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DREAM CAR!!!!!
Wow! What I wouldn't give....
Mmmmmm...
REAL FOOD!!!!
It's delicious!!! It's life-giving!! It never seems to last long in my house!!
What do these two things have to do with each other? Read on and find out!
If you haven't seen Lisa Leake's blog 100 Days of Real Food,check it out! I love this blog because this woman gives me back up for avoiding processed foods. She gives me the "why" behind my intuitive "that has to be bad for you". She also gives hundreds of ideas to help me swim against the tidal wave of processed foods that seem to be swamping America.
I am shocked by the things the FDA passes off as "food".
Twinkies - really!? What is that?! And I'm saddened by the lack of education in so many Americans that leads us like sheep to the slaughter houses of cancer, obesity and diabetes because we don't consider what is in our "food". We are manipulated and deceived into thinking that "low-fat", "sugar-free", "all natural" and "contains x-number of vitamins and minerals" means it's good for us. It is time to educate ourselves! It is time to tell manufacturers and the FDA what we WILL eat. What we WILL allow in our foods! And what we WILL put in our bodies!! Manufacturers are driven by the dollar and if we stop purchasing the products they pass off as food, they will start producing food that is safe and healthy enough for us to live on.
The UK is already doing just that! Consumers have driven the government to demand that any "food" containing artificial dyes must have a warning label that reads "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." Due to this simple additional label, major companies like Kraft and Pepsi no longer use artificial dyes, instead they use natural dyes such as paprika extract and beetroot. However, in the US where no label is required, to save a few pennies on the dollar, the same Pepsi and Kraft products are sold with artificial dyes; not because American kids digest these products safely but because, as parents, we are not demanding the same quality of food for our kids!
Why the government is so slow to move on this is beyond me! Except that we keep buying these products and working ourselves into the healthcare system with diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc, that can largely be prevented with a healthy diet! We could likely solve the health care dilemma if we'd just start eating right and demand that we are provided the healthy foods to do so! But we are part of the problem and just keep the cycle going!
We must depend on ourselves to make a change and not the government or manufacturers. The government might care about our children as a whole but it doesn't care if, individually, they are hyperactive, medicated for attention deficit diseases, or if they struggle in school because they can't focus! I have no doubt that we, as parents, love our children dearly, and therefore, we must take the greatest care for what goes into those beautiful bodies because if we don't, no one else will!! Let's step up!
Lisa gives way more ammo to the argument for avoiding synthetic dyes such as this from NPR.org. "Artificial food dyes are made from petroleum and approved for use by the FDA to enhance the color of processed foods." Mmmmm...yum! Pass the red M&M's! She also discusses the link dyes have to cancer, as they contain known carcinogens, and how they encourage obesity and diabetes.
Why the government is so slow to move on this is beyond me! Except that we keep buying these products and working ourselves into the healthcare system with diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc, that can largely be prevented with a healthy diet! We could likely solve the health care dilemma if we'd just start eating right and demand that we are provided the healthy foods to do so! But we are part of the problem and just keep the cycle going!
We must depend on ourselves to make a change and not the government or manufacturers. The government might care about our children as a whole but it doesn't care if, individually, they are hyperactive, medicated for attention deficit diseases, or if they struggle in school because they can't focus! I have no doubt that we, as parents, love our children dearly, and therefore, we must take the greatest care for what goes into those beautiful bodies because if we don't, no one else will!! Let's step up!
What power do we have as parents and consumers? Our power is in how we spend our dollar! Stop purchasing these products and see how fast changes are made!
Let's go back to my dreamy Jeep....
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So, what do real food and my dream car have to do with each other? Well, think of your body as your dream car and food as the gasoline! Are you really going to put in a fuel that contains contaminants that clog, corrode, wear down and slowly buildup in the car's system? Then why would you put bad fuel into your body? Why would you not eat foods that make the "engine" run smoothly? You can't trade your body in for a newer model when it runs down. It's the only one you've got and it needs to last you awhile! Fueling your body with real foods will allow your body to run well, longer. And the more changes towards real food that you make the cleaner and smoother your body will run!
So, I encourage you to check out 100 Days of Real Food and start with some small changes. You may be amazed how well you and your family start to feel with a little high-powered fuel!!
Laura laying down the truth!! I'll wager a guess to the question you asked "why is the government so slow to move on this?" Governmental regulations, while they protect the health and safety of the consumers, cost the corporations money. It's "better business" to keep the consumers in the dark and the toxins in the food than to mandate that food companies do the right thing. Consumers hold the power, like you said, but as long as there are Wal Marts and grocery stores filled with cheap poison food, consumers on the whole will make the wrong choice. I wholeheartedly agree - education is the answer. And, yum, those berries look delish! Hugs sister!!
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