Are we living in a toxic environment? The experts at Canyon Ranch ask us to consider these facts:- The EPA estimates that 4.7 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the environment annually.
- It's likely that 25 percent of the U.S. population suffers from some level of heavy metal poisoning.
- Fourteen pounds of food colorings, additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, and flavorings are consumed per person each year.
Choose organic foods
It's difficult to craft a diet consisting of 100 percent organic produce, dairy, grains, and protein. Try, though, and you'll avoid synthetic ingredients and genetically-modified foods.
Buy local for cleaner produce
Click here and here for listings of farmer's markets all over the country.
Wash produce properly
Even organic items must be washed -- they can contain dangerous microbes and bacteria that can be washed off. Try one teaspoon mild soap in one gallon of water or purchase a prepared vegetable wash solution such as VegiWash or Fit Fruit. Use a vegetable brush on produce with skin you plan to eat, peel any wax-coated non-organic produce, and discard the outer leaves of cabbage and lettuce.
Know what you're putting in your body
Educate yourself about what you're eating. Did you know herbicides and pesticides cover much of the produce you eat? Or that antibiotic residues are used to routinely treat poultry and eggs? How about mercury and the carcinogens PCP, DDT, and dioxins that contaminate some fish varieties?
Understand food labels
For safety sake, shop for 100 percent organic items, free farmed poultry, beef, and pork, Food Alliance beef and pork, pasture or grass-fed beef, lamb, and eggs, and rBGH free milk and yogurt. Pay no attention to terms like natural, made without antibiotics, free range, and cage free. They are meaningless and are not regulated or verified by any agency.
Thanks, Canyon Ranch, for raising our awareness!
1. My heavy metal poisoning comes from my neighbor's stereo.
Richard Day Gore
Posted at 12:07PM on Jul 30th 2007 by richard day gore