Eating For Health

Lots of people are talking about what RFK, Jr. may do to the food industry as he focuses on making foods healthier with less additives and chemicals.   Many articles have been written about it.   What foods might be affected by health policies favored by RFK, Jr.? Foods with additives:   Ever take the time to read the ingredient label on foods?   So many have ingredients that are hard to pronounce and most people have no idea what the chemical or additive is.   Food manufacturers add chemicals “to enhance flavor, color, or shelf life” but in doing so such chemicals may adversely affect our health.   Food Dyes :   EWG notes that three food colors comprise 90% of the food dyes in food, including Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, and Yellow Dye No. 6.   o    Red Dye No. 40 – so many foods have been colored with red dye including candies, snacks, and many beverages like fruit punches and fruit drinks.   In fact, EWG says “more ...

Ever try to go “organic” and buy some organic fruit, vegetables or milk?   Then you look at the price and say, “Oh, my” and wonder why organic costs so much more?   So what gives, why do you have to pay more for the healthier organic option? Chemicals, pesticides – one reason people buy organic foods is that they aren’t sprayed with all the pesticides and chemicals.   And organic farmers do raise their produce and products without the use of pesticides that are harmful to your health and harmful to the environment.   But this means farmers can lose more of their crop to insects, fungus and other plant diseases.   Also, without the chemical preservatives some foods won’t last as long on the shelf.       Hormones – many farmers use growth hormones or enhancers to make the animals grow faster and can go to market sooner.    Organic farmers don’t use these hormones but then spend the extra money as the animals like chickens take long...

Are organic foods healthier?   Should you spend the extra money and purchase organic foods?    People you know may buy no organic, buy some organic or all organic which can be quite pricey.      So what are organic foods and what are the advantages of going organic? Organic – The main advantage of organic is that these foods don’t have the pesticides, herbicides, hormones or drugs that can be found in non-organically grown food.             Plants – may use natural pesticides like soaps, plant oils or bugs but not chemical pesticides.   Only natural fertilizers used like manure or compost.            Animals – are not fed hormones or given antibiotics, and the animals are fed only organic feed                 No GMO’s – a concern of many people Government – in the...