Natural Flavors or Chemical Warfare?

I pulled this info from "Food Babe"'s blog!  She does some awesome research on "food" and our food industry.  

About a year ago, 60 minutes did a show on the company Givaudan.  They are the world leaders in flavoring our food.  If you've ever seen the words "Artificially Flavored" or "Natural Flavors" in a list of ingredients, chances are they are the ones who supplied it.  And if you HAVEN'T seen those words in an ingredients list then thats crazy... because it is virtually in EVERYTHING on your grocery store shelves.  

But what is in "Natural Flavors?"  

This video is 14 minutes long but it is a rare look inside of the company.  It is very eye opening!

"The natural and artificial chemicals that flavor manufactures engineer are contributing to what David Kessler (former head of the FDA) calls a “food carnival” in your mouth. The inability to stop eating because the flavors they have synthesized trick your mind into wanting more and more. They don’t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry – they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste – so you get “addicted” and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification – eating more of that product which in turns fills Big Food Companies pockets. The Big Food Companies are “hijacking” your taste buds one by one."

Most of us know artificial flavors derived from petroleum aren’t good for us, but the with the words “natural flavor” food chemists and companies can put whatever they want in your food that is “generally regarded as safe” including excitotoxins. Natural flavor can legally contain natural occurring “glutamate” bi-products like MSG (remember this post?) – which are known excitotoxins. These excitotoxins are some of the chemicals that cause your taste buds to experience irresistibility when it comes to food. Ever wonder why you can’t just eat one chip? Or one cookie? Or why you remember a taste of a product so distinctly and crave uncontrollably? Excitotoxins can be to blame. Excitotoxins overexcite your cells literally until they die or are damaged causing “injury” and “incapacitating” you with disease. When consumed over time, excitotoxins can cause nerve disorders resulting a myriad of diseases from stroke to Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s. And lots of other side effects too – like obesity, migraines, fatigue and depression."

So what should you do?  

Try to stay clear of anything with artificial or "natural" flavoring!  It won't be a big deal if you are staying away from processed foods.  If those "Strawberry" pop tarts are looking tasty... try a real live strawberry instead!  I know, it sounds crazy!  The more you eat real, whole foods, the more your taste buds will grow accustomed to them.  They will become very satisfying and delicious!  After a while, an apple will start to be just as satisfying as chocolate ice cream!  Ok, that last part was a lie.  I don't think anything will ever be as satisfying as Haagen Dazs Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream with cold milk poured over it so it crystalizes and sprinkles all over the top to give it a nice crunch........ Oh sorry.... What were we talking about?  Oh yea, healthy stuff :-)  Seriously, stay away from flavoring!  Mother Nature produces the best flavors out there anyway!  Stick with those.

A food pyramid based on your HEALTH, imagine that?!

How and what SHOULD you eat?

1.  First make sure that your food isn't toxic: genetically modified, processed, grown with poisonous pesticides and insecticides.
In other words, make sure your food is actually FOOD!  Grow it yourself, buy it locally from an organic farmer or organic meat producer.  
Ok, good job.  Now you've got yourself a fridge and pantry full of Food that is in its natural state... the way your body is designed to digest it.  The way God made it.... and I am pretty sure he knew what he was doing!  But just because that beef is from a local grass fed cow doesn't mean that you can scarf a pound of it down and pat yourself on the back.  Just because that avacado is grown locally from an organic farm doesn't mean you can make a giant bowl of guacamole for your lunch and expect to be healthy.  



2.  Now that you have real, non toxic food, you

have to pay attention to the food pyramid. But I am not talking about the food pyramid that the government has put out.

 

(this is what I look like when I think about the government's food pyramid... except I'm a girl and I would never wear that shirt)

Ya know, the heavily influenced government that caters to all the giant corporation's interests, instead of your health.  Lets go absolutely insane and pretend like "health" is the number one priority when a food pyramid is created!  Crazy Right?!  Ok, well if health was the priority, then the food pyramid would look something like this:

This is the best food pyramid I could find and it is pretty dang accurate.  There are variations of it out there and some might argue small changes with it.  But overall, this is it folks!  This is what our bodies are designed to thrive on.  

Notice that half of your veggies (and fruits I will add) should be Raw.  This means that they should be eaten in their natural state and cannot be heated over 108 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once they have been heated to that point, their nutrition is greatly decreased.  So they're not as healthy.... and if you think about it, you kinda just wasted half of the money you spent on the food.  Now you have to buy double the amount to get the same nutrition you could have gotten had you just eaten it raw.  In many cases, you lose 50% or more of the nutrition once it's cooked.  If you are going to cook the veggies or fruit, opt for steaming or grilling instead of boiling.  When you boil your food, most of the nutrients are lost to the water.... so unless you plan on drinking the water that you boiled that broccoli in, just stick with steaming.

You might be wondering how you'll get protein and calcium if you are rarely eating meat and dairy.  Well it may suprise you that vegetables contain TONS of protein and calcium without all the unhealthy counterparts of animal products.   

Throw some 3.  Good old fashioned excercising and stress management in there and you've got yourself a recipe for freakin awesome health!

Sources:

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/news-usda-replaces-mypyramid-with-myplate.html

87% of the meat that you eat contains anti-biotic resistant bacteria!

(If you only have a quick second, skip to the bottom for some shocking and important facts.... they are highlighted in orange)

Let me paint you a lovely picture real quick.  Close your eyes.... K wait, open your eyes so you can read... but start to imagine........

Our  cow friend lives his entire life standing in his own poop, breathing in the toxic fumes from the immeasurable amounts of feces produced by the thousands of cows that are surrounding him.  They are crammed into an area with each other that definitely doesn't allow for "roaming" and the cement underneath the piles and piles of poop isn't easy on the hooves.  Our OMNIVORE cow that is genetically structured to eat GRASS... is fed:

*  Genetically Modified Cornfeed that is virtually void of all nutrition
*  Ground up dead animal carcasses (the protein in these ground up carcasses aids in unnaturally fast growth in the livestock!  Awesome!!)  So Remember, Omnivore cow + ground up dead animal carcasses.... Can I get a "WHAT WHAT" for Mad Cow Disease!!!
*  Lots of growth hormones that have repeatedly been proven to be toxic for human consumption and toxic to the cow.   (bovine somatotropin (bST) and recombant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) are the ones most commonly used)
*  ....And some yummy antibiotics

After that well rounded meal that our cow friend has just consumed, he is 
showered with insecticides; Insecticides that are toxic.  ALL over him and his cow friends.

  Is your mouth salivating for some juicy sickly toxic steak right now?

   

So back to the subject of Anti-biotics... 
80% of the antibiotics used in this country are used on livestock! 

80%!!!  

Antibiotics are used to stimulate rapid growth in animals, as well as treat disease caused by the incredibly unsanitary conditions of feedlots and factory farms.

Because of this revolting overuse of antibiotics, bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.  The conventional meat industry is not only supplying you with "meat" for your dinner table, but they are also serving you up with a steamy dose of bacteria that you cannot kill.

The EWG analyzed a study by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System.  Here are a few of their findings:

"Rates of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, which causes acute illness and can lead to chronic arthritis, have increased from 48 percent in 2002 to 76 percent in 2011. Amounts of "superbug Salmonella" found on turkey have jumped from 62 to 78 percent during that same time period."

"Another super-bacterium, campylobacter, can be even more damaging. Campylobacter is the most common cause of diarrheal disease in the U.S. and, left untreated, it can trigger Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can result in paralysis. Yet, 100 percent of the campylobacter found on turkey was resistant to antibiotics."

"Sixty-nine and 55 percent of pork and beef samples, respectively, tested positive for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but turkey and chicken pose much greater problems, as far as these "superbugs" are concerned. By far the most contaminated meat was turkey: 81 percent of turkey samples tested positive for antibiotic-resistant microbes, while just 39 

percent of chicken samples did."

If you are going to buy meat, try your best to buy organic, local, grass fed meat.  Check your classifieds.  Ask around.  Check your neighborhood grocery stores.  Your efforts will be worth it!!!  Our society on average eats WAY too much meat... so try and cut down on your meat intake as well.  Even if it is organic and local, you still should not be eating a lot of it.  

source: http://www.rodale.com/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-and-supermarket-meat?cm_mmc=TheDailyFixNL-_-1266960-_-04172013-_-How_Dirty_is_The_Meat_You_Eat_title

Can't afford everything organic? It's Ok, read this!

Conventionally Grown Crops = pesticides, insecticides, GMO's, etc ARE all permitted (this is how over 90% of the produce available to you is grown)
Organically Grown Crops = pesticides, insecticides, GMO's , etc are NOT permitted 

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) conducted studies to find out which conventionally grown crops had the most detectable amounts of pesticides.  They came up with

 THE DIRTY DOZEN!  (cue the creepy sound "duh dUH DUH!")

THE DIRTY DOZEN!

Apples

 98% of conventional apples had pesticides

Celery

Celery tested positive for 57 different pesticides and

96% of celery tested positive for pesticides

Bell Peppers

bell peppers tested positive for 15 pesticides on a single sample

Peaches

96% of peach samples tested positive

Strawberries

Nectarines

Grapes

15 pesticides on a single sample of grapes

Spinach

88% of spinach samples tested positive for multiple pesticides

Lettuce

lettuce tested positive for 67 different pesticides

Cucumbers

10 different pesticides on a single sample of cucumber

Blueberries

Potatoes

So lets say buying EVERYTHING organically is just not an option that fits into your budget.  This DIRTY DOZEN list helps you know which produce you should try to ALWAYS buy organically because of the immense amounts of pesticides used to grow them conventionally.  EWG predicts that if you were to buy just these 12 foods organically (and continued buying all your other produce conventionally) you would decrease your insecticide intake by 80%.  Not bad right!?  So in other words, this list is telling you where to splurge and just go for the organic bell pepper rather than the cheaper, conventionally grown bell pepper.  It will be worth it.

They also came up with the "Clean Fifteen."  These are conventionally grown crops that had little to zero traces of pesticides.  So if you are trying to decide where to cut corners in your food budget, these would be the foods that you could safely opt to buy conventionally grown rather than organic.

CLEAN FIFTEEN

-Onions

-Sweet corn
-Pineapples
-Avocado
-Cabbage
-Sweet peas
-Asparagus
-Mangoes
-Eggplant
-Kiwi
-Cantaloupe (domestic)
-Sweet potatoes
-Grapefruit
-Watermelon
-Mushrooms

ALWAYS CLEAN YOUR PRODUCE!  

You can't get rid of ALL the pesticides and contaminants by washing, but it will definitely help!!

To get your fruits and veggies as clean as possible, use a vegetable brush for sturdier produce.  Also try soaking leafy greens and delicate produce in a bowl of cool water for several minutes, then rinse in a salad spinner or colander.... or if you're ghetto like me, dry them with a kitchen towel.  Adding a capful of vinegar to the water can aid in cleaning your produce.  You can also use vegetable washes or even baking soda (for produce you plan to cook).  

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

A quick dose of GMO reality

Here's a 1.5 minute video to give you a better understanding of GMO's. This is an excerpt from "Genetic Roulette" by Jeffrey Smith.   Check his website out http://www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/blog/ and his entire "Genetic Roulette" documentary. He is at the forefront of the Non-GMO movement and he is crazy knowledgeable about all of this stuff.  The website is super informative and easy to understand.

 

 Just a reminder of what Genetically Modified crops are currently being sold to us: 

Corn 

Canola 

Cotton 

Soy 

Crooked Neck Squash 

Hawaiian Papaya

Alfalfa 

Sugar Beets
(and there are lots more in the works of making their way to our dinner table)

And one more reminder.... Avoiding GMO foods is just ONE of the many things you need to watch out for.  A food can be Non-GMO and still be grown with loads of pesticides, insecticides, picked prematurely, chemically ripened.... etc.

Just in at your local grocery store! Part 1

Claim: "Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal"  
Reality: contains ZERO % blueberries or pomegranates

Claim: "100% Nutrition"

Reality: Contain 8 different sweeteners, Genetically modified Soy, Sugar, and Corn, and artificial colors like Red #40 and Blue #2.

*

Claim: "Honey"

Reality: 92% High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup

*

(Kashi is owned and operated by Kelloggs)

Claim: "all natural"

Reality: 100% of their grains come from Genetically Modified crops including Roundup-ready Soybeans.

Claim: "nothing artificial"

Reality: Liars!  LOTS of artificial and synthetic ingredients.  

For example, here is the ingredient list for their GoLean Chocolate Shake.  I highlighted the ingredients I am familiar with that I know are artificial.... the other ingredients are likely artificial as well.  This particular product is the center of a class-action lawsuit because of its terrible ingredients.

 soy protein concentrate, evaporated cane juice, gum, acacia, cocoa treated with alkali, calcium carbonate, natural flavor, calcium phosphate, soy lecithin, carrageenan, chicory root, fiber, magnesium phosphate, uva ursi (bearberry extract), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), grape seed extract, panas ginseng, niacin-amide, alpha tocopherol acetate, calcium pantothenate, zinc oxide, vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (vitamin B2), Thiamin Hydrochloride (vitamin B1), Whey Caseinate, Folic acid, biotin, potassium Iodide, Sodium Molybdate, Vitamin K (Phytonadione), Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12

*

I was throwing a few things away that I found in my spice rack and pantry...

"Corn Salt with a pinch of Garlic"

This was Garlic Salt I bought a few months ago that has a red little flaggy thing at the bottom proclaiming "NO MSG."  Oh good, that means its a better choice for a health conscience consumer like me..... ??

 Yes, there is no MSG in it, but the #2 ingredient is Genetically Modified corn starch.

"Genetically Modified Italian Style Poison Crumbs"

So you see Italian Sytle Bread Crumbs and you think bread and some italian dried herbs.

 The #2 ingredient is Genetically Modified High Fructose Corn Syrup.  And then the #3 ingredient is Genetically Modified Corn Syrup.  And the #4 ingredient is Genetically Modified Oils such as Soybean Oil, Cottonseed Oil, and Canola Oil.  And then everything after that makes up less than 2% of the product.  

"Genetically Modified Corn Sauce with artificial coloring and flavoring"

 #1 Ingredient is Genetically Modified High Fructose Corn Syrup.

"Genetically Modified Corn Syrup with artificial coloring and flavoring"

 #1 Ingredient is Corn Syrup.  #2 Ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup.  #3 Ingredient is Water.  And then the remaining ingredients make up less than 2% of the product.

 K Its 12:30 a.m. so I'm gonna go to bed.... but I could post crap like this all day every day so watch for part 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...... part 1,000, etc.