January 23, 2015
Processed food is everywhere. In some
ways, we are fortunate to be living in a time when we can process and preserve
our food so that our supermarkets are always full and we always have plenty of
choice in what we have to eat; but in other ways, we are deprived of “real”
food that is naturally tasty and full of nutrients that are good for us.
Food processing is a business that has
become more and more sophisticated over time. Our food is processed so that it
can have a long shelf life, be easy to prepare and have the right taste and
texture. The downside of this is the chemicals that are used.
Did you know that there are over 15,000
chemicals used in food processing that do not have to be listed on the label?
Now you may be asking if this is bad. The short answer is yes.
These chemicals along with some of the
additives that are actually on the labels are unnatural which means toxic to
the body. With continuous exposure over a long period of time, they suppress
your immune system which makes it more susceptible to disease; they cause free
radical damage, making you age more quickly; and they make the pH of your body
more acid which makes you more prone to cancer, heart disease, diabetes,
allergies, arthritis, etc.
Let’s talk about the chemicals. Did you
know that by the time a child is 5 years old, he/she has consumed 7.5 pounds of
chemical food additives? The alarming part of this fact is that the human body
was not meant to handle this type of chemical. Think about the pounds of
chemicals you have consumed in your lifetime.
If the 7.5 pounds per 5 years ratio holds,
that means I have consumed over 80 pounds of chemicals in my life. The worst
thing about these chemicals is that it is very hard for the body to eliminate
them, so they tend to stick around particularly in fatty tissue.
One of the saddest things I see is that
we have forgotten what real food tastes like. I was raised without mixes and
highly processed foods – other than white bread, a few canned vegetables and
occasional breakfast cereal. I still cook from scratch and I avoid food that is
too processed. I hate food that tastes like chemicals. If you think about it,
there are many foods that taste like chemicals, not like food.
I think we can all be healthier if we
look at the food we eat and try to step back up the processing chain and opt
for foods that are less processed than what we would normally eat. Choose fresh
vegetables instead of canned or frozen – garden when and where you canned. For
cereal, try oatmeal (old fashioned) rather than instant – or make your own
granola. Try a really good natural bread without all the dough conditioners and
processing that is in normal commercial bread – better yet, make your own from
scratch. Eliminate mixes – especially anything with MSG. Eat raw fruit –
preferably organic rather than drinking juice or eating fruit rollups.
Read labels. Even though there are many
chemicals that are not listed, the ones that are tell a good part of the story.
If it has names you have to work to pronounce, hydrogenated oils, artificial
colors, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup and / or aspartame, avoid
it. And do regular cleanses. You can also take enzymes, trace minerals, and
daily liver support to help your body eliminate the chemicals naturally. Your
body will thank you.
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