We Are Not Buying It

It does my heart good to see so many people choosing healthy, GMO Free and chemical free products.  And I am happy to see the power of the consumer driving stocks and profits down for companies that have been poisoning us and our environment for so many decades.

Yes, companies are now listening to the demands of the American consumer.  Some are coming “clean” totally like Chipotle and some are playing “footsie” with our minds, by eliminating one or two toxic ingredients and leaving in the rest.  Hershey’s Chocolate, as stated in my last publication, was just going to eliminate toxic high fructose corn syrup and leave the other cancer causing ingredients in their chocolate until they were on the receiving end of public backlash from educated consumers who are leading this food revolution in this country.  Also, incase you have not heard, waiting for your elected officials to act in your best interest is no longer the “trend”.  No longer the “flavor of the day”.  People are sick and tired of getting sick, and they are taking their health into their own hands.  So watch out corporate America, we are coming after you, one company at a time until we force “D.C.” to stop selling out the voters.

Even the FDA, of all infiltrated agencies, is becoming proactive in looking out for your best interest.  (I can not believe I am writing this).  Right now, if there is less than .5% trans fat in a product, the FDA does not require it to be on the list of ingredients.  So much for truth in labeling.  But just recently, June 16^th, on the New Moon I might add, the FDA announced that it will give the food industry 3 years to eliminate trans fats from foods in the food supply. Better late than never FDA, as Europe has been trans fat free for years.  Even though the FDA previously deemed trans fats safe for food consumption, the Institute of Medicines shows there is NO SAFE levels for trans fats, especially in children whose bodies and brains are more vulnerable to the health dangers of trans fats. 

What is so bad about trans fats you say?  Several studies have shown trans fats to be linked to inflammation in the body.  Inflammation in the body creates an acidic ph instead of an alkaline ph. And an acidic ph and inflammation in the body leads to disease and eventually death.  Diseases such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and nephritis.  And this leads me to the topic of this article.  Carrageenan. 

A few weeks ago, Mary and I were shopping in our local grocery store and there was a very nice man demonstrating a product called Brooklyn Creamery Cream.  All natural ingredients.  No artificial preservatives, no sugar, salt or carbs.  Gluten free and kosher.  WOW!!!  Sounds perfect!  You can use it in many ways.  In cooking, baking and spoon on your favorite ice cream and desserts.  “Here, try some”, the nice man says.  OK, I will.  Hummm, very good.  I grabbed a package and started reading the ingredients.  That is when I woke up from my tasty, creamy dream.  It contained cream from a family owned dairy farm that does not use synthetic rBST on their cows, very good.  It contained nisin that is a natural antibacterial peptide, which is excellent.  But when I read it contained carrageenan, I put it back. 

The demonstrator was perplexed.  He said carrageenan is a seaweed, it is natural, which is true.  But it is a type of red edible seaweed that creates inflammation in the body which in turn creates an acid ph, which will set you up for cancer and other diseases.  I left this nice man scratching his head, “but it is all natural??!?”  Yes, but “all natural” does not mean it is safe to eat or use.  Poison Ivy is natural but I would not make a sandwich with it.

There are some foods that are considered to be more acidic and they are meats, eggs and grains.  But these foods have value.  They add to the over all health of your system.  You can make sure you counter balance the acid of these foods with foods that are more alkaline, which are your fruits, especially avocados and lemons: vegetables, especially celery: nuts and seeds. 

Carrageenan can not be digested by the body and has zero food value.  So why bother?  It is destructive to your digestive system and is now known to trigger your body into having immune responses as if it where being attacked by pathogens like Salmonella.  It is now being linked to causing ulceration of the stomach lining and intestinal bleeding, and gastro intestinal cancer in lab rats. The food industry uses it to thicken and emulsify a product but do they know what it is doing to you?  Do they even care?  So people, why torture yourselves? 

When you know better, you do better.  And if it is going to kill us, make us sick, we are not buying it anymore…..because we choose to live healthy chemical free…….