What’s your food doing to your body?

Having been a Holistic Health Counselor since 2007 it should come as no surprise that I try to stay away from unhealthy foods, chemicals and pesticides and focus on healthy foods. Ever since having my daughter in 2011 my desire to keep unhealthy food away has grown exponentially mainly because I just don’t want anything contaminating her perfect little body. The thing is my definition of healthy is not the same as the mainstream definition. Whole grain bread and low-fat yogurt are on my list of things we don’t eat. I try to avoid packaged foods as much as possible and am so proud of the fact that at 3 1/2 years old my daughter has never had mac and cheese from a box, not even the gluten free or organic variety. I made a lot of sacrifices to make all my own homemade baby food when I was working full time and writing on the side with an infant to take care of and I don’t regret any of it. I think the food pyramid is a joke and just find it depressing that so few people have a true understanding of how food can affect their health.

We’ve been so brainwashed to avoid fat and instead choose low-fat dairy and pick processed, low-fat whole grain foods as a healthy snack instead of thinking of things like grass-fed beef jerky or raw cheese or even fruits and vegetables (that aren’t loaded with toxic pesticides). A high carbohydrate diet has been linked to numerous health concerns including Alzheimers Disease, diabetes, depression, and even cancer so when the preschool I enrolled my daughter in for next year informed me that I was required to send grains with each snack and lunch because of state regulations they followed I knew I’d have to find a new school.

Sometimes I get into debates with my husband about GMO’s as he still drinks diet soda and enjoys bringing GMO filled contraband into the house in the form of candy. My question is why do people eat this junk when there’s so much research on how bad it is for you. He quickly pointed out that the negative side effects of the foods aren’t really mainstream knowledge. It’s not something being advertised and in fact companies are spending millions and millions of dollars to keep hmos from being labeled and keeping people in the dark. Sadly even mainstream media says that there aren’t proven health effects of eating GMO’s. The sad part is he’s right. Most people don’t go to extremes to research the ingredients that are in the food they buy, they just want it to taste good and be budget friendly.

If you’re ready to make a change to your diet, this post is a great reference on how to shop to keep GMO’s and pesticides out of your diet.

So I thought I’d put together some links with information on some of the dangers of the foods that you probably never thought twice about.

Pesticides used on fruits and vegetables have been linked to so many health problems, cancer, nerve damage, dementia, behavior problems and the list goes on and n and on. Pesticides are used to kill bugs, they are neurotoxins and poisons. So basically you’re ingesting poison over and over and over again every time you bite into a non-organic fruit and vegetable over your lifetime, poison that will slowly deteriorate your health. Here is a great read that takes you through some of the damage pesticides are causing.

GMO’s. Genetically modified foods are everywhere and while some of us are fighting to ban or at the very least label GMO’s large companies are fighting to not have GMOs labeled. So many foods from produce to soybeans to sugar beets are being modified that if you ever buy a non organic processed food chances are it’s filled with GMO’s. Even the chicken, beef and fish your buying contains GMOs because they’re been fed genetically modified corn and soybeans (which they have no business eating in the first place).

So what’s the big deal with GMO’s?

1.Their DNA is spliced with genes from bacteria or viruses or genes that make plants resistant to toxic chemicals. These genes are manmade, created in 1996 and have no business being in the our food.

2. There have been NO long-term human safety studies on the potential risks of GMOs AND most of the research that has been done shows potentially harmful effects. If that doesn’t bother you then go ahead and add some gasoline to your diet, I heard it’ll make you run faster. It might kill you but there isn’t any proof that it will. Keep in mind that it took decades to figure out the harmful effects of trans-fats.

3. According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine  “Animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including reproductive problems, compromised immunity, accelerated aging, blood sugar imbalances and harm to major organs. And “GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.” To read more of their findings GO HERE.

These are serious health risks and it infuriates me that this is the food we are encouraged to feed are children and what they’re probably eating at school and what you’re drinking in your Starbucks latte.

This is what a rat looks like when it eats a diet of GMOs

Here’s the juicy chicken conventionally raised chicken you had for dinner last night

If you’re currently facing health concerns the first place you should look is your diet. Something as simple as eliminating GMOs and switching to organic, or mostly organic, can have a tremendous positive impact on your health.