Are you sure the food you are eating is healthy?

Are you sure the food you are eating is healthy?

Finding healthy food becomes more difficult every day. Even purchasing food labeled organic does not guarantee that the food in the package is healthy.

For example, the only healthy beef is 100% grass-fed, raised from start to finish, raised on organic pasture and brought to slaughter under humane conditions. Beef labeled organic can be fed organic grains and raised like livestock in enclosed animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The only differences are their food and they are not given antibiotics and hormones. Grain-fed animals do not provide healthy meat. Grass-fed meat, if it does not state 100%, may be grain-finished to fatten it. This is also a less healthy choice.

Dairy products are controversial. Some say they should be avoided. Humans are the only creatures on earth that drink milk after weaning. Others say that raw milk is a healthy food. Now it is true that pasteurized milk is unhealthy. Most of the enzymes and other components that make milk a healthy food were destroyed during the pasteurization process. Raw milk from cows with the A2 beta-casein gene or goats raised on organic pastures is a healthy food. Even better is a certain type of cultured milk, Amasai, from the A2 beta casein cows.

Fruits and vegetables that are not organic are sprayed with toxic pesticides, and some, such as Hawaiian papayas, some zucchini and crookneck squash, may be genetically modified (GMO). Studies have shown that organically grown produce is more nutrient dense than non-organic produce. However, sometimes buying organic is outside the limits of your budget. So if you don't buy organic produce, you need to know which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and which have the least.

When purchasing packaged foods, you must read the ingredient lists carefully, even for organic foods. If you buy non-organic packaged foods, you are probably eating foods with GMOs. Most non-organic packaged foods contain genetically modified ingredients from corn, soy, sugar beets, canola oil or cottonseed oil.

If you don't recognize all the ingredients as common, non-GMO foods and don't know the other ingredients, you have several options:

1. Don't buy it.

2. Buy it anyway and run the risk of eating foods that contain ingredients that are harmful to your health. This is a major factor in all the obesity and illness that is rampant in our society today.

3. Learn how to read ingredient lists and know what the ingredients are and how healthy or unhealthy they are. Then make your choice in an informed place and know what kind of risk you are taking, i.e. choose your risk.

Do you know that there is currently a movement behind closed doors to lower organic standards so that "synthetic and non-organic ingredients can be freely added to organic foods - as long as they theoretically have nutritional value"? In fact, carrageenan, a possible carcinogen as identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, was recently reevaluated at a meeting of the National Organic Program Board. It was decided to continue to allow the use of this carcinogenic ingredient in certified organic foods.

Also, do you know that most organic food companies are owned by the conventional food industry? This is the reason for the move to lower organic standards.

So how can you make sure the food you eat is healthy?

– Buy beyond organic

– Buy 100% from start to finish, green lined

– Buy 100% green fed, probiotic raw cheese or cultured dairy like Amasai

– Buy your eggs and poultry from farms where the chickens are outdoors and have room to roam

– Buy organic products or choose from the “Clean 15”

– Always read labels when purchasing packaged foods

– Buy from the farmers and companies that are truly committed to producing healthy products, not those that are just in it for the profits.

Yes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make healthy food choices as we have an industry determined to genetically engineer every seed and use the cheapest synthetic ingredients to maximize their profits at the expense of your health.

So what are you doing?

Become an informed consumer. Take extra time to do your research. You may be surprised at how much healthy eating habits improve your health.