Healthy Food Options to Avoid Harmful Chemicals

Everyone knows about the major food groups, eating a balanced diet, and following USDA’s My Plate. Here are some healthy  food options that we have read about that help people avoid harmful chemicals.

Organic Food

Organic fruits and vegetables are an obvious option and our post concentrates on buying just the ones that have the most pesticide residue. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that even after you wash certain fruits and vegetables, they still contain much higher levels of pesticide residue than others.

Super cancer fighter vegetables per a Stanford Doctor include: soy, onions, broccoli, tomatoes and blueberries.

Organic Milk

Buy milk that is USDA organic to avoid hormones like bovine growth hormone (rbST or rBGH), antibiotics, pesticides, and other additives. Most industrialized nations and all 25 members of the EU have not approved rBGH because it can sicken cows. Organically raised cows are also given access to pasture.  Some believe that these benefits are not real because milk is tested for antibiotic and pesticide residue.  Others believe that these hormones produce milk with higher-than-normal levels of the insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1. Where is my milk from shows where your milk is from.  Did you know that skim, whole, reduced fat milk all have similar amounts of protein,  calcium, and vitamin D?

Processed meats like cold cuts, hot dogs, bacon, and sausages have lots of sodium and nitrates which may cause heart risks or cancer.  Buy nitrate free meats instead.

Organic Eggs

Organic Eggs have better flavor and the chickens laying them have been feed organic feed. Eating them is a good way to  help minimize risk of exposure to antibiotics, or synthetic hormones and pesticides while obtaining a healthy dose of nutrients.

Eggs need to be fully cooked properly to prevent food poisoning and salmonella contamination. Bacteria can exist inside an uncracked, uncooked whole egg. Avoid eating raw cookie dough with egg or making ice cream with egg or Caesar salad dressing with raw eggs. Cook eggs until the egg yolk and the egg white are firm. Cook egg custard used in eggnog, homemade ice cream, and quiches to at least 160 degrees. Bake egg meringues at 350 degrees for at least 15 minutes on the lower rack of your oven.

Organic Beef and Poultry

Avoid hormones and antibiotics in Beef and Poultry buy purchasing Organic products and grass fed beef. American livestock routinely get antibiotics to promote growth and to prevent possible illness. The problem is that this practice to germs to mutate and possibly generate antibiotic resistance in humans. In Denmark, they track livestock antibiotics and require a prescription before any is applied. Perhaps the United States should join this approach. The United States six times more antibiotics than Denmark to produce meat.

Saw this amusing sign at Whole Foods. Friends Don’t Let Friends eat meat with Drugs.

Stick to whole wheat bread and bread products.

Foods to avoid

• Avoid sugary foods especially ones with added high fructose corn syrup.  Diet soda does not help much as they are still empty calories. Avoid Protein Drinks with heavy metals.
• Avoid foods from cans and plastic containers that may have BPA.
• Do not watch TV during meals.
• Say no to foods with Trans fats.
• Avoid artificial colors and dyes
• Avoid anything with sharks fin in it

Avoid microwaved popcorn because to the inside of a microwave popcorn bag is usually coated with a perfluorinated chemical (PFC) called a fluorotelomer that can break down to form perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and preliminary epidemiological studies suggest that a pregnant woman’s exposure to PFOA may reduce her baby’s birth weight.

Get as much fiber in your diet as possible.  Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes are some great sources.

Cooking your food Safely

• Cook on non teflon cookware
• Avoid microwaving food in plastic. Use ceramic or glass containers
• Cooked eggs and products with eggs, carefully
• Buy only high-quality ground beef
• Stick to sustainable seafood
• BBQ your food safely
• Go easy on proteins drinks
• Buy sustainable seafood

Be sure to watch the sunscreen and cosmetics you use.

Related posts:

1. Egg Recall – Egg Farm Practices and Organic Eggs
2. Hormel Natural Choice Natural Deli Meat
3. Food Inc. – Food Industry Commercialization
4. Natural Dog Food – Natural Cat Food
5. Tips to Avoid BPA Exposure
6. New rules for Organic Meat and Milk
7. Sulfuryl Fluoride Fumigation and Food
8. Chicken Safety, Turkey Safety – Salmonella, Campylobacter bacteria

Posted on January 20th, 2011
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