Who doesn’t want to be healthy? We all know the root of health comes through the food we eat. With such a vast array of foods to eat, choosing the most healthful items is becoming harder and harder. Every food advertiser has something to sell with a slick marketing campaign to boot. We will investigate the secret sauce of 5 culinary items that might not be so good for you in the long run.
1. Store bought Seasoning Salts
Bacteria for breakfast anyone? Okay, its common knowledge that beer, yogurt and pickles are made with microorganisms. But did you know many seasoning salts are made using bacteria? A common ingredient in many name brand seasoning salts is monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a flavor enhancer that gives a savory oomph to food. This salt additive is made by fermenting corn syrup (that means adding GMO-bacteria to the batch to make them devour the sugars and poop out your edibles), and is a staple in East Asian cuisine and finds its way into many pre-packaged snacks and quick-serve foods. While MSG has the green light for consumption, some folks might react to it with adverse effects. For instance, it could cause headaches, chest and facial pain, and heart palpations. Some studies demonstrated that MSG significantly increases the top number of blood pressure readings. Obesity and brain lesions, gastritis and duodenal ulcers are other possible effects. MSG tricks the brain into making you fall in love and even overeat food made from a hearty brew of insects, bacteria, and laboratory grown chemicals. Let’s take a gander at some of the food items that house this artificial salt:
- Fast food (Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chick Fil-A)
- Savory snacks and chips (Doritos, Pringles)
- Frozen foods
- Canned soups (Campbell’s chicken noodle soup)
- Processed meats (hotdogs, sausage, beef jerky, pepperoni)
- Condiments (salad dressing, mayonnaise, ketchup, barbecue sauce, mustard)
- Instant noodles
- Dry seasoning packets and salts (taco meat mix)
Many fat-free and low-fat types of milk are prepared using powdered milk that includes MSG.
- Pasteurization impacts MSG levels, particularly in ultra-pasteurized milk.
- Higher temperatures cause more milk protein to be broken down, resulting in more MSG.
- MSG residues could be found in ultra-pasteurized products, such as powdered milk, cottage cheese, fat-free milk, yogurt, low-fat milk, and ice cream.
Parmesan cheese, prepared similar to pasteurized milk, results in excess MSG to the whopping tune of 1600 mg per 100 grams! That is similar to soy sauce at 1700 mg per 100 grams. Health-seekers beware!
MSG sprays are also used on some fresh fruits and vegetables. As of June 13, 2002, AuxiGro, a MSG-based pesticide and fertilizer used to make vegetables grow bigger was registered for use in California on tomatoes, almonds, apricots, cherries, plums, nectarines, peaches, prunes, grapes (including grapes to be used in wine), and onions. Auxigro is also in use on crops grown in Florida.
In 2004, Emerald BioAgriculture (the manufacturer of Auxigro), requested approval of its use on other crops such as broccoli, almonds, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, turnips, rutabaga, mustard, and watercress.
MSG is known by many names. We have listed them for you.
2. Artificial Sugars
A spoonful of chemicals in every cup of morning tea! Artificial sweeteners offer a low-calorie substitute for normal sugar. They sweeten your diet sodas, yogurts, and other goodies that boast a low-sugar content. Yet, consuming too much could land you in a health pickle. Research points out that excessive intake of these sweeteners could jeopardize your weight, lead to type 2 diabetes, and even increase your risk of cancer. Some research on long-term, daily use of artificial sweeteners suggests a link to a higher risk of stroke, heart disease and death overall. Depression and dementia have also been linked to sugar substitutes. Like MSG, artificial sweeteners are made with chemicals. Sucralose (Splenda) is made with chlorine, Saccharin (Sweet ‘N Low), once banned because it caused tumors in rats, has since been unbanned. Aspartame (Equal), 200 times sweeter than sucrose, now under the dictates of WHO must be labelled “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Is it time to ditch the zero-calorie, zero-sugar foods? Rather than double as a human test tube, when possible, stick with the tried and true: raw sugar or honey, albeit in moderation.
3. Margarine & Vegetable Oils
Creamy toast to die for! Margarine might seem like a healthier twin to butter, given its low-fat content. But don’t let the advertising fool you. Margarine gets its form from vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, or cottonseed, which often harbor trans fats, a villain for your heart health.
Seed oils are man-made oils. How much oil do you actually think you can squeeze out of a kernel of corn? Seed oils by nature are unstable. They would not be edible without chemicals and preservatives and hydrogen gas (to make your shortening solid). This is the reason they go rancid quickly. Rancid oils are cancer causing. The unstable nature of vegetable oils and their rancidity play a role in creating havoc inside the arteries, leading to inflammation plaque formation and thickening of the arteries. Moreover, increased hydrogen in the blood leads to increased acidity, which leads to a whole other can of health worms. Did you know that vegetable oils were banned in Canada between 1886 to 1949 “to protect the health of the population”? This is interesting news considering heart disease only became the leading cause of death in 1950. In fact it was was in the 1950s that margarine became a household name. The FDA in 2015 has since banned partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (but still allows full hydrogenated oils). While 2015 has since come and gone our health as a nation is still on the decline.
Why take a risk with man-made oils when nature has been making oils from scratch since the beginning of time? The best oils for human consumption are saturated, oils: the ones that respond to their natural environment. They are stable at room temperature, solidify in cold and liquify in warmth. These are none other than the unjustly villainized butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, and palm oil!
4. Soy Products
Soy shows up in the Villainous Five for its ability to cause obesity in rat studies. It has also been linked to bladder cancer and fertility issues. Click here for more information.
5. Chlorinated Water
If you suffer dry, itchy skin, grey hair, or dandruff, then perhaps you need a shower…filter! Chlorine in the form of drinking and shower water not only sucks dry ones fountain of youth it can make you physically ill as well. Hot showers release chlorine gas and can irritate the eyes, nose, lungs and cause dizziness. Chlorine is also a known carcinogen. Studies have shown an increased risk of colorectal cancer in those drinking tap water. Plants and zoo animals also have a say on the matter. Plants do not thrive as well on chlorinated as on unchlorinated water. There is equally research to prove a link between zoo animals fed chlorinated water and the development of atherosclerosis. Remember water is suppose to remove toxins from the system, not introduce them! Boil your water 15 minutes before consuming. Or invest in a high quality carbon block filter. Of course, these methods won’t deal with all the other harmful chemicals in tap water like fluoride, but it is a start. Please be mindful of alkaline water promotions: thanks but no thanks! The body already has a well-oiled system in place to maintain optimal pH balance. Messing with the pH of the body is not advisable. We will circle back to this conversation in a future post.
The Berkeley water filtration system can remove the bone-tooth-and joint issues of excess fluoride in tap water along with many others dreaded chemicals.
Lastly, there is research which demonstrates that water from rivers and streams and mountains are alive and vibrant and brings health into the body. But by the time we get water from the tap, it is stagnant and no longer with health properties. The idea behind drinking aerated water is to bring our drinking water closer to the design of nature, which if you study will find operates in a vortex. Watch this video to learn more on this fascinating subject.
The Takeaway
Grow your own, eat organic, purify your water, and when you cannot, eat lab-grown products sparingly. Face it, these five devilish additives are in just about everything we eat, so it will be impossible to completely avoid them. Examine your labels. Use a magnifying glass if necessary. There is a reason ingredient labels are written in small, fine print! The devil is indeed in the details!
