It would seem like a no-brainer. But when asked which foods are the worst for their health, people often list whole, natural foods like eggs and butter (cholesterol), and naturally fatty foods like nuts or steak (weight management), while they consume margarine full of trans fats and breakfast cereals that more closely resemble cardboard than natural food.
“Green clovers. Blue diamonds. Orange Stars. Pink hearts. Purple horseshoes. Man, I never know if I’m looking at a bowl of cereal or having another acid flashback.” ~Dave Henry.
In a mall last year (evidence I sometimes venture into these satellite universes), I actually overheard one 30-something woman, who was consuming a chocolate bar, tell her comrade as she scrutinized at the wrapper, “It says it has zero grams of fat. I should eat one of these for lunch everyday!”
This is not to say that one will go directly to hell if s/he eats a chocolate bar. Everyone has their occasional indulgences. But for an adult to believe that a candy bar is a good lunch because it does not contain fat is absurd! Are we completely hopeless morons or is it possible we have been that misinformed???
I believe two factors are largely responsible for our lack of accurate information around nutrition: the forceful and deceptive quality of advertising claims attached to products, with laughable laws around consumer protection, and the lack of knowledgeable medical leadership on the subject. If doctors targeted this misinformation as an essential task to be addressed, through education and advocacy (think anti-smoking campaigns), it would soon be a problem of the past. Unfortunately, today we have doctors who themselves are misinformed! This is because doctors today typically receive more input from drug companies and interest groups (ie:the dairy association) about health than they do from medical and scientific textbooks, and when they do consult the books, the books are often a means of legitimizing the claims (and thus boosting the sales) of said drug companies (the DSM-IV, for example).
If anyone doubts this fact they simply need to ponder the following:
Doctors regularly recommend high consumption of dairy products to promote bone density (try to tell them you don’t consume dairy, or worse, don’t give it to your child, and watch their reaction), however:
- “Americans have among the highest osteoporosis rates in the world, while their dairy intake is also among the highest.”
- “The rate of hip fractures in the U.S. for people of many races and ethnic origins is exactly inverse to their rates of lactose intolerance. In other words, those who are likely avoiding milk as adults have the fewest fractures.” http://thebabybond.com/MilkingYourBones.html
If this is not a direct result of the lobbying of the dairy industry, what exactly is it about?
Furthermore, doctors regularly advise patients to stop consuming butter and eggs (high sat. fat / cholesterol foods) when heart disease is a risk factor, although it is actually not these foods that elevate cholesterol levels in the body. What’s more, high cholesterol levels are not an accurate predictor for heart disease. It is processed foods, like trans fats and refined grains (margarine and bread, for example) that cause heart disease. Watch the video below to better understand this cycle of misinformation.
So what ARE the 10 most toxic foods to your mental and physical health?
First, your mental health IS your physical health, since the cells of your mind are filled with the same nutrients and chemicals as the rest of your body. Your mental health is a direct reflection of your physiological health. Thus, the most toxic foods to mental health are those that are most destructive to your health overall. Despite what mainstream physicians would have you believe, the arthritis in you knees and angina and diabetes and bad nerves are all linked. They are not separate diseases of separate bodies. They are simply various symptoms of imbalance and toxicity in the one body. The worst offenders are:
- Sugars (including brown and organic sugar and corn syrup!): processed foods, devoid of all their nutrients, which cause blood sugar spikes and adrenaline problems, insulin resistance and fatigue, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mood swings. Road rage anyone?
- Artificial sweeteners: addictive and dangerous chemicals, not food. Enough said. (see my link on artificial sweeteners if you want more in depth info)
- Hydrogenated oils and all ‘modified’ oils: they contain high amounts of trans fats, which even mainstream medical doctors recognize now to be highly toxic to the body. The same doctor that told you to eat it not ten years ago! BTW: a direct correlation between the onset of consumption of these products and the beginning of the boom in cancer rates.
- Refined grains: all refined grains are devoid of any nutrition and are simply empty sugars to the body. The body needs some sugars/ carbohydrates, but not empty ones, which only lead to cravings. Can’t stop eating them? Well, your body knows it hasn’t gotten its nutrition from eating it, so it thinks it is still hungry. The bran and essential fats and nutrients are lost during processing. Think about it: white flour and water make glue. (remember paper mache as a kid?) Well, that’s what it does to your bowel and internal organs, as well.
- Processed foods: almost all processed foods contain refined grains, sugar (often corn syrup), and modified vegetable or cottonseed oil, which is NOT a food. Even organic processed foods are unwholesome for the most part. To know for sure, read the ingredients NOT THE LABEL. The label is an advertisement meant to sell the product. The ingredient list will tell you what the product actually is. If it has more than three to four ingredients and they aren’t all in their most whole, natural state, I don’t recommend consuming it. (ie: good: packaged hummus with chick pea, olive oil or water, and garlic. Bad: packaged hummus with 10 plus ingredients or even with three ingredients, one of which is unspecified or modified vegetable oil.)
- Deep fried foods: they cause free radical damage to the liver. If you want to occasionally fry something, use saturated fat, like coconut oil, which is safer at high temperatures than vegetable oils. Be wary of any frozen, prepared foods. Many are dredged in oil before freezing to ensure crispness. And not the good oils.
- GMO anything: there is insufficient data yet to prove that it is safe and we are the guinea pigs. Unlike most tests, though, this one never ends, because the seeds cross pollinate with natural seeds and threaten the extinction of all natural crops. Scary shit. Don’t eat it. {GMO corn, corn oil, and corn fed domesticated animals: the human body has been shown not to be able to digest it properly. It is causing crazy diseases in domesticated animals. Watch Food Inc. to understand what it is doing to animals and how it affects us.} {GMO wheat: so almost all wheat now. Celiac’s disease is skyrocketing because of it. People can’t digest it. Many people become violent on it (my son included) and it often plays an exacerbating role in the symptomatology of schizophrenia and autism.}
- Sulphites: according to Health Canada, one of the top food products causing allergies and bad reactions.
- Non-organic animal flesh and fats: the carcinogens and hormones they are exposed to are stored in their adipose (fat) cells. They are concentrated there. Furthermore, the animals are becoming ill because they are fed food that is not natural to them and because they are farmed inhumanely. (see Food Inc.) If you choose to eat animal flesh, which I do, recognize that anything other than organic is dangerous.
- Cow’s dairy: It replaces more wholesome foods in the diet, causes mucous and allergies, acne and arthritis, and it is pasteurized, which kills most of the vitamins naturally present and removes the nutritious benefits. I am convinced by my own experiences and research that it is the cause of most ear infections in the young. Furthermore, it is a fat and concentrates all the toxins the animal is exposed to. The phosphorous ratio in Cow dairy is not compatible with human bone formation and creates porous bones. Sheep or goat dairy is far preferable, as far as the mineral ratio goes, and for digestive purposes. Unpasteurized is best for nutritional benefits, if you can get it. Some farmers have been jailed to fight for your right to access it, right here in Toronto. Soy milk or hemp milk are also good substitutes.
Now you know what you should NOT eat. Need some new recipe ideas? Check out my recipe page!
