9 foods to avoid when creating a healthy lifestyle

As a mother of 5, and very health conscious I am always researching what we should and should not be eating.  I do admit I not a fanatic, my kids do have a little sugar at time, last night I had a few potato chips watching a movie with the family.  But as a whole, we concentrate on whole foods, balanced nutrition in our home.  My kids know the difference between a treat and something that is part of our “diet”.   And I take time out to explain to them why we eat certain things and why there are others that are a strict NO.  I include them in the grocery shopping and stick as much as possible to the outer isle, where all the whole live food is.

I think for the most part we all want to be  healthy, making informed decision is crucial to good health, make sure you know what you are putting in your body.

The point of eating is to provide the cells of our body the nutrition they need to preform their daily functions.  We see to often people in the world today who are over fed and under nourished.

We need to EAT to LIVE & not LIVE to EAT!

Where to start getting the information to making the right choice, listening to the media can be sometime quite confusing.  Butter or margarine?  Organic & Not?  Sugar or artificial sweeteners?

I hear people all the time saying ,  “you hear that everything is bad, so what’s the point?” , “the water & the air is polluted, are lands are depleted…..”

I look at this way, I cannot control everything, but the things that I can I will!  It will make a difference in the end.

When I research health one of my favorite sources of information is Dr. Mercola.

In his new letter today he shared an article about the 9 junk foods that most people think are healthy.

Canned tomatoes *Processed Meats*Margarine*vegetable oils*Microwave popcorn* non-organic potatoes or other produce know for high pesticide contamination*table salt*soy protein isolate and other unfermented soy products & artificial sweeteners.

I am personally gonna touch on a few of these before I share the article for you to check out for yourself.

So #1 I am so guilty of this one, I love making my homemade soups from scratch & do not use bouillon or stock.  Unless It is from a roast, or chicken that I have cooked myself.  So for me this is one I will have to work on, living in a smaller northern town, can be challenging for freshness & price.

If you love your popcorn, invest in an air popper.  In the end you will save money and you eliminate all the toxins associated with microwaving, especially in those bags that it comes in.

Organic veggies VS non-organic, yup organic cost more.

Health is costly these days, but lack of healthy will cost you even more in the long run.  Now what if you don’t have access to organic produce where you live.  I know for me this is a huge issue, I would have to drive over 2.5 hrs away if I wanted to buy organic.  Sometimes you need to make the best with what you got.  So in the summer I plant a garden and try to grow most of  my own, but I do not produce enough to provide for my family all year-long.  So when I have to buy fruits and veggies that are not organic, as soon as I get home, I will soak them in water (sink full) and vinegar (1 cup) – this may not remove everything but it removes some of the impurities, it’s always about moving towards something better, not necessarily perfection!

Artificial Sweeteners – is something I feel very strongly against.

My kids are not allowed to chew gum because most on the market contain this “poison”.   This one is the biggest of the no-no’s in my house, this one to me is a non compromise.   The first article I read about artificial sweeteners was 16 yrs ago when I was pregnant with my first child.  It was about a research done showing that artificial sweeteners metabolized as alcohol in undeveloped blood stream, and that in some extreme cases a child could be born with FAS (fetal Alcohol Syndrome) from a mother over consuming artificial sweeteners.  Now does this happen often, NO, but why would you want to risk it!  There are better alternatives out there.  That was enough to make me wonder if this is true what other damage can these artificial sweeteners do to our bodies?????

Soy- is the other one I will give my two cents on.

Being lactose intolerant my whole life, I choose as a young adult to switch to soy.  Well it did not take long before I was sicker than before.  Stomach cramps, headaches… so I eliminated soy from my diet and things go better.  I will not go to deeply in to this, but the commercialized soy that we see being market in most grocery stores, is processed & most soy is GMO (this does not mean that all the worlds soy is but that the convenience products found normally are). Process foods are bad.  Soy has been shown to interfere with hormones in women and so many other negative health effects.  So again this is a personal choice but this is one that I personally stay clear of.

I hope you found value in this post today.  If you are truly looking to improve your health, I invite you to CLICK HERE take a look at the article that Dr. mercola shared today!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy day.

And to all the wonderful dads out there HAPPY FATHER’s DAY!