Let's Talk about food

WARNING: I am going to step on our toes, no actually I am going to stomp on them. I am going to be doing a series of posts about food additives / ingredients that I believe are making us sick. Most people agree that they would like to look and feel better, but they fail to make one important connection. If you lead a healthy lifestyle (clean diet and exercise) a healthy body will be a natural result of that. But what is a clean diet? What does that mean? Clean eating means that you eat food in it's most natural and healthy state possible.

So with all of that being said, keep an open mind and be willing to change!

Let me give you an example - hot dogs. I am sure that you have some in your fridge, maybe you even bought turkey dogs thinking that you were making a healthy choice. But I can almost guarantee you that your hot dogs contain sodium nitrite. Sodium Nitrite has been used for 100 years as an additive to cured meats. It has two roles. The first is to prevent the growth of bacteria, the second is to enhance color and flavor. Sounds innocent enough.

The downside is that nitrite combines with secondary amines (found in your stomach) to form cancer causing nitrosamines. Several studies have provided evidence that nitrite is harmful, and yet the manufacturers do not warn you of the cancer causing nitrites that they have placed in your food.

I am not saying that you shouldn't eat hot dogs. You can actually buy hot dogs that have ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in them to prevent the growth of bacteria without the harmful cancer causing nitrites in them.

Learn to read food labels! It is THE most important thing that you can do for your family. Stay tuned, I will be talking about trans fat, sugar, high fructose corn syrup and many other additives that you should avoid!

I am always here if you should have questions or comments! I hope that you have a great day - and remember to eat well. Food fuels our life, and if you fill your tank with garbage you won't get very far!