I was actually shooting for a funny blog today, but you know the old saying about the best laid plans? Well all it took was for me to type the phrase, ‘the food police.’ and the topic changed immediately.
I’d wanted to write about how some influential people in politics would like to ban the sale of supplements (an on again/off again battle I hear about at the health food store I frequent) or, at the very least, heavily regulate them. But how, on the other hand, they’d also like to control our consumption of junk food.
People like this guy scare me. But they also make me really mad!
If we’re going to talk about unhealthy things, what about the arsenic we ingest in much of the non-organic chicken we swallow? Poisoned chicken that’s approved by our government. A little won’t hurt us. Uh-huh. Can I invite you law makers over for a batch of brownies I’d like to make for you? Thought I’d add one teensy-weensy teaspoon of dog poop to the batter. But don’t worry, it won’t hurt you. After all, it’s just a little poop. And even better, it’s not poison.
Moving on to MSG, another government approved food additive… The website, http://www.truthinlabeling.org/ says, ‘… monosodium glutamate causes brain damage which can lead to retinal degeneration, endocrine disruption (e.g. reproductive disorders and gross obesity), behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and more.’ One of my brother’s wives can’t have any MSG because it gives her migraine headaches…and could cause her to have a stroke because of the way her system reacts to it.
Let’s not even get into sugar substitutes. Everything I’ve read about artificial sweeteners is enough to give me nightmares.
One thing I don’t want to leave out of this fluoride. A few years ago I read a very disturbing article about it, The Cause of Fibromyalgia – and nothing I’ve learned since has made me feel any better. But our government thought it was A-okay to poison our water supply with this nuclear waste byproduct for the past fifty years.
I had to pause this video to go check the tube of Aqua Fresh in my bathroom. Sure enough, the Poison Control warning is right there on the label. Since we drink (and cook with) non-fluoridated bottled water, and have done so for years, I didn’t worry too much about the toothpaste. Of course I didn’t know there was a warning on it either. I’ll be stocking up the next time I’m at the health food store…
Yeah, Uncle Sam, won’t you please start regulating everything we eat? Gotta put a stop to the fast and junk food industries muscling in on your ‘Poison America’ monopoly.
***ROW80 Update:
Three more chapters down, six to go. I might just finish this first time through before Friday. I’m very pleased that I’ve added an additional 3,700 words since I started editing, and that I’ve gotten another letter written for the Monday Mail posts. Forgot my swamp sludge again (just one day), but I’m fast becoming a zombie with my new, temporary schedule.
It can be really difficult to sort out fact from fiction, particularly in our fear-based media. I’m all for eating whole, natural foods as much as possible. Although many additives actually have been proven safe for the majority of people, I steer on the better-safe-than-sorry side. I feel the same way about dietary supplements, many of which have the potential to cause more harm than good. Passionate post, Kristy!
Thanks, August. I try to educate myself as much as possible, but have found that many people who just don’t care. If it tastes good, they’ll eat it. My daughter and I have an ongoing battle over one particular fast food restaurant. That’s fun… 🙂
I do take a handful of supplements (by that I mean a few different kinds, not an actual handful)…but only after thoroughly researching them. And most of those are to try to counteract the fatigue caused from having hypothyroidism.
Great post Kristy. My son was ADD and we went the diet route (30 years ago) rather than drugs. Made an incredible difference to his health and well being and life. AND it made me incredibly aware of what was done to our food before it got to us. truly scary as hell. thanks again for the reminder
Thanks, Louise. I don’t blame you for changing your son’s diet. My baby brother used to be ADD…the doctor called it hyperactive…and put him on Ritalin. After keeping him home one day and seeing how it affected him (made him like a zombie), she took him off it and found teachers who would actually teach him. I don’t think she changed his diet, though.
And it is scary the things that are done to our food. It makes me want to scream every time I see a 10 year old wearing a bigger bra than I did in junior high school…thanks to the hormones in meat and dairy products. 🙁
Great post, Kristy. You know things are crazy when people leave high positions in the FDA to take on higher-paying jobs at Monsanto.
It’s all nuts. People need to win a lottery so they can buy everything they eat from health food stores…if they want to avoid all the garbage the government allows in our regular food supplies. Chemicals, poisons…
One of the things that really bugs me is buying meat these days. If a service station added water to our gasoline, they’d be in big trouble. But you can’t buy a package of meat anymore that doesn’t have water added to it to pad the weight.
Okay. I’ll stop now. NOT a good subject for me to get started on, lol.