Additive free. What exactly do I mean when I say "additive free"? I am referring to all the products that we use on an everyday basis. And not just products that we would apply to ourselves, but also to the food that we ingest. Yesterday I talked about the wonders of the Internet and globalization and how they have brought the far reaches of the world to our fingertips. While in many ways, it is beneficial to have the world at our fingertips, it can also be a curse. And how we interpret it as a curse is all dependent on how we view life and the food and products we use every day. There are many people who simply disregard what goes into their food and how it may affect them in the long run. I used to be one of those people, eating anything and everything regardless of the ingredients contained in a given product. The change didn't happen overnight, but it was a slow eye opening experience that, while I absolutely love the way I feel now, I sometimes curse the day I started looking at the back of packages and what ingredients products contain. Its not that all additives are bad, but I now live by the motto that if I can't easily pronounce an ingredient, it probably shouldn't be either ingested or applied to my skin in any manner. Once you start doing even just a little bit of research into what the ingredients actually are that companies put into products, you start realizing that maybe they aren't as safe as they are said to be. A big one is aluminum. Almost every sunscreen you buy has aluminum in it. So what is the big deal with aluminum? Well, aluminum, once absorbed into the body, builds and can increase your risk of getting Alzheimer's. I for one, never want to get Alzheimer's and will do everything in my power to keep aluminum away from my body. So does that mean I just walk into the sun every day without applying some sort of protection from the sun? No, it just means we have taken to making our own. I know, it might sound a little crazy, but making sunscreen at home is incredibly easy, especially with the availability of products on the Internet. (If your interested and want to know the ingredients, leave a comment and I will get back to you). The same goes for deodorant. Almost all deodorants have aluminum in them. The good news is, they actually sell deodorant that is aluminum free. It is simple things like altering buying habits that just might add a few extra years to our lives and make us healthier in the here and now. Sunscreen and deodorant are the big ones when it comes to products that we apply to our bodies. So what about foods?
Foods are the tough one. In our household now, we are striving to keep all products that contain GMO's, chemicals, and preservatives out of our cupboards and drawers. GMO's seem to be the big ticket item that is brought up in many debates these days. There are those that say GMO's will do no harm to a person and those that say they will. We are part of the group that say they have the potential to do harm, and not just because they are GMO, but because of the reason they were genetically modified to begin with. The trouble with any food that is genetically modified is that it was done so to prevent that plant from being killed by herbicides and pesticides. That is not the only reason, but that is a major one. That means that any plant that is genetically modified probably contains at least trace amounts of the pesticide or herbicide they were sprayed with. If you eat enough of these pesticides and herbicides, you could harm your body in unimaginable ways starting with your stomach which has to process all the food. So what kind of pesticides and herbicides are we talking about? Take the product, RoundUp. We all know it kills weeds, and around the house it is best known for killing poison ivy and other pestilent plants. The key ingredient is glyphosate. This means that all the corn that is genetically modified is usually done so in order to be sprayed with RoundUp and not die. Pleasant. That means every time we eat corn (90% of which is GM), we are probably eating RoundUp, especially if that corn came from a big farm. Its scary once you start learning why things are done and what the effect is. That is only the GMO side of the additive equation. I haven't even touched on chemicals or preservatives (usually one and the same). In terms of preservatives, I will give you two examples that floored me when I read them. (Disclaimer: if you like the cereal Lucky Charms, read no further). I used to love Lucky Charms when I was younger. The little marshmallows made the milk taste so much better and I always tried to save the marshmallows for the end so I could eat them by the spoonful. About a month ago I was working in a customers house and saw a box of Lucky Charms sitting on the counter. (I haven't eaten them in years by the way). Curious, I picked up the box and started going through the ingredients. There were a lot of ingredients that were puzzling to me, but the one that really stuck out like a sore thumb was TSP or Tri Sodium Phosphate. As a painter, I use TSP as a cleaning agent (which is actually its main use). It is an excellent cleaner for removing soot, grime, and grease and leaves walls ready for painting. It is also an excellent floor cleaner. Now why would they put TSP in my favorite childhood cereal. I don't know, but according to the FDA, it is "generally recognized as safe". Yet, after having used it to clean floors and walls with, I don't really want to be ingesting it. The other one is lemon juice. We used to buy it at the store until we found out that it had a preservative that is a known carcinogen. Now ask yourself, why would a company use a carcinogen as a preservative. Probably because it is the most cost effective way for them to operate. Needless to say we don't use that product anymore. There are many products that we don't use anymore for exactly these reasons. Once you start reading about what the chemicals are and what they can do to a body, you start not wanting them in your body. Since eliminating as many preservatives and GMO's as possible from our diet, I have felt healthier than ever. I could go on and on, but I will end it here for today. My advice, do your own research and come to your own conclusions. This was not meant to tell you how to eat and live, but to suggest that you look a little harder at what you are consuming.
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