There are toxins everywhere. In our food, in the air, in the carpeting, let’s explore one way to lower the amount of toxins in your life. Cut down or eliminate processed foods from your diet. This is a challenge but necessary. Processed Foods contain chemicals, dyes, poisons and the list goes on. There are more than 6000 chemicals and additives used by food companies to process your food. Your body was designed to live on real foods, which are fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and meat. When food is processed the chemical makeup is changed and your body does not recognize it as food.
Did you know that we eat more processed foods in America than in any other industrialized nation and we have the lowest life expectancy of all of the industrialized nations.
The list of chemicals and additives in our food is not only alarming but in many cases there are studies that indicate particular additives or chemicals cause disease yet they are still allowed into our food.
If you are serious about getting toxins out of your life, this is a good place to start. If it comes in a can, box, bag or carton you must examine the ingredient list before you purchase it. My personal rule of thumb is if it has more than three ingredients then I will not purchase it. Also, if I do not know what the ingredient is I will not purchase it. If it says natural flavorings, spices or any other generic term I don’t buy it. The FDA has allowed the food companies to hide many ingredients under these generic terms.
With some creativity and experimenting, I have managed to almost completely cut out processed foods from my diet. In the past if a recipe called for vegetable broth I would purchase a can of broth from the store, now I just juice a few vegetables and add the juice to my recipe and it works great. Another great example is when a recipe calls for canned tomatoes, I just use tomatoes! It is just a matter of changing the way we think. We have been programmed to get our food from the grocery store in an easy to use form. I have found with some changes in my thinking that I can make great dinners from the basic foods which are fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. The great news about getting processed foods out of your diet is that it will not only help you eliminate toxins but it will cost less!
Our programming has us believing in order to sweeten food we need to add sugar. With some experimenting you will find that honey, dried fruits and some herbs make great sweeteners. These sweeteners are all natural, all toxin free and all easy to find in the grocery store.
Start slow, start reading the ingredient list, make sure what you are buying is actually food without added chemicals. Occasionally I will purchase chips; the ingredients in the chips I purchase are organic corn, sea salt, and oil. And if you are going to buy processed foods at least look for the lesser of two evils, look for the item that has the least amount of ingredients and ingredients you recognize.
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http://www.everydayhealth.com
Jean Sumner, author of “52 Tips to be Healthy” and co-founder of World Wellness Education has been involved with the health and wellness industry since 1996. An avid runner, she is passionate about exercise, eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Jean was diagnosed with cancer in May, 2009 this only served to fuel the flames of her passions.
Jean pursued alternative methods of treating cancer and met countless individuals who had great stories to tell regarding how nutrition, spirituality and exercise helped them to overcome their various illnesses. Since these stories were moving, motivating and timely she thought that each of these stories may make a difference in others’ lives. With the knowledge that we learn from stories more quickly than other teaching methods, an organization was born in hopes to make a difference in the well-being of every individual on the planet. That organization is World Wellness Education.
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