what goes in us

In today's day and age it would be impossible to live completely toxin free, but I am a strange bird who thinks it's fun to try. I am super passionate about this subject and so I want to write about what I've learned so far...
There are five things we were eating that were killing us: 1)pesticides 2)food additives (MSG,trans fats, & artificial sweeteners) 3)factory-farmed foods 4)genetically modified foods 5)unfiltered tap water.
I began to see that my family and I consumed these 5 poisons all day long, everyday. But how can they be bad if everyone eats them? Doesn't our whole country eat like this? I thought because we didn't eat fast food or white bread that we were healthy. I had no idea that what we were eating and drinking didn't even constitute as food a hundred years ago.
In the beginning of this effort to become healthful I bought everything organic just to be safe. Our rice, oatmeal, all veggies, all meat and cheeses, everything! It didn't take us long to realize that in our budget, buying organic gets us through about half a week and we shop week to week. So I looked into what was most important to eat 100% organic. I am not willing to feed my kids known cancer causing ingredients, but also I have to be mindful of our budget.
I buy all fruits and veggies organic. Now, I know there is a "list" of fruits and vegetables that are low in pesticides, but I personally feel that eating anything that comes directly from the earth should be pure, and healthful and radiant. I buy one or two types of fresh fruit for the kids to eat each morning. I also buy a big bucket of organic spinach for around $4. It lasts all week and I throw some into almost everything I make... I put it on pizza, pasta, and in most sauces. I do the same thing with corn and peas. They are pretty cheap and I sprinkle it on whatever my kids eat for dinner. There I've covered our veggies for the week and I'm not spending $10 a night on an organic salad(like I was in the beginning).
In my searching I have learned that some of the most chemically treated crops on the earth are peanuts, coffee, and potatoes. So these are foods I never ever buy unless organic. Foods made from these are important to buy organic as well, like peanut butter and french fries. I have found relatively inexpensive organic Yuban coffee on amazon.com. Peanuts are tough to find organic, but I have found some at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's both containing organic Valencia peanuts with no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.
Pesticides can disrupt the endocrine system and can be carcinogenic(cancer causing) as well. If I ever had to non-organic fruits & veggies I know a simple wash to remove a lot of the pesticides: 1/4 vinegar + 2 Tbsp. salt, soak for 15 minutes then rinse under running water.
Food additives were like a god-send to me a few years ago. I was thankful for the little pink packets of poison that sweetened my coffee... I thought they were helping me stay thin. Once I learned about how dangerous those pink packets are long term(not to mention the yellow and the blue packets too), I switched to agave nectar. I began to see that artificial sweeteners are also in sugar free gums, candies, yogurts, and sugar-free desserts. According to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, there is a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day.
Food dyes are a harmful additive made with synthetic chemicals. They are made from petroleum as well as coal tar. The Environmental Protection Agency says that coal tar is highly toxic. We used to by those pretty cupcakes from the grocery store that had the whipped frosting topping that looked like it was spray painted. My kids would get rashes on their skin, around their mouths wherever the frosting had touched. When I learned about what was in those cupcakes I felt horrible about what I was doing to them! In our house we love brightly colored candy. I am not giving up candy because it makes me very happy. I sometimes will treat myself and my family to regular starbursts or gummy worms, but most of the time I buy the organic ones. We are HUGE fans of the company "Yummy Earth". I buy their organic gummies and lollipops online in bulk. They are cheaper that way and last us a long time.
Another scary food additive that is absolutely treacherous is MSG, or trans fat. Trans fat is a harmful fat that causes about 50,000 fatal heart attacks a year(source:Center for Science in the Public Interest). Trans fats are in partially hydrogenated oil. The most common cooking oils we use today are bad. The generic term 'vegetable oil' is usually a blend of corn and soybean oils. And if not organic, they are mostly genetically modified. Olive oil is good and has no trans fats. Other good oils with no trans fat and high smoke points(a high smoke point is good for cooking, trust me) are macadamia nut oil, rice bran oil(excellent and inexpensive), grapeseed oil, coconut oil, hempseed oil, and peanut oil. The danger with trans fat is this, they clog the linings of blood vessels and surfaces in the brain, they cause obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and even sudden cardiac death.
Trans fats are everywhere. They are used in almost all restaurants, even the upscale ones. They are in most processed foods at the grocery store... salad dressing, crackers, cookies, candy, pretzels, mayo, spread, etc. If you see any of these ingredients on a food label, it's your cue the food contains MSG:
glutamic acid, sodium caseinate, gelatin, yeast extract, yeast food, autolyzed yeast, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, monopotassium glutamate, calcium caseinate(source:Price-Pottenger Foundation)

In the next blog I'll finish writing about the five harmful substances I mentioned at the beginning of this one. I still want to write more about eating organic foods, factory farmed foods, genetically modified foods, and unfiltered tap water. I'll entitle it #2. If you have any resources or tips to add to this, please do. I may print them out and use them in a book I want to write. :)

Thanks for reading crunchy moms and crunchy dads. Have a wonderful day full of love and joy and freedom!
Love,
Jackie