I have a buddy, Jeff, who I’ve mentioned before. He lives in what some people consider as BFE.  Others consider it, farm country (although he is not a farmer).  He does benefit living out there by eating fresh, local, organic foods including those that he grows or raises on his own.  He has a bunch of chickens for both meat but mostly eggs.  He hunts for bird and elk… and edible mushrooms.  His neighbor grows organic asparagus.  He makes his own bread and so on.  If you want to eat healthier, Jeff is doing a pretty good job of it by living out in BFE.

But why start with talking about Jeff?  Well, simply because we do a lot of traveling around the state together for work and when he is on the road, his gut is “not normal.”  The one major factor that we guess as the culprit is the amount of processed foods and all the GMO food he and and I consume on the road.   It is very scary how much processed food we eat, even when we think we are making a good, healthy choice.

According to Foodbabe.com (Oct. 2015), Subway is making a commitment to start using antibiotic-free meats in their sandwiches.  Yes, that’s right.  You have been getting your fill of antibiotics among other toxins in your sub sandwiches.  Here is Subway’s commitment.

• Chicken: Starting in March 2016 they’ll start serving antibiotic-free chicken, and will shift their entire chicken supply by the end of 2016.
• Turkey: Starting sometime in 2016, it’s expected to be completely antibiotic-free within 2-3 years.
• Pork: Within 6 years after the turkey is transitioned (so in about 10 years or 2025)
• Beef: Within 6 years after the turkey is transitioned (so in about 10 years or 2025)

Okay, so you have to wait a decade to be comfortable to eat the meat.  But what if you just get veggies on the bread?  The fresh-baked bread had Azodicarbonamide (ADA) in their bread up until last year.  Yep, the chemical is a chemical foaming agent makes the bread more elastic and consistent (a dough conditioner); the that same chemical allows yoga mats and shoe soles be more elastic.  Getting hungry, huh?   To be fair, only high concentrations of the chemical cause cancer and asthma.  In response, the FDA set the allowable limit in food to 45ppm.  The Environmental Working Group (EWG) issued a report in 2014 that ADA is in nearly 500 different foods.

So skip the bread and the meat.  And skip grabbing a Gatorade with your sub.  If you do, you will also avoid drinking ethylene glycol.  Yes, the same ingredient in antifreeze.

The drive to eat low calorie foods has pushed the consideration of eating additives aside.  Some additives we eat or feed our kids affect the nervous system, digestive system, metabolic functions.  Did you know that the additives in some “light” salad dressing prevents your body from absorbing the healthy nutrients of the salad it’s covering?  What the heck!

Oh yea, we also crave “low sodium” foods.  It is super scary how much sodium is in stuff even though it doesn’t make it taste salty. Like processed Kraft Singles have twice as much sodium in them as natural cheese yet it doesn’t taste twice is salty.  While reading the book, Pandora’s Lunchbox by Melanie Warner, it was alarming to understand all the types of sodium added to our foods.  If we used table salt in place of all the added sodium, we wouldn’t eat most of the processed food because it would be disgustingly salty.

Now what?  Well, as I’ve said before, we can ignore it and continue on, hope it goes away or do something about it.  For me, making better choices in selecting certified organic foods and local food is a first step.  Making better choices on where to eat and not to eat – like avoiding fast food… and Subway for another 10 years.  Reading the labels on packaged and prepared food.  And trying to find a way to grow your own food.  My friend, Marci, recently told me about the 15 or so fruits and vegetables she grew in her garden last year.  I wonder how many types I can get to grow in pots on my deck?

Here are 3 things NOT to eat taken from 100daysofrealfood.com:

 

• No refined grains such as white flour or white rice (items containing wheat must say WHOLE wheat…not just “wheat”)
• No refined sweeteners such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or the artificial stuff like Splenda
• Nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package that has more than 5 ingredients listed on the label

 

So, go do it.  Read the labels.  And use this bit of advice I once heard, “If you cannot recreate the product in your own kitchen with products you can buy at the store, then don’t buy or eat it.”  Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday!

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Resources
Pandoras Lunchbox by Melanie Warner
The Food Babe Way by Vani Hari