Let’s Go Grocery Shopping - Part 1

The name of the game is “nutrient dense”. Cravings in our bodies often come from a lack of nutrients in the body system, so the body sends a signal, that something is needed. The immune system needs nutrients to function properly. Many processed items are not nutrient dense. If nutrients are lacking, then we are just wasting money and leaving our future at the hands of the corporations that profit from us getting sick.

Keep it Simple. The nutrient dense items have little to no processing, therefore, less chemicals and toxins. The cleaner the food, the less chemicals, the better it is.Keep it Simple. The nutrient dense items have little to no processing, therefore, less chemicals and toxins. The cleaner the food, the less chemicals, the better it is.

If our bodies are saturated with toxins (fat holds toxins), our bodies work overtime, trying to process “unfamiliar chemicals and toxins”, often depositing into our cellular matrix creating disturbances in the electron flow in the body. Leaving the body feeling “sluggish”, with low energy.

The brain is not getting what it needs, then we get “all up in our feelings easier”, becoming anxious, tired, and depressed, and unable to focus. Toxins dehydrate the body, which further causes stress on the body. The cycle needs to be broken through knowledge and understanding.

When we are not familiar with the overload of toxins in the environment, it becomes like a “slow death” of our cells and eventually the life force is unable to move through the body the way it was intended to.

The simplest with the least amount of ingredients is the best choice.

Always begin by looking at the ingredients. Product ingredients are listed by quantity- from highest to lowest amount. This means that the first ingredient is what the manufacture used the most of. A good "rule of thumb" is to scan the first three ingredients, as they make up the largest part of what we are eating.

If it seems you need a PhD to pronounce the ingredients, better choice is to put it up.

Do not be fooled. Do not let the “claims” on the front label of the item fool you. They are meant to "draw" the consumer in. Mega-corporations rule the world, and corporations that produce food to sell to grocery stores are there to profit, not to get tangled up into what is healthy or not. Low nutrient foods are cheap, abundant, and easily accessible. When we are unaware, we are giving them “a say so” in the future of our health. They are sly and many times downright dishonest, just to sell product. Do not be misled by words such as:

All natural

smart choice

low-cal

low-fat

fat-free

sugar free

light

multigrain

no ADDED sugar

fruit flavored

Organic – Organic sugar is still sugar.

Made with real fruit

These are just marketing tools. No matter what, if it is a processed item, look at the first 3 ingredients. The less amount of ingredients there are in the processed food and drink the better the choice.

Other Considerations

After scanning the first 3 ingredients, checking for a few key items would be good before purchasing.

SUGAR

The processed food on our grocery store shelves have added refined, sugar. Sugar is cheap and readily available for mega-corporations, and easy to place in food for enhanced flavor to sell to the public, often with no fiber or nutrients.

The immune system needs nutrients to function properly.

Sugar is addictive. Some research is showing us that sugar is as addictive as some “street drugs”, even being compared to cocaine. The more we consume, the more we want, the unhealthier we become, the more the corporations PROFIT, and many others over us getting sick.

Being "consciously aware" is important.

Sugar in small amounts can have its time and place if WE ARE MAKING THE CHOICE. The problem is, people are not choosing - it is HIDDEN in the ingredients, and when we are unaware, the amount that we ingest can be huge.

According to the CDC, 71% of Americans are now considered overweight. With 40% of those being obese, and 20 % of adolescents (12-19 y/o) being obese. This is sad, we as parents have a responsibility to our kids. We are teaching them through our habits.

In June of 2020, the U.S Life expectancy continues to decline. Most deaths are occurring in the 25-64 y/o group, from obesity and high blood pressure.

Refined Sugar versus Natural Fruit

Natural Fruits contain a mixture of sugars mostly in the form of fructose as well as some sucrose, and glucose, it is all natural.

Refined and artificial sugars come in many forms found in processed foods. When these sugars are broken down, they become a “processed” form of fructose and glucose. Too date, there is a list of 50-72 names of artificial and refined sugars, depending on the source one reads.

No matter the name of the sugar, sugar is sugar, refined and processed and of no significant value in our life other than pleasing the senses for a short period of time.

REFINED Sugar

The Media and medical community tell people all the time to either limit or eliminate fruit from their diet. Let us explore refined, processed, or artificial sugar versus natural fruit sugar.

Refined sugar is the sugar that causes the health problems.

Most sugar is refined table sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Sugar cane and sugar beets are processed, to extract the sugar. Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are made up of fructose and glucose. When ingested, enzymes split the molecule into fructose and glucose. They both affect our body differently.

Enzymes split this molecule in our body, and each one of these particles have a different fate in our body. Remember, we are still talking about an artificial and or refined chemical, something synthetic, coursing through our body.

The glucose heads to the bloodstream and activates INSULIN. This is our blood glucose that is measured, floating around in the bloodstream throughout the body. This is what is considered bad. Fat cells love toxins and want to bring “more, more, more”, converting glucose to fat.

High fructose corn syrup, (not natural), was introduced in the 1970's. It is an artificial sugar made from corn starch. When starch is broken down, the product is corn syrup, which is essentially 100% glucose. GLUCOSE can be used by every cell of the body but needs INSULIN. Glucose spikes our insulin.

High fructose corn syrup and refined sugar affects memory and slows down learning.

Insulin is the hormone that can make us fat. It is the hormone that stores fat, it makes us hungry, slows the metabolism down and locks the fat in the fat cells. Refined sugar is digested quickly, and you do not feel full after you are done eating, no matter how many calories are consumed.

The fructose side acts different. Unlike glucose, which is directly metabolized widely in the body, fructose goes straight to the liver, without affecting the insulin levels, and mostly entirely metabolized in the liver in humans. Fruit is mainly fructose.

Natural Fruit Sugar

Natural Fruit is not refined nor a synthetic sugar and should not ever be compared to refined sugar when we are speaking of health and nutrition. It is a dense nutritious food. Typically made from anywhere from 80-95% water. We are “water beings”, made of about 75% water.

Fruit is mainly fructose and does not affect the insulin levels, it is directly metabolized in the liver. Fruit contains fiber, that expands our gut so we will feel full. Fruit helps keeps our gut clean, which is considered our “other brain”.

The body needs fiber to rid the body of wastes and toxins, or these toxins and chemical residues just get deposited within our tissues of our gut, often disrupting the microbiome and the electrical signals. There are many other bioactive compounds in fruit, that are positive to our health that we are just beginning to learn about.

When we consume fruit, there is an abundance of other nutrients and WATER that comes along with the fruit. When we add more fruit, we tend to produce less insulin, the fruit HELPS our body’s balance ingested sugars. If we give our bodies what it needs, it takes care of the rest.

The confusion, and stigma, is that fructose causes blood sugar problems. Refined fructose does. Natural fruit does not. These two CAN NOT be compared, when we talk “nutritional value and immune system value”. One is natural and the other is NOT.

Artificial sweeteners

When people get confused, they begin replacing refined sugar with artificial sweeteners. Research shows that this may be doing our body more harm than good, and it is still served in hospitals and medical facilities. Recent studies show that these chemically modified sweeteners can damage the way your body naturally processes sugar making you much more susceptible to overeating. Due to the increasing public health warnings, food companies are now using obscure names, to hide these artificial sweeteners in their products.

These sweeteners are found in all sorts of products such as diet drinks, baked goods, frozen desserts, candy yogurt, and chewing gum.

Artificial sweeteners PROMOTE the accumulation of fat.

A study in 2015, published in the Journal of the American Geriatric’s Society, found that people who drank diet soda gained almost triple the abdominal fat over 9 years as those who did not drink diet soda. In addition, there are claims that carbonation, increases calcium loss in bones, cause tooth decay and irritable syndrome, and makes you bloated. Not to mention, zero nutrient content, causing cravings.

It has also been noted that there are adverse metabolic effects of artificial sweeteners, that correlate with pronounced changes in the micro-biome that occur within a week of daily consumption.

There is direct evidence that diet beverages can adversely impact body weight. When researchers placed overweight and obese individuals on a diet, randomized to replace diet beverages with water, lost significantly more weight about 15% more over six months.

JUICE CONCENTRATES

‘From Concentrate” means that the juice was dehydrated, shipped to a factory, re-hydrated, and packaged (that is a lot going on before it reaches are body). Not ‘from Concentrate’ means the juice was put directly in the container and is considered “healthier”. It was made by juicing the fruit. Most juice from concentrate has little nutritional value, and often added sugar.

We choose not to purchase any products that have “juice concentrates. They are calorie rich, with little nutrients. Waste of money.

ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES

Alternative possibilities when choosing sugar alternatives. Remember, it is all about learning balance. Enjoy life and all that it has to offer, just with more awareness. Everything in moderation. We often bake using maple syrup and bananas. We also buy extra organic bananas, and we rotate them. We have some in room temperature, some in the refrigerator and some frozen. When the bananas are frozen, they are a little sweeter, so we often use bananas to sweeten things, such as in our shakes. We buy green and yellow bananas and rotate them. As they become ripe, we put them in refrigerator or freeze them.

Raw Unfiltered Honey. Raw means Real.

(adults, not infants).

Raw honey is only strained before it is bottled, which means it retains most of the beneficial nutrients and antioxidants that it naturally contains. Conversely regular honey may undergo a variety of processing, which may remove beneficial nutrients like pollen and reduce its level of antioxidants. In addition, there are anti- bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It is a Phyto- nutrient powerhouse, and great for digestive issues. Raw honey is not pasteurized or processed.

Real Organic Maple Syrup.

Real Maple syrup is a “straight from nature” product that has a rather simple process flow. The sap is taken from tapped maple tree and then boiled into a concentrated syrup.

Organic Stevia is a glass bottle.

Stevia is not an artificial sweetener. It is natural and concentrated from the stevia plant.

Agave syrup.

The difference between raw agape and regular agave is that raw agave takes much longer to make, four to five days versus 24 hours for regular agave. Raw agave is not heated to high temperatures, where regular agave is heated up to 165 degrees Fahrenheit during processing. Less heat is always better.

Monk Fruit.

Monk fruit is a small round fruit native to southern China. Monk fruit sweetener is extracted from monk fruit. It is also referred to as the Buddha fruit. Although considered safe, just be aware that some people have sensitivities to monk fruit such as hives, rash, difficulty breathing, dizziness, swollen tongue, stomach pain, or vomiting. Both monk fruit and stevia have zero impact on the blood sugar levels. Monk fruit has been shown to be a bit sweeter than stevia. Monk fruit is heat stable, so it is safe to bake with.

MSG also known as ‘Flavor enhancer (621)’

MSG is a derivative of the amino acid glutamate also known as glutamic acid. Our bodies produce glutamate naturally and occurs naturally in foods like tomatoes and some cheeses. MSG is an additive that is made through the fermentation of starches. It functions to enhance flavor. Although research and the debate continues on MSG, it appears that some people are sensitive to it, especially children. MSG is an excitatory neurotransmitter. It Stimulates the nerve cell. Therefore, labeled as an “excitotoxin”. It is sodium added to food. In people that are sensitive, symptoms can occur within 20 minutes of ingesting MSG. Symptoms such as rapid heart-rate, heart palpitations, flushing, tingling, numbness, anxiety, and headache, mimicking a hangover type feeling. MSG is Monosodium Glutamate. Glutamate is a brain stimulant and enhances sensory perception, creating hyperactivity in some individuals. When MSG is processed, the industrial fermentation process introduces contaminants. The problem is tons of processed product contains MSG, and too much of anything causes imbalance.

Foods high in MSG

Fast Food -Chick Fe Let, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chicken Sandwich at McDonalds

Chinese Food

Chips and snack Foods- Cheese nips, Doritos, Pringles

Julio’s chips and salsa. The chips have it listed as third ingredient.

Seasoning Blends

Frozen Meals

Soups – Campbell’s chicken noodle soup

Processed Meats, lunch meat, hot-dogs

Instant Noodles

Condiments -Kikkoman soy sauces

Google states that research “indicates that MSG, monosodium glutamate, used as a food additive (621), may influence eating behavior, inducing a <<loyalty>> for glutamate enriched-food and an addictive behavior.”
 

GMO

Genetically modified organisms represent the first human technology that since its release into the environment, can never again be recalled or controlled. Through pollination this technology spreads indiscriminately, doing environmental and biological damage. The biotech companies are without accountability standards or peer reviews. In 2018, the United States had the largest amount of genetically modified crops, and as of 2019, there are 43 different genetically modified organisms. In America, 70% of our foods contain GMO’s.

Some foods are bio-concentrators, and some are bio-magnifiers. All animals are bio- concentrators. We are bio-concentrators. If you eat animals, they are bio-concentrators. The concentration of substances builds up within the tissues of the organism and is absorbed faster than it is removed. Increasing absorption and retention of toxins. The greatest concentration of toxins occurs in animal fat and cholesterol.

When we shop, we do the best we can to choose non-gmo food.

Steroid HORMONES in Food

Since the 1950’s the FDA has approved the use of steroid hormone drugs for use in cattle and sheep, including natural estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and THEIR SYNTHETIC versions. Injecting hormones in young life stock can make them gain weight faster. Hormones have been used for decades in the meat and dairy industries. Synthetic estrogens and testosterone are the most common. Typically, farmers plant a pellet in a cow's ear at an early age, and it releases hormones throughout the animal’s life.

ANTIBIOTICS in FOOD

Antibiotic growth promoters are used in livestock production. It can contribute to the development and spread of drug resistant bacteria, which is a potential risk to public health.

PROCESSED MEATS

Eating processed meats is linked to cancer and many chemical compounds, such as nitrites are added to extend its shelf life and have been shown to be harmful to our health.

BPA FREE (plastic products, plastic packaging, cans)

BPA is a synthetic chemical (not natural), that is used to make several different kinds of resin and plastic. The problem with BPA is that it is released from the material made of it, overtime. There is some evidence that BPA exposure may have some health consequences on the brains and behavior of developing fetuses, infants, and children. Pre-exposure has been linked to high blood pressure.

It is an estrogen and hormone distributor. Increasing estrogen levels and was once used as an estrogen drug. It is an estrogen mimicking hormone. Many plastic products from sippy cups to food wraps can release the sex hormone, estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives.

We choose BPA free water bottles, especially if you are one of those that leaves the water in the car in the heat of the summer in Houston. BPA free bottles also seem to be ‘sturdier’. We re-use the water bottles and fill them up with reverse-osmosis water. We purchased a reverse osmosis filter at Cosco.

Food tampering with chemicals is throwing our bodies out of balance. AND are messing with our hormones.

Hormones serve as messengers, controlling and coordinating activities throughout the body. Our hormones of our own body are being thrown out of whack, causing a confusion in our own “communication system” of our body. This communication system is a major control system in our bodies.

When we add a bunch of synthetic hormones from the animal and milk products we ingest, these hormones contain “their own messages” to further confuse OUR system. Then we add a few "antibiotics" from another meal, mix some "fancy chemicals," and sprinkle it with some "refined sugar", and EAT IT – what do ya get?

We got ourselves a CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT FOLKS! 🤦‍♀️

A live Human Experiment.

Our health is not about diets and strenuous exercise, it is not about meat or veganism, or a Keto or Paleo thing either.

It is a “chemical, toxin, artificial substance thing,” a “hormone disruptor” thing.

Causing havoc on our own hormonal system, causing chronic diseases and imbalance in the system. If our own innate communication system is not working in a balanced way, the body will not function properly.

Animals (humans) concentrate and store the poisons they eat, and that combined with stress, shallow breathing, low levels of water, leads to dehydration and further increasing the concentration of the toxins. These toxins like to set up shop in fatty tissue. Toxin levels in animals are almost 16 times more than in plants.

"Many are benefiting from the US getting sick except us! Who are those that are benefiting?

Fast Food companies

Diet Industry

Doctors

Government officials - those that are bought and paid for by the lobbyist that promote corporations

Scientist and Universities Research departments who are bought and paid for

Pharmaceutical Industry

Insurance companies

Nursing Homes

Hospitals

When we allow the government to be involved in what we eat, we are leaving the health of our bodies in their hands. The statistics 100 years later is telling us we are a sicker nation, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

The key is to be aware, not freaked out. Once we know, we do not have to go around being nervous of this or that. Just know that many things are added to processed food and the livestock industry and it all adds up. Every choice matters!

We ignore the impact of Genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in our food, environmental toxins, and pollutants, as well as the consumption of pesticides, and IGNORE the effect of processed food on our immune system and overall nutrition. Ultimately, leaving us with a multitude of chronic diseases. These diseases are on the rise and in our younger age groups, with no explanation and near no end. It is time to change the way we do things.

Our typical American diet is comprised of manufactured components. Lots of food – less nutrients. We must stop risking our health due ignorance and convenience.

“When the metabolism of the human body is perfectly balanced or poised. It is susceptible to no disease”.

-Raymond Rife-

-To Be Continued-