharin has caused bladder cancer in rats and has been linked to allergies, skin problems and diarrhoea. For a full list of artificial sweeteners: https://supersweetblog.wordpress.com/list-of-artificial-sweeteners/

Now you are equip with the information, go home and check all of the ingredients or any processed foods you eat even ones you consider ‘health foods.’ If it doesn’t grow or move, it cannot be trusted and needs your scrutiny! For more health features see www.mindhealthmovement.com

Ben Benson’s on Drive

Ben, author of ‘7 Laws of Wealth,’ joined me in the studio also on tuesday. Ben is a business owner of 4 companies who made his money in training, property and publishing and now assists entrepreneures and small/medium sized business owners build better businesses, he understands the Natural Laws of growth both in buiness and life. He hasn’t had it easy though and he became the bread-winner for the whole family at a young age. We discuss his background, the current economy, the book and what he is organising to try and motivate and help people in the local area who are interested in surviving the economic climate. This is well worth a listen: Ben Benson speaking about The 7 Laws of Wealth

Thursday 16th- Friday 17th February

I covered lots of local news and topics on thursday’s Drive including a visit from Alan from FSB talking about local business news for the area. On friday Kerry Chambers, event organiser from St Lukes Hospice in Basildon came in to speak to me about the wonderful work that all the staff do there. They provide a service that is free of charge to service users so they obtain a lot of funds through fundraising activities such as the 10 mile fun run coming up on Sunday 26th February. If you can’t help them with this one though, see their website for future events coming up and find out how you can help (don’t worry you don’t have to run 10 miles to help the hospice!) See https://www.stlukeshospice.com/ and listen again here Chatting to Kerry Chambers from St Lukes Hospice