Preservatives

Preservatives. Google's definition states ,"a substance used to preserve foodstuff, wood, or other materials against decay." A sign of real food is decay.

In my Science class, we all did an experiment. We had to choose a food that contains preservatives and an organic food. Our question was, "Which food would decay faster?" Like you probably would have guessed, the food that had preservatives to preserve the food, lasted longer.

Here is a picture of my experiment. On the left, there is a piece of homemade sourdough bread. On the right, there is a picture of store bought bread. The experiment ended a few months ago but here is a picture I took 1-2 weeks ago. These pieces of bread in this photo are both 2-3 months old! The store bought bread was filled with preservatives so it just turned hard. Pretty gross huh?



In one of my previous posts, I talked about why the western diet is so bad. see:  http://thehealthdictionary.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-western-diet.html It is filled with preservatives which causes Alzheimer's disease and many more diseases, emotional eating, etc.

I found this cool guide. See at: http://naturallysavvy.com/eat/7-scary-food-additives-to-avoid

In this guide, the pink words tell you what the preservatives do to your body.

This is a pretty bold question. Based on the information that we learned from the food guide by Naturally Savvy, I think not!

-My next post will be based around the question, "What causes food to spoil?"-

The Food Rules by Michael Pollan

As much as I want to take the credit for making these rules, I can't. These amazing rules were written by Michael Pollan.

Learn more about Michael Pollan at: http://michaelpollan.com/press-kit/

The 10 Food Rules by Michael Pollan:

1. Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.

-Fake food has gone through processing. There are still foods that are good for you besides just plants. Seeds, nuts, whole grains, etc.-

2. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize.

Would your great grandmother recognize Coco Puffs, Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, etc.?

 

 

3. Stay mostly out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store.

 

Processed food is usually found in the middle of the store. They put the milk, eggs, etc. near the back of the store so you pass all the processed food on your way and end up buying it. They also put processed food usually at eye level. They may have Quaker oatmeal packets on your eye level and whole rolled oats below it.

She may have been going to get bottled water in the back of the store, but as she passed all these processed chips, she just had to take a look.

 

4. Don't eat any food that won't eventually rot; avoid edible food-like substances. (Preservatives- next post)

 

Hot dogs for an example. They may look like meat, but they won't rot.

As disturbing as this may look, those are hot dogs in the process of being made.

 

5. Always leave the table 80% full.

Eat only until you are 80% full. We often overeat--eat more than we need. When you are questioning whether you should eat 1 more piece, just stop, or eat more fruits and vegetables. We also need to make sure we eat enough. Don't starve yourself.

 

Don't eat that last piece. Go for a healthier option.

 

6.  Eat meals with the people you love.

 

This is very important because it helps you not rush into eating. It not only improves you meal but also your day. By doing this, it also helps you leave the table 80% full because you are talking.

 

 

7. Eat your colors.

 

We need to eat a NATURAL variety of food. Bright colors in natural food all have their benefits. Sorry! Fruit Loops don't count! They have to be NATURAL!!

 

 

8. Buy local food in local seasons.

 

(Allergies- eat local honey)

 

9. Eat more like the French, Italian, Greeks, or Japanese.

 

This doesn't mean to go to a restaurant and buy this type of food. Food has been modernized. We need to eat the old traditional ways.

 

This looks pretty traditional to me!

 

10. Don't buy anything with more than 5 ingredients and with a sugar substance within the first 3 ingredients listed.

 

We need to check each SEPERATE ingredient.

This label shows a bit more than 5 ingredients. Better stay away.

-My next post will be about preservatives!-




The Western Diet

 

I decided I would start my blog with the an introduction to the Western Diet. Before I get started I just wanted to share the top 3 choices that people die from:

• Alcohol consumption = 85,000 deaths per year
• Tobacco use = 435,000 deaths per year
• Poor diet and Physical inactivity = 400,000 deaths per year

A lot of deaths are caused by poor diets. They don't know what's in their food and therefore, they don't know what they are eating. The Western diet is a very common diet but also very unhealthy. I will explain it to you as simple as I can.

 

What is the Western Diet?

Before we get too far we need to know the basics of what it is. The Western Diet is mainly made up of: 

1. High red meat intake (hamburger, steak, bacon, etc.)
2. Sugary desserts (ice cream, brownies, donuts, etc.)
3. High fat foods {basically anything fried} (French fries, fried chicken, etc.)
4. Refined grains { modified grains } (white flour, white rice, etc.)

- FYI: non refined grains are whole grains such as whole wheat, oats etc.

                                   

Hate to break it to you but this is the western diet.

What's so BAD about the Western Diet?

Yeah, you know these foods are not healthy but why is it so horrible?? The western diet not only affects your health, but also your strength, mind, and emotions. It also makes you fat. Carbs (we will get to these in another post) make you stressed, and it shows signs of diseases.

 

In the western diet, there are also preservatives. Preservatives help keep your food good past their due date (we will also learn more about this later), taste better, and look better. When I heard what preservatives do, at first I thought it was wonderful! Then I learned that preservatives create beta-amyloid, which can lead to Alzheimer's disease (a disease that makes you forget everything). Alzheimer's disease is a plague that grows over the brain. Now you are like begging to know how to avoid preservatives!! Additives or preservatives are found in animal products prepared at a high heat. Also, when you see words on a label that you don't know what it is or how to pronounce it, it's usually an additive.

 

                                                         These are practically on fire!!



 

Do you know how to make any of the outlined words? (preservatives!!) And yes! These are found in our everyday morning Pop Tarts! Oh and stay away from ANY corn syrup!

The Western diet also leads to emotional eating. That's eating when you are stressed, when you feel down, or even bored so you turn to food.

PHYSICAL HUNGER V.S. EMOTIONAL HUNGER

You can tell which is which from these guide lines:

1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly, while physical hunger comes gradually.
2. Physical hunger stops when you are full and emotional hunger tells you, "Just one more piece!"

How can we avoid the Western Diet? 

 

If we eat healthy, we wont crave the Western Diet as much!

 

-My next post will be about the Food Rules!-