How pesticides and processed foods make us unhealthy.
Many of us wonder why we haven’t lost more weight or why we look good but feel like crap. Even though we might be calorie reducing and working out like maniacs, we come to the essential root problem: are we really eating what is good and nutritious?
In this crazy, polluted world, the US alone sprays 2 billion pounds of pesticides a year on crops that end up in our bodies through vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy and grains. Our bodies have never been fit to digest toxic and poisonous pesticides and are incapable of actually ridding them from our system. Anything we ingest literally becomes a part of us. It is our cells (the core of our make up) that bear the immense job of dealing with this poison. Pesticides and any other farming impurities can lower our energy levels, slow down our metabolism, can weaken our immune system and lead to silent killers and long-term health effects such as cancer. Pesticides are not easily prevented. Consumers all over the world are still choosing beautifully sculpted, shinny and symmetrical fruits without asking the question: what did it take for that fruit to have a 3 week shelf life and grand esthetics?
There is in fact a large difference in nutrient values between organic and conventionally grown produce. Dr. Virginia Worthington reviewed 1,230 published comparisons between organically grown and conventionally grown crops. The results of the survey indicated that organic crops had higher nutrient levels and lower levels of toxicity in 56% of the comparisons. From that survey, it was also concluded that pesticides are carcinogenic, disrupt the endocrine system and impair immune response in individuals.
Such as pesticides, processed foods greatly affect our bodies negatively. These ‘non-foods’ actually cost more in nutritional value to digest, absorb and eliminate than they deliver. So when you read a label of ingredients and you find yourself not being able to pronounce a long list of chemicals that might as well be in super glue and nail polish, I suggest you stay far away from it. Any packaged goods that offer multi-syllable words that you have never heard of, are used to color, preserve, stabilize, emulsify, bleach and texture foods that can make us sick in the long-run. The consumption of packaged foods have become so popular in today’s culture that the FDA lists about 2800 international food additives and 3000 chemicals in normal day-to day products such as soft drinks and pre-made pasta sauces. These chemicals overwork the liver, end up in our blood stream and eventually lead to our cells. The pressure on our cells cause us to experience weight gain, skin disorders and low energy levels.
Today’s pesticides and processed foods are life threatening, alarming to our environment and unhealthy. So, the next time you are grocery shopping, ask yourself this simple question: Did that food item exist 100 years ago? Diet Coke sure didn’t.
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