Are You Eating Foods Some Experts Won’t?

Do you eat canned tomatoes, corn-fed beef, microwave popcorn, non-organic potatoes, farmed salmon, milk containing artificial hormones, or conventional apples? 

Chances are you eat these regularly as do a myriad of other individuals.  Unfortunately, these choices are less than stellar options for your health.   In a Healthfreedoms.org  post, I read about some experts in their various fields including farmers, researchers and scientists who gave their take on foods they wouldn’t ever eat and just what motivated them to avoid these foods.  Their comments centered on the seven different foods previously mentioned.

Canned Tomatoes:  The endocrinologist will not eat canned tomatoes.  The acid in the tomatoes causes the bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic estrogen, in the lining of the can to leach into the tomatoes.  This chemical has been shown to be a problem in reproductive systems (lower sperm production), heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.  Make a wiser choice and buy tomato products in a bottle or Tetra Pak boxes.

Corn-fed Beef:  This farmer, also an author of several books on sustainable farming, stresses the fact that cows were created to eat grass not grain (corn and soybeans).  “A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease.”  Even though this beef is more expensive, it is more nutritious.  Buying cuts with the bone in will lower the cost.

Microwave Popcorn:  A scientist for the Environmental Working Group will not touch microwave popcorn.  “Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer.”  When the bag heats up, the vapors from the chemical stew within the bag soak into the popcorn.  Popping your own corn on the stove or over an open flame is much healthier and cheaper.

Non-organic Potatoes:  Jeffery Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board only eats organic potatoes.   All root vegetables, by design, collect nutrients from the soil.  If herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides are present, those killers are absorbed as well.  Then the potatoes are sprayed again to inhibit sprouting.  Moyer suggests, “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t.”  Potato farmers often plant a private section of potatoes free of chemicals for their family.  Make sure to choose organic potatoes.

Farmed Salmon:  The author of a major study focusing on contaminants in “farmed” fish will not eat it.  These fish are crammed into a small space and fed “foods” that fish were not created to eat–like soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers.  The end result is a poor quality of meat– lower vitamin D levels and the residue of the chemicals in the fish food.  Some argue that the Omega-3 offsets the poor quality.  Be smart and switch to wild-caught choices or buy wild caught salmon in the can.  You will be better for it.

Milk Containing Artificial Hormones:  This cancer researcher won’t drink non-organic milk.  Many commercial dairies attempt to increase milk production by adding rBHT (a bovine growth hormone) or rBST as it is more commonly known.  This hormone tends to create udder infections with accompanying pus ending up in the milk.  If that isn’t enough to turn you to the organic milk section, it seems this chemical contributes to a variety of cancers as well.  Many industrial countries ban this procedure.  Make sure to buy milk from organically raised and handled cows.  Your good health is worth it.

 Conventional Apples:  An organic food expert won’t eat conventional apples.  He has determined they win the “most doused in pesticides contest” each fall.  Because of growers’ reproduction methods, apples don’t acquire a resistance to pests and  therefore require a lot of chemical sprays.  The residue from these chemicals have been linked to diseases like Parkinson’s and are suspect in the higher rates of cancer in farm workers.  If you must buy conventional, wash the apples well and peel them.  You might even trade off something expensive to be able to afford organic apples.

In a perfect world, each succulent piece of fruit, each healthy grass-munching cow, all fish swimming in unpolluted, pure water could be consumed without limitation. But unfortunately, our world is no longer perfect.  We humans have not been mindful of God’s best given to us out of His great love.  Organic is the next best way to go; although, even that is still lacking.  Approach the Lord and ask for wisdom in choosing the best food for your family. (James 1:5)

What steps can and will you take to provide healthier food for your family?