One of the most significant things I did to help me boost my healthiness, and drop 40 pounds and keep it off for 4 years this January 2012 was eliminating and avoiding "chemical cuisine."
I define chemical cuisine as any food with ingredients that include additives, preservatives, antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, GMOs, pink slime and anything not made by Mother Nature - the best food engineer on the planet, in my humble opinion. With all these chemicals in our foods, it's no wonder health issues are on the rise.
If an ingredient sounds like it came from a chemistry experiment, I don't eat it. Eat real foods is my mantra.To simplify, I love Jack Lalanne's food philosophy, "If man made it, I don't eat it." The man lived to be 96 and was still working out til the day he died. Amazing!
If you too would like to start eliminating the chemical cuisine from your daily eating, here are a couple resources that can help educate you and guide you to brands and retailers that carry more all natural foods.
Resource: The Center for Science in the Public Interest
Here is a great and simple summary of, "The Safety of Food Additives" - which additives to avoid, banned additives, and safety ratings for all listed additives. There is even a handy chart you can print out and stick on your fridge.
Resource: The Non-GMO Project
The Non-GMO Project has a fantastic database that lists all the food brands that have been Non-GMO Project verified. The Non-Gmo Project is a non-profit organization and offers North America’s only third party verification and labeling for non-GMO food and products. Their certification has been widely adopted by the industry and consumers. I love that someone took it upon themselves to set some standard since the FDA has done very little in the way of GMO Food regulation.
If you have an iPhone, the Non-GMO Project database is also available in app form for free - handy for when you are at the grocery store.
Are there any other resources you use to help you avoid the chemical cuisine?
