Walmart Bacon or Grass-Fed Pork Belly?
I've been asked more than once why I use and recommend high quality foods, supplements, body care, and cleaning supplies over cheaper products.
In a nutshell, I save money everywhere except for products I put in, around and on my body. Like, I wear Walmart clothes, I don't eat Walmart food. I use tallow balm, not a commercial hand lotion. I use an essential oil cleaning product, not the scads of "cleaners" I used to buy.
I say "cleaners" because if something leaves YOU -- your body, your cells, your systems -- toxic after using them... I don't call that a cleaner. I call that a poison.
Here are my top 5 reasons for buying quality products to use in, on and around my body:
#1 Food is foundational to health.
I know, I know: that seems obvious, right? Well, then why would anyone eat a $1 hamburger at McDonalds??? I've done it -- I totally get the allure. And I TOTALLY get being broke. We've all been there.
But let's not kid ourselves: fast food is NOT food. It's got almost no REAL food in it, it's filled with toxic-chemicals and additives (all FDA approved) to make it "tasty" and smell good. In fact, it's got nano-chemicals in it to make you want to eat another one!!!
Sure, there is some meat in a cheeseburger. But how was that meat prepared? I'm not talking about in the back of the fast food store (I hesitate to call them restaurants), but at the farm and the butcher and the, er, "processor" who makes it into patties. My son worked at a Food Processing Plant for a short time.
He stopped eating fast food.
Besides the fact that it's not 100% food, civilized cultures have gotten away from the notion of eating for nutrition. Food has ONE purpose: to fuel your body. With this fuel, your body builds new cells, builds muscles, keeps tendons, joints lubricated with collagen, keeps brain cells firing, generates new blood cells...
Eating for pleasure is fine -- we want our real food to taste good. Who doesn't love a delicious dinner out with friends? The camaraderie, the laughs, the wine.
Just bear in mind two points:
Eating for pleasure doesn't have to be divorced from eating for nutrition; and
Eating low-quality toxic-chemical-laden food for pleasure does great harm to your systems and provides very little (if any) nutrition.
Here's a good question to ask before any meal: "Why am I eating this?" < < < Takes 2 seconds and that question alone could change your eating patterns forever.
#2 Weight Management
Processed and fast foods are full of sugar.
Eating sugar makes you fat.
Eating chemicals makes you fat.
Eating fat helps you burn fat (which is why the keto and Atkins diets work so well).
#3 Low to No Toxic Chemicals
Reading labels is very eye-opening. For one thing, shouldn't a real food have one ingredient: the food itself? Even mac and cheese should have just macaroni and dehydrated cheese, right?
Plus -- gross out time -- the FDA doesn't require everything in the box to be on the label. Yeah, you really have no clue what all you are ingesting these days.
I used to say that, if i can't pronounce, I don't eat it. Well, now, if I can't pronounce it, I don't use it anywhere near me or my family!
Of the thousands of chemicals in use today, only a few have been tested. By the companies that sell them, of course. I ain't doin' it.
#4 Hormonal health
Hormones are involved in every single bodily process. ALL of them. And not just sex hormones either (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), although those are what keep us young and full of vigor! Chemical exposure disrupts those hormones. Don't eat them, don't wear them and don't breathe them in.
#5 Voting with Your Wallet
When you buy wholesome, healthy foods, you are supporting the farmers that are growing the food and caring for the soil. Especially when you buy directly from the farmer! I know that's not always possible, so supporting the stores that sell the wholesome foods is the next best thing.
Yes, it's an imperfect world: Whole Foods, Costco, industrialized organic foods... there are issues. But I'll take those issues over chemicals. I'll also work toward helping farmers increase their market share.
Your dollar is THE most powerful vote you have. When you buy toxic-chemical-laden fast foods, personal care items and cleaning supplies, YOU ARE SUPPORTING THOSE MANUFACTURING PRACTICES.
Budgets are a fact of life. That said, we can all make it a priority to buy the best quality, cleanest foods and products we can afford at the moment.
Voting with your wallet is how you can be the change! Every penny counts :)
Resources:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/health/fast-food-packaging-chemicals-pfas-study/index.html
https://www.livestrong.com/article/484086-dangerous-chemicals-fast-food-other-msg/
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/if-youre-concerned-about-breast-cancerwhat-you-must-know
Fast Food Nation book http://amzn.to/2jkPjIR Fast Food Nation video http://amzn.to/2jlEKFt
Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser refelcts on 10 years later https://www.thedailybeast.com/still-a-fast-food-nation-eric-schlosser-reflects-on-10-years-later
http://search.mercola.com/results.aspx?q=chemicals%20in%20food
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/sunday-review/think-those-chemicals-have-been-tested.html
https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/chemistry-context/debunking-myth-chemicals-testing-safety/