What to avoid?

It seems to me as if this blog may end up writing itself.  No, my blog isn't only going to be rants about poisons.  There are so many other things to rant about, and I will IY"H (please G-d) get to those.  But for now, my stepfather asked me what should he be avoiding.  My parents know a little of this and a little of that.  I guess it would be easier to just start a list, and people can pick and choose what they want from it.

So here goes --

#1: GMOs.  Genetically Modified Organisms.  I feel that this is the biggest threat to our bodies and our existence right now.  If you aren't going to get organic, then do yourself a favor, and stay away from anything with corn, canola, and soy.  If you buy a product with that in it, you are almost guarantying yourself of a GMO product, since over 90% of the US crops are GMO.  The only way to avoid it is to buy organic corn, soy or canola (which I will get to later in this list).

#2: Pesticides.  Google "the dirty dozen".  It is a list that is updated periodically of which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticides in them.  Yes, IN them.  You can peel it off the apple, or soak it out of the grapes.  It is in the food like the seed and juice is.  Gross. Just go sprinkle some Round Up on your food.

Now it's getting tough ... These are not in any particular order.

*Aspartame - No, it's not safe.  It's a carcinogen.  I once asked my doctor which is worse, HFCS or aspartame.  He told me that aspartame as worse.

*HFCS, commonly known as High Fructose Corn Syrup.  The corn industry wants you to think that HFCS and sugar are the same thing.  They aren't.  Your body doesn't process it correctly.  It is one of the main reasons behind the obesity epidemic in our country now.  Plus, it is GMO (see #1).

*Sugar - Let me tell you, I have the worlds biggest sweet tooth.  I love sweets.  Yeah, I know, you are telling me that you can eat it in moderation.  No, you can't.  First of all, it is addictive.  Second, our bodies handle it the same way we handle alcohol.  Third, it's not good for our teeth or over all health.  This is one that I have a hard time with.  I don't buy white sugar.  I do try to use only unrefined sugars.  Although, my cookies this shabbos were gross, because my turbinado sugar did not dissolve totally, leaning a crunchy cookie.  Not desirable in a chocolate chip cookie.  You can watch a video here where he explains medically why it isn't good for you.
Dr. Robert Lustig on Obesity

*Food Dyes - Now these are just plain evil, IMHO.  Why in the world do you need blue dish soap?  Why does shampoo have to be red, and for goodness sake, if you make a cake, it does not, I repeat, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BRIGHT YELLOW to be a lemon cake.  G-d gave us fruits and vegetables and they are all pretty, bright, vibrant colors.  You want red color?  Take it from a beet.  You want some blue, take it from red cabbage (I think).  I know what you are saying, you LIKE your florescent pink strawberry short cake from Duncan Hines.  Is it worth putting a carcinogen into your body for that 5 minutes of fun?  Have you seen your kids tongues after they eat "fruit" peels?  Better, yet, take a look in the toilet after eating fruit loops.  It's so gross.  Your pee will turn a florescent color, and poop will have a greenish or blueish hue to it.  Is this REALLY what you want going through your body?  The food dyes are in everything.  Read every label in your house, you will find it.  My dentist gave me a mouth wash.  A clear colored mouth wash with food dye in it.  Obviously, that went into the garbage, which is exactly where it belonged.  Food dyes are disgusting and they are banned in so many countries.  They are linked with hyperactivity.  Anyone wonder why so many American kids are being doped up on Ritalin?  Could it have anything to do with the horrible foods we are pushing on our kids? For sure!  BTW, this list also includes caramel coloring.

* Preservatives - Fresh food doesn't need preservatives.  Some of them are just plain carcinogens.  Yup, that nasty word popping up again.  BHA. BHT. Propyl gallate.  Sodium Nitrite & Sodium Nitrate. MSG. Sodium benzoate (same as food dyes; causes hyperactivity in children).  Basically, my thoughts from all my research are, about 5 ingredients, all of which I can pronounce.  If I can't say it, I won't eat it.

*Transfats - If any of the ingredients say hydrogenated, put it back on the shelf and not in your mouth.  This is what causes heart disease, not animal fats, like butter.  So throw away that margarine and crisco.  It's toxic to your heart.  There is talk that the government may ban it.  I'm not in favor of the government telling us how to live our lives, but this may be a good thing.  (Not sure.  I wonder what Sara For America would think.)

*Soy - THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU!  Sorry folks, but you have been fed a load of garbage about soy.  The stuff is awful for humans.  The only soy that is safe for human consumption is fermented soy, and that list is sooo short.  Soy lecithin is pure garbage, through and through.  It's the junk that was left over and used to be tossed until someone figured out you can heat it into pellets and make money on it.  Soy oil is GMO unless it says organic.  Then again, do you really want extra estrogen floating around in your body when it's been linked to breast cancer?

*Canned Tomatoes - The BPA lining leaches into the tomatoes.  Buy it in a glass jar, or in a can that says it is a BPA-free lining.

Getting tired of typing.  Maybe it's time for you to start typing into google?  You can start here:
8 Foods that Experts Won't Eat

To sum it up, basically, read your labels.  You should know what the ingredients are.  Is this something that is safe for me to eat or use?  (Think about this -- regular cleaning products all say, do not inhale.  Well how are you supposed to clean if you can't breathe it in?)  Be smart.  Start doing your own research.  Make wise choices.  And if you see me in the market, don't make fun of me for taking 2 hours to figure out what I am buying.  (BTW, most of the time you won't catch  me out of the organic aisle.)

How about tomorrow we talk about my library and the number of quality Judaic books that are out there???