processed foods

February 26, 2014

Killer Coupons

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It has been going on since we were little kids. The Sunday paper comes with a wide array of coupons that are gathered and taken to the store to purchase all the things we need. Those manufacturers are so nice to discount their products, and the grocery stores even nicer to double and at times even triple the “value” of those coupons. There are coupon flyers, coupon websites and even coupon clubs, where you can meet other couponistas. In these coupon clubs, coupons are traded and strategies are devised to get the best deals by using the right coupon at the right store. It seems like a lot, and many people want nothing to do with it. But, there are people that are out there saving hundreds of dollars a week by couponing!

But to what end? Sure there are some good coupons for toilet paper and paper towels, but the majority is for the processed foods that are found in those middle aisles of your grocery store! Not on the outside walls where the meats and veggies and milk are. Most of the savings found on those coupons are for the foods many doctors and scientists are telling us to quit or cut back on. These items are filled with preservatives and chemicals you cannot pronounce without a PhD! Yet, these are the items that we can get with coupons. What a great thing these manufacturers are doing by discounting the worst foods for us in the store!

Then, we look at the grocery store itself doubling and tripling the coupons. How much are we getting over charged to begin with if a product can suddenly be discounted by 3? And, again, we are getting a great deal on the worst foods for our health. Where are the triple coupons on the organic greens or the natural products? Nowhere to be seen!

We all want to save a buck, but at what cost to our health? Frozen dinners are fast, but take a look at the amount of sodium in even the “Healthy” choice. If these coupons only listed the chemicals that are in the foods, would you still use that coupon?

January 16, 2014

Preservatives: Killing Us Softly

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I am not a doctor.  I have not done any lab research on this topic, but I have witnessed the effects of preservatives and other chemicals in foods first hand.  We as consumers blindly trust the foods that we purchase at our grocers, because we trust the FDA and other government agencies to ensure food safety.  The reality is they cannot guarantee that the ridiculous cocktails of chemicals now found in many processed foods are safe.  They may test the safety of a single chemical, but it would be impossible to test the exponential combinations of these chemicals within a food or within a combination of different processed foods eaten at one sitting.

My first-hand experience with this issue occurred about two years ago.  It involved my wife, Claudia, collapsing in a parking lot while on vacation in Florida.  I rushed her to the hospital, where numerous tests were performed.  Nothing was discovered after $30,000 in tests.  She was told perhaps it was dehydration or perhaps a food allergy.  This did not seem even the least bit feasible, so when we got home, she went to see an Allergist.  More tests were performed to determine if she had allergies, yet still nothing.  But, this doctor thought that it could be an intolerance to preservatives instead of an allergy.

An intolerance can be the result of a buildup of certain chemicals in the body and can cause many of my wife’s symptoms: nausea, heartburn, vomiting, itchy skin, mysterious bruising, vertigo and even fainting/blacking out.  The only way to determine if it is in fact an intolerance to preservatives is to partake in an elimination diet.  This means completely removing foods that are known to be high in certain preservatives.  It also includes the removal of some natural foods that may contain some of the chemical compounds of these preservatives naturally.  This “no fun guarantee” diet was brutal for her.  It eliminated a lot of what she ate on a normal basis.  She fell off and on the diet wagon several times and would immediately have issues.  She finally stuck to it, and the results have been nothing short of amazing.

She feels great and looks great!  She has lost over 20 pounds.  It has also rubbed off on myself and my daughter.  We are not nearly as strict with our diets, but try our best.  I feel like just doing what I have; I have much more energy and feel better than when I was eating fast food and processed junk.

I was a skeptic before I witnessed this transformation with my own eyes.  I never felt any ill effects from the foods I ate, but I think I was lucky.  These chemicals cannot be good for our health.  You would never add these chemicals to your food in your own kitchen.  Next time you buy a box of cookies or cereal, take a look at the ingredients label.  Can you pronounce everything?  If not, you may want to start looking for some alternatives.  I have seen the changes this simple act can make.