The Terrifying Three Toxins You Must Eliminate From Your Diet Now

Long gone are the days when we foraged and hunted for our food. Sure inherent dangers existed, for the saber tooth tiger could maul you, you could fall down a crevice when seeking out those blueberries or that carcass you scavenged for meat could be spoiled and maggot-infested.  But at least the food was clean, grown naturally, and sustainable.

“Franken-foods”

The advent of the Agricultural Revolution saw an exponential increase in our food supply. The Malthusian prophets were proved wrong, for our food production kept pace with our burgeoning population. As a whole starvation and pestilence was avoided.

{Read our Items to Remove From Your Household Now article.}
In the last 100 years with the rapid technological improvements in canning and refrigeration, our food began to change. Incrementally it went from fresh from the farm and fields to packaged and processed. Now certain benefits came with this transition. Food could be preserved and properly transported. The urban masses and those living in arid lands could be feed.Now upon entering a grocery store, 80% of the aisles are replete with these processed, packaged foods, much of them with their inherent nutrition stripped and laden with additives. Why? Food dyes bring added zingy color and prevent food from looking rancid; preservatives to keep the food from become stale; flavor enhancers to make the food more addictive and to compensate for the flavorful fat stripped of it. (Fat is filling and makes food taste great. Taste is sacrificed when it is removed so food manufacturers must fill it with sweeteners.) Ostensibly, “Big Food” does the above actions to pad their bottom-line. Quality ingredients costs more money….low grade ones like high fructose corn syrup don’t. Also, they can rationalize it by saying that adding preservatives and fillers keeps prices down.

{Read Items to Purge From Your House Now #2 article.}

Let’s Dredge the Swamp

So much of our aisles are full of high-calorie, low nutrient-dense garbage. Now this might not be a problem per se if some of the additives were not detrimental to our health. Here at Naturopathic Earth, we strive for clean, whole foods, herbs, and essential oils as seen in the days of our ancestors.

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Below is a list of some of the foods that you should be aware poise possible problems to your health and should be avoided if at all possible. For the sake of easy reading, I will list the foods in which these toxins may be found and the maladies connected to them.

-Artificial Sweeteners-

The FDA knew for 15 years the dangerous effects of Aspartame on mice and for this reason banned it from the market. The CEO of the company that owned it (Serrill) was Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense. The company essentially bribed the newly-elected Reagan administration in 1980 to approve it. Reagan fired the FDA chief and put in one that was pro-Aspartame.  Soon it was placed in all diet sodas and marketed as a 0 calorie elixir for diabetics.   There are over 90,000 complaints filed with the FDA regarding aspartame.

Most common artificial sweeteners

1. Aspartame (sold as Nutrasweet)
2. Sucralose (sold as Splenda)
3. Acesulfame Potassium (the newest sweetener)
4. Saccharine (Sweet N’ Low)
5. Equal (Aspartame & Acesulfame Potassium)

Food Items

1. Diet Sodas
2. Low-Sugar Items (Low-fat yogurts, jams, candy bars)
3. Cereals
4. Energy drinks

Symptoms Associated with Artificial Sweeteners

1. Migraines
2. Infertility
3. Weight Gain
4. Vertigo
5. Brain Tumors (in Rats)
6. Vision Changes
7. Worsening diabetes
8. Seizures

Takeaways:

1.  Limit your sugar, all forms of sugar, as much as possible. Ideally no more than 10% of calories should come from them (about 50 grams/day).  This includes simple sugars like bread, pasta, crackers, et al.
2. Stay completely away from artificial sweeteners. If you need something with sugar, choose cane sugar (ideally Organic).
3.  Use Stevia if need be.
4. Use natural sweeteners (honey, molasses, agave nectar). Though they will spike your sugar and insulin like sugar, at least they are natural.
5. Choose Xylitol or Erythritol-based foods (e.g. chewing gums). Studies show xylitol improves oral health.
6. Choose high-fat dairy (for increased satiety and the avoidance of added sugars)

{Read our articles on the importance of an Elimination Diet and how it can save your life.}

-Monosodium Glutamate-

Made famous by Chinese foods (and its concomitant addictive qualities) MSG is a salty flavor enhancer food toxin commonly added to processed foods. It is currently in thousands of processed food items to make those foods more savory; restaurants use it as well so you will keep returning to their establishments. Glutamic Acid is made naturally by the brain, but the manufactured one is problematic. MSG is classified as a neurotoxin, meaning that it overstimulates neurons in the brain to the point in which they implode. Some studies show that up to 30% of the population has an intolerance to it (see symptoms below to see if you might have it).

Food Items

1. Flavored Chips (essentially every chip aside from unflavored tortilla, corn, or potato chips)
2. All Soups & Broths
3. Microwave noodles
4. Canned spaghetti, raviolis
5. Most flavor packets
6. Packaged instant pasta and rice mixes

Symptoms Associated with It

1. Obesity
2. Headaches
3. Seizures
4. Rapid Heartbeat
5. Tingling
6. Weakness
7. Depression

Takeaway

1. Essentially anything that is flavored has MSGs.
2. If you love chips (ideally stay away from all since they are cooked in the inflammatory industrial-grade vegetable oils loaded with Transfats or GMO corn or potatoes), purchase unflavored ones, like corn or tortilla chips.
3. As always, read the ingredients! Beware of its code names such as Yeast Extract, Autolyzed Yeast, Hydrolyzed Protein,  among many others.

{Read about the importance of Intermittent Fasting.}

Sodium Nitrate/Nitrate

Time Magazine published a famous article in 2016 shedding light on what many in the nutritional world have known for over 30 years.  Sodium Nitrate is very bad for your health.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled it as a Class 1 Carcinogen, meaning it has direct links to cancer.  Traditionally sodium nitrate has been used as a preservative, a chemical used to either maintain freshness or just look fresh.

Food Items

1. Hot Dogs
2. Bacon
3. Deli Meats
4. Most frozen entrees

Maladies

1. Colorectal & stomach cancer
2. Obesity
3. Heart Disease

Takeaways:

1. Many health-conscious grocery stores now carry nitrate-free processed meats and frozen entrees. If you must eat the aforementioned meat (which honestly we hope you don’t since processed meat is so horrible for your health), opt for these.
2. If you do persist in eating processed meat, increase your intake of fibrous fruits & vegetables to counterbalance it.
3. Have annual colonoscopies performed to detect polyps, the early indicators of colorectal cancer.

Naturopathic Earth aims to provide a continuing series of Terrifying Three Toxins  since, unfortunately, agribusiness puts so many food toxins into our supply nowadays, their high-money lobbyists push their cause in D.C., and the high-end administrators at the oversight government entities turn a blind eye to them.  Why?  A “revolving door” exists between these groups.  A CEO of an “Big Food” company commonly resigns to take a lofty position at the FDA, USDA, CDC, etc.  (This is seen in “Big Pharma” as well.)  It is a horrible conflict of interest that ultimately makes us collateral damage.

We always recommend you eat Paleo-inspired nutrient-dense diet. Clean locally-grown or organic produce, locally-raised or organic meats and eggs, nuts, seeds, and as little processed foods as possible.

Read my weight-loss journey here; subscribe to my podcasts here.

A. Gregory Luna, double-certified health consultant.

(I would appreciate your comments below.)