Where Did These Come From?
Propylene glycol alginate, enriched flour, disodium guanylate, textured soy protein concentrate, butylated hydroxytoluene, brominated vegetable oil, red #40, yellow #5.
I think we’ve all seen them, if you haven’t, next time you’re in the grocery store pick up a cereal box, some salad dressing or a sports drink and look at the ingredients.
Our stores, our farms, our foods, are filled with these ingredients.
The same ingredients that help companies produce more food at cheaper prices, keeping the food preserved for longer periods of time without it spoiling, while introducing complex chemical compounds into our incredible bodies that are known to cause cancers, tumors and disease.
These ailments cause our associates, our friends and our family to go to the doctor, pay premiums and receive prescriptions for ailments that the toxins in the food they eat daily have caused.
Let’s not forget that the prescriptions most people are prescribed cause more ailments which require additional medication, which means more money, more medical check-ups and potentially more adverse reactions.
A Cycle
It’s imperative for us to know what we are putting in our bodies.
It is obvious that the food we eat and the liquids we drink create the organs, fibers, tissues, cells, molecules and atoms within us.
If we choose to eat ingredients filled with known toxins, our cells consume those ingredients and in turn infect our bodies with the same toxins found in the food we eat and liquids we drink.
Those infected cells become new tissues, new fibers, and new organs.
Suddenly sickness begins. We go to the doctor, get diagnosed and begin taking pills.
The cycle continues.
All the while we never address the one thing we do everyday.
Eat
Rarely have I heard this question,
“What ingredients are in the food you consumed today?”
This topic of conversation is important for our generation and it is near to my heart.
Too many people I know have suffered from disease and sickness that I believe could have been prevented through proper nutrition.
I reflect back, thinking about my upbringing and how we had to spend our money wisely. This usually meant processed cheese, t.v. dinners, macaroni and cheese and an assortment of other low priced boxed or canned food items.
Never do I remember someone asking me to read the ingredients and if I did read them it never meant anything to me.
All I really learned about nutrition growing up was the food pyramid.
So when I ate macaroni and cheese with pieces of hot dogs in it, I covered my dairy, grain and meat groups.
But now I see it differently.
I know that eating anything processed is not a good choice.
I know it’s important for us to do our best to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. For those of us who do eat meat, it’s important to know where it comes from and to try to see the way the animal was living before it became a meal.
I mean, think about it, most of us wouldn’t walk up to a crippled, tumor-ridden deer full of steroids, slumped over in the woods, kill it, cook it and eat it.
Unfortunately, this is how many of the animals look before they are slaughtered, packaged and distributed to a grocer near you.
Intention
My intention of this post is not to point my finger at any business, legislation, individuals or organizations that help make this crazy cycle possible.
My intention of this post is to cause me to look deeper inside myself and take full responsibility for the foods I buy.
I know that if I support cheap, toxin-filled foods, then as a business, each of the companies making those foods will make more of them, because I, you, we, are demanding them.
Removing Toxins From Our Meals
I have come up with a simple 3 step plan that will help our generation get rid of toxin-filled foods and keep ourselves and loved ones healthy.
*Don’t get caught up on the complexity of these 3 steps.
#1 – Look at the ingredients of every item you buy to consume for yourself and your family – If you find an ingredient that you can’t pronounce, it’s probably not natural and has the potential to cause unnatural reactions in your body temple. I’ve never seen an ingredient list for an apple, watermelon, kale or a pear.
#2 – Buy *organic produce – Now that you aren’t buying or consuming foods with unnatural ingredients that you can’t pronounce, you will be spending time in the produce section. However, there is one important thing to remember while you’re here, some fruits and vegetables are genetically modified. This is why it’s imperative to buy organic.
But still, you never know what kind of pesticide may have seeped into the spring mix salad you are eating or red delicious apple you’re biting into. Bottom line, buy organic, it’s worth the extra investment.
*We don’t truly know if it is fully organic just because a USDA sticker is on it, the only way you know it’s truly organic is if you or someone you know grows it.
#3 – Spread awareness of the unnatural ingredients that taint the majority of our food – You will see that as you begin to make your own natural, healthy, organic food, others will follow your lead. As you buy more healthy food options, your money will no longer be supporting the businesses and organizations that are providing the food the masses are consuming.
We are the change.
What are some of the craziest ingredients you’ve seen in the food you’ve eaten?
And for those of you who already cook organic and natural food, what are some easy things for beginners to start cooking that is healthy, sustainable, and responsible?
Leave your comments below and let us know…. You never know who you may empower.
Remember..
Within our body, this life experience takes place.
It is our one temple.
May the food we put in our bodies be worthy of the Divinity that rests within us. (Three Key Tweeter)
I greatly appreciate you taking a moment of your day to visit Three Key Life.
Thank you for inspiring me to be better.
Peace
Happiness
Compassion
Respect
Three Key Life