How the foods we eat affect our health.
You’ve heard the saying time and time again, you are what you eat. Turns out, there is quite a bit of truth in there. Some of the foods we eat frequently cause whole-body, systemic inflammation. Would you like to know the top culprits?
- Produce that are sprayed with herbicides and pesticides.
- Animals that have been given antibiotics and/or hormones
- Processed foods
At the top of the list are produce that has been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. The one that we’ve been talking about for the past few years is glyphosate. Glyphosate is a non-specific herbicide, which means that it kills a wide range of plants. As a result our produce, especially corn and wheat, have been genetically modified (GMOed) to be resistant to glyphosate, which means that corn and wheat can be sprayed without effecting the crop. But can it really be sprayed without any effect? If you’ve watched any amount of night-time TV, you’ve probably seen the ads from attorneys looking for people who have been exposed to Roundup. The active ingredient in Roundup is…Glyphosate, which has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Next up are hormones and antibiotics given to animals. Both are given in an effort to protect animals from infection, but more important, to help fatten them up. Antibiotics are gut-disrupters. They kill off the intestinal flora. There are hundreds of strains of good bacteria in our gut. Multiple doses of antibiotics have the propensity of permanently killing off many varieties of good bacteria along with the bad. Many conditions have been attributed to this including obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Finally we come to processed foods. Processed foods contain emulsifiers. These include: polysorbate 80, lecithin, carrageenan, polyglycerols, and xanthan gum. All have been shown to interrupt our gut flora. This leads to IBS, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
While it may seem like there’s nothing left that is safe to eat, there is, hope. Although it isn’t easy, hope does come with some effort on our part. A good place to start is realizing that if you want to eat as clean as possible there are a few guidelines to always keep in mind.
First use organic produce whenever possible. There are several foods among the worse you can consume…you will want to try to avoid corn, soybeans, canola oil, squash, potatoes, zucchini, celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, and coffee. On the safe list are avocados, kiwis, and watermelon because of their inedible protective coating.
When consuming meat of any kind, free-range/wild-caught, antibiotic-free, and hormone-free is what you want to look for. Sorry, you won’t find this in any fast-food store. In fact, you will have to investigate restaurant near you to see if they offer options on their menu.
As for processed food, you are encouraged to read labels looking for the emulsifiers list above.
Along the same lines is sugar. We did not mention it in this article, but if you are already reading a label, you might want to look for added sugar, especially under the name high fructose corn syrup. The good news is you are not alone in your journey. We are here for you as you search for solutions for better health, naturally. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to stop by or call!