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John Thomson  

Here and there

It’s not something new its just getting more annoying. You can’t watch your TV these days without having the remote control in your hands because you are going to need the down button on the commercial's sound because some the stations are boosting the sound of the commercials on a continuing basis. It’s not just the Canadian stations, it’s a couple in the States as well, although the regulators in the U.S. have warned the stations about the practice and they will be fined. Global is terrible and it is automatic with that network they just automatically raise the sound on commercials.

It is a terrible practice and is not needed and I am sure the sponsors are not demanding such a service that annoys the potential customers they are all battling for today.

The volume of TV commercials can be jarring. ... Are you willing to tolerate them? ... Viewers use "the 'Mute' button on TV remote controls. ... It is important for the digital television system to provide uniform subjective loudness for all audio.
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Bill Clinton has signed for a speaking engagement in Ottawa for October so that should pay for at least a third of the wedding costs. The man earns about $2 million a year in Canada with his appearances, which are always well attended. He filled the house in Kelowna at Prospera Place just a few years ago with well over a half a million dollars in the till.

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Consuming a lot of foods and drinks sweetened with fructose significantly raises a person's risk of having high blood pressure, according to researchers. The study is the latest to link a sugar-laden diet with higher blood pressure, but it also clearly fingers fructose as a major contributor.
Cutting back on sugary foods and drinks should help to lower blood pressure, which can lead to heart and kidney disease.

Too much sugar of any kind not only makes people fatter, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Fructose, such as the sweet syrups made from corn used to sweeten beverages, baked goods and other processed foods, can raise levels of a compound called uric acid. This, in turn, can trigger angiotensin II, a hormone that makes blood vessels contract, increasing blood pressure.

People who took in 74 grams (2.6 ounces) of fructose a day or more -- about 2.5 sugary drinks -- had a 28 percent increased risk of blood pressure of 135/85 or higher. They had a 77 percent higher risk of extreme high blood pressure of 160/100 or more.

But the Corn Refiners Association objected to the study, saying the researchers overestimated the amount of fructose in drinks.

Several studies have suggested that cutting back on sugary soft drinks, a major contributor of sugar in the American diet, could significantly reduce blood pressure risks.

A study last month found that drinking one less sugary drink a day significantly helped lower blood pressure.

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Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she couldn't commit to implementing a plan designed by her own expert panel to reduce the high sodium consumption of Canadians.

Under pressure to produce a blueprint after three years of internal talks, Health Canada's sodium working group, appointed in 2007 to come up with a sodium reduction strategy, falls short of backing regulations right away to force food companies and restaurants to cut sodium levels.

But the group is calling on Health Canada to establish an independent monitoring and evaluation system to track whether food companies and restaurants cut enough salt from specific products to meet the
overall objective of reducing the average sodium intake of Canadians to 2,300 milligrams per day.

Salt is a killer and it’s about time we realized the damaged that is being caused from the overuse of sodium in our diets. Like one major restaurant chain that has a salad on their menu that contains 3,200 milligrams of salt in the recipe. The government wants us to use 2,300 milligrams a day. My doctor wants me to use 1,500 milligrams per day, which is about half a teaspoon.

In the States now you get a pamphlet that contains all the information one needs to make for a good choice on a restaurant menu. All the facts of each dish are there in black and white and it’s the law.

This is serious stuff.


More John Thomson articles

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About the Author

John Thomson is the Okanagan's pre-eminent business columnist writing his column, Rumours and Things, for over 24 years. Plugged in to the valley's who's who, John keeps his readers coming back for more with his straight talk and optimistic perspective on where we are headed next.

When John is not writing his column, he runs a sixteen year old think tank called the Executive Roundtable and holds his popular "Thomson Presents" quarterly business speaker seminars.

Have a comment, question, or tip for John? 

E-mail John at
[email protected]
or send him a fax at 250-764-8255.

 



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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