1-1222003355wYAlHot debates about healthy and unhealthy foods are going on and on.  Obviously it would never stop because we’ll never have a piece of mind until we’ll know the truth.  Food experts, media and consumers are on incessant search for right answers. Recently Prevention magazine conducted a food safety survey asking people  one simple question: What foods do you avoid? As you head into the big holidays and you plan to buy lots of foods, this information will help you to make healthy choices.

  1. Canned Tomatoes

I loved to add Del Monte Organic Diced Tomatoes (canned) to my soups and other vegetable meals. I don’t do it anymore and took out this product from my grocery shopping list. You may be surprised what the experts in food and nutrition can tell you about certain foods loaded with toxins and chemicals they won’t eat themselves. Many people don’t realize that some food products they often buy in a store may sabotage their health and wellness. 

The problem: According to the expert Frederick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, the problem lies in the resin linings of tin cans containing bisphenol-A, a synthetic extrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says von Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”

The solution: Choose and buy tomatoes in glass jars (which don’t need resin linings), such as brands Biomaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several type in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe and Pomi. What a waste of  USDA  approved organic tomatoes, if they are packed in resin-lined tins and double priced in comparisson with non organic tomatoes!

              2. Corn-Fed Beef

I don’t feed any beef to my family for one simple reason: red beef contains too much blood and fat of a killed animal, and hormons, too. The expert Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sistainable farming explains why you shouldn’t consume corn-fed beef.

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers and lower prices at the grocery store means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that doesn’t mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin.

The solution:Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers’ markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It is usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher.

Comment: Great! So now in addition to blood, fat, hormones, beef can contain GMO corn and chicken manure?! Avoid it from your food shopping list. Further, the expert suggests to buy grass-fed beef, but where is a guarantee that this grass is not sprayed with pesticides???

        3. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

I don’t buy even organic milk. Instead I prefer Goat’s Milk. Simple reason: the goats are so gentle animals, if they are given non-natural food, they will die because they don’t have the same sustainable power to chemicals as poor cows have. The expert Nick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon Division of the American Cancer Society has a science based opinion about milk produced with artificial hormones.

The problem: Milk producers threat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST), as it is also known to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. “When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract,” says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. “There’s not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans,” admits North. “However, it’s banned in most industrialized countries.”

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

Comment: First of all, the government should not approve these two growth hormones (rBGH or rBST) to begin with, for the sake of humans’ health, and stop these sick  ’scientific’ researches and experiments to benefit farmers and milk producers who have in common  one goal: to boost milk production and profits at the expense of consumers health.

        4. Nonorganic Potatoes

You can make so many dekicious meals with potatoes, “a second bread,” but according to the expert Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board, be aware of nonorganic potatoes.

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbisides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes, the nation’s most popular vegetable, they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbisides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. “Try this experiment. Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you are trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

Comment: Is it all about chemistry in action? It is so amazing how humans for the sake of making big money poison other humans and rob them of their health and well-being! It is much simpler and healthier let the Nature to be!

        5. Farmed Salmon

Never ever buy farmed salmon. Buy only wild-caught fish.  It’s healthier and tastier.

The expert David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany, and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination  in fish.

The problem: nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as duoxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on  American menus. “You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study gor broad media attention. “It’s that bad.” Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionisdts believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. there is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get closed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

        6. Conventional Apples

Remember the saying, “An apple a day will keep doctor away?” It was the truth for centuries, but with chemical revolution it is not longer the truth in the case of conventional apples. The expert Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods explains why you should buy only organic apples.

The problem: If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? they are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its disctinctive flavor. As such, apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that ot’s just common sence to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. “Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers,” he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson’s disease.

 The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can’t afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

Comment: If you don’t want to get sick with Parkinson’s disease or cancer, buy organic apples even if you cannot afford it. Just buy in smaller quantity and eat one apple a day.

          7.  Microwave Popcorn

I never use microwave for any reason. I just don’t accept it, especially with popcorn. I find more important sometimes to stop and look around at all the wonderful things in nature. Microwave is so far away from nature, as Mars from the Earth. So, what can come good of this electronic innovation, except speedy process of warming up frozen foods?

The expert Olga Naidenko, PhD, a seniour scientist for the Environmental Working Group has her well-researched opinion about popcorn made in microwave.

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes chemicals to vaporize and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumilate there,” says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

Comment: Choose organic corn in paper bags.  Use stove or oven instead of microwave. We, consumers, are in power to illiminate problems created by careless manufacturers. Unfortinately, we don’t have enough power just to say and  correct them.  But we can ignore this nonsense of chemical exposure in foods we eat daily, and protect ourselves from the companies which don’t consider consumers health, as priority before monetary rewards. In a case of DuPont and other manufactures, don’t buy they popcorn bags or any other foods until they concsiously change their packaging with harmful PFOA to the safe one. When they will not make expected sales and earnings, these producers will act immediately instead of making consumers to wait  not less 15 years!!

References: Photo “Steak with Chips” by Petr Kratochvil; Prevention survey, “7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips” by Anne Underwood, http://health.msn.com/health-topic/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid_100246775&