***Just a quick note to tell you about the fabulous Bake Sale For Haiti that is going on today! My X’s and G’los Valentine’s Day Variety Pack is up for auction (including the new S’moooooooooooore bar!!) in addition to a TON of other delicious looking goodies!*** :mrgreen:
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Hey guys!
Sorry about my disappearance today. I have been going through some personal stuff and had to attend to that in addition to my work.
But alas, I am here as soon as I could be, and I have quite an interesting topic I would like to discuss!
You may or may not be aware that I am a huge Dr. Oz fan. I saw his very first appearance on Oprah and I was immediately a fan. I own almost all of his books and I just love his balanced approach to health. Each week I check his website and see what shows I want to see and then I set the VHS to tape it. (Yes, I said VHS…remember those? No PVR here. We don’t have cable!) :oops:
I taped today’s episode because I love the topic. It was on common everyday foods that may be poisoning us. I was intrigued to find out what Dr. Oz had to say!
Dr. Oz said there are three main poisons in our food:
1) Mercury
90% of all mercury in our blood is derived from eating fish. High levels of mercury have been shown to attack the brain and nervous system. ‘Fish Fog’ is a term used to describe a person with mercury poisoning; symptoms often include foggy and unclear thinking, difficulty concentrating, etc.
While most fish contain some mercury, the fish with the highest level of mercury is the sushi-grade tuna, according to Dr. Oz. He advised against eating tuna often. Interestingly enough, Dr Oz’s study found that Albacore tuna (which is an expensive type of tuna) actually had higher mercury levels than regular chunk light tuna (the cheap stuff!). I found this quite shocking! When I used to eat fish, I always tried to buy Albacore because I thought it was safer. Not true, says Dr. Oz. Albacore tuna is higher in mercury because it is a bigger and older fish. As a general rule of thumb, bigger and older fish will have higher levels of mercury in them. Fish with high levels of mercury include: Sushi, tuna, and tilefish, among others.
Dr. Oz recommends selecting small and young types of fish like herring, sardines, and even salmon as safer choices for lower mercury levels.
There was a time in university when I used to live off of tuna. I’m not even joking. Canned chunk light tuna was cheap and I ate a can everyday. :cry: Maybe my exam scores would have been higher had I not?? ;)
2) Pesticides
On virtually all non-organic fruit and vegetables, pesticides can be found. In
some human and animal research, pesticides are thought to increase the risk of ADHD, autism, and obesity.
Now don’t stop eating your fruits and veggies, instead become a wise consumer of what you select.
Obviously organic produce is expensive, so that is why we can find out what fruits and vegetables are at the lowest risk for pesticides and try to purchase those whenever possible. I tend to follow the Dirty Dozen (and clean fifteen) rules of thumb whenever possible.
If you can only purchase one fruit that is organic, they suggest buying organic apples. Why? Because people tend to eat a lot of apples and it is on the dirty dozen list.
If you can only purchase one organic vegetable than purchase organic potatoes. I didn’t know this, but potatoes are one of the worst vegetables for pesticides, so much so that the pesticides seep through the skin into the actual potato. For some reason I thought that potatoes would have a thick skin and be resistant to pesticides, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I would like to add that two vegetables I always buy organic are spinach and kale, as they are near the top of the list and I eat them very frequently (For organic spinach that is about half the price- go to Costo! I just discovered this myself.) Low-risk vegetables like cucumbers, onions, cabbage, eggplant, asparagus, and broccoli, I do not buy organic in an effort to save money.
3) Bisphenol A (BPA)
Ninety-three percent of adults have some amount of BPA in their blood. BPA is a building block found in many plastics and linings of cans. BPA is thought to increase the risk of infertility, cancer, diabetes, and obesity (however this is widely debated).
How can we protect ourselves against BPA?
- Check the number on the bottom of the plastic. Number 7 (hard clear plastic) contains BPA. Number 3 (PVC) and Number 6 (Polystyrene) are also known to leach chemicals.
- Buy fresh food whenever possible
- If you can’t buy fresh food, buy frozen food instead of cans
- Select glass containers as opposed to cans
- Do not freeze or microwave plastic
So there you have it, three poisons in our everyday foods, according to Dr. Oz.
Personally, I think it is a shame that we have to worry about our food so much in this day and age. Everything just seemed so much more simple a 100 years ago! It is quite sad when I think about the state that our food system is in. For the most part, the food industry is all about cranking out the most amount of food for the lowest amount of cost. In turn, our food has become compromised in a huge, huge way. Pesticides, GMO’s, and other chemicals are the norm.
I feel like everywhere we turn, there is a new study out there saying that this food is bad to eat or this chemical is in our food. When will it end? And most importantly, will there ever be a day in our future when we can feel confident in the food that we put in our bodies? Or will the system continue to get worse?
I try not to get bogged down too much about BPA or other such things because I think that it is impossible to avoid it entirely. I also think it is still too early to really know what effect these things are having on our bodies. For now I just try to make sensible choices when I can and not let myself lose sleep over it. If I listened to all the reports, there wouldn’t be anything left to eat!
What are your thoughts on the 3 above mentioned ‘poisons’? Do you avoid any of them :?:
Time to catch some zzzzzz’s. Been a long day. Nighty night, don’t let the bed bugs bite.
There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round, grown halfway around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it’s kind of a notional tomato. I mean, it’s the idea of a tomato. ~Michael Pollan
I love Dr. Oz, but I rarely catch his show or think to record it. I try to use less plastic containers and more glass. Tim cans are hard. I don’t buy canned veggies, but soups and diced tomatoes are mostly found in cans. I suppose it is all about making better choices whenever possible instead of getting too obsessive or scared. Thanks for the info!
Since I am high-raw and vegan, I definitely try to buy all organic. When money is tight, I follow the dirty dozen for sure!
Hang in there Angela! I’m sure you know this but what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger :)
I’ve just found out that pesticides are also found to have a connection to breast cancer. And in fact, the huge increase in the number of breast cancer cases in the past 10-15 years is said, by some, to be directly connected with our increase in use of pesticides.
Sad that when you think you’re eating healthy to protect yourself from diseases like cancer (with fruits, veggies, etc.) you’re actually potentially putting yourself at a higher risk is not done right.
Thanks for the info!
very informative!! I’m trying to learn more about them so I can make more “aware” decisions!
Hi Ange,
I too love Dr. Oz and have been a fan since his first Oprah appearance. I have all his books (except “You Having a Baby — not ready for that one yet!)and I even bought his “You The Owner’s Manual” book for my fiancee’s mom for XMAS. And, on our drive home I insisted to Denny (my fiancee) that we must buy the new “You” book on DVD and listen to it on the 14 hour drive. Denny is convinced I would rather marry Dr. Oz than him and has now tried to mimic Dr. Oz and his famous questions such as “How was your poop today?” (Only Dr. Oz fans will understand that!)
Anyhow, fast forward to 3 weeks ago when I was sitting in my supervisor’s office (Cindy Bulik at UNC, Chapel Hill) for a one-on-one meeting and she received a phone call for an upcoming appearance — she is a renowned eating disorders specialist and has appeared on several shows including the Today Show, Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, Good Morning America, etc. After she hung up I asked what show she was doing next and she said, ‘Dr. Oz.” I leaped from my chair in excitement and was so excited for her! I called the Dr. Oz show to get tickets but that particular tape date was booked. Knowing what a huge fan I am, Cindy emailed the producer and got Denny and I VIP tickets to that show. We went to NYC two weeks ago. I was and still am on cloud nine!! Meeting Dr. Oz was the best! Anyhow, given that part of the show is about eating disorders I thought you might be interested to know the airdate in the US is Friday, February 5th. You may even see me in the audience! We were in the first row. :) So, needless to say, when I saw your post about Dr. Oz, I just had to reply.
I really hope you feel better soon and whatever is going on works itself out. We miss you when you are not tweeting regularly and when you are feeling down. :(
Sending a big cyber hug your way…
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is SO exciting!!!
Eric and I got show tix a while back but it was a weekend that we were away so we couldnt go! :(
I hoep to attend some day (and rock out a fab trip to NYC too!)
I saw this show yesterday and was absolutely riveted. A lot of it was information I already knew but some of it was new. I thought the most useful was what foods we should ALWAYS buy organic (apples and potatoes) and which foods are okay to skip to the organic.
oh my, I had never read that dirty dozen list before . . . and I eat most of what’s on there . . . thanks for sharing and I have some thinking to do
Hey Angela! Thanks for an interesting and educational post. We miss your tweets and hope all is well soon. Let me know if there is anything I can do from out here in Burlington :-)
Yes, I def try to avoid those. I also feel sort of like processed foods in general are like poison and try to avoid them as much as possible. I still eat them once in awhile out of convenience, but I prefer the freshest most whole food possible.
:) Diana
PS Thanks for linking to the bake sale! I know your glo bars are going to be a BIG HIT!
I recorded this show as well. I try to avoid too much fish and choose the younger ones with less mercury.
I have been buying more & more organic produce.
Kim
I try to avoid these and many more as much as possible but it is impossible so I supplement with antioxidants to fix and reduce free radical damage caused by these poisons. I am also starting my own organic veggie garden in the spring as my NY resolution. Thankfully, more people are aware of this and it is possible to get organic produce delivered to you these days.
This is really interesting. I keep on telling myself that I will buy organic fruits and veggies once I’m actually making money instead of saving for the big college debt next year. It almost seems that organic food in the isles (crackers, cookies, cereals, breads) is more accessable and less expensive than organic produce.
I can’t imagine buying organic spinach, our groccery bill would increase about $10!
The bake sale sounds awesome I can’t wait to check it out.
Yep– I totally agree with you. Our desire for cheap, convenient food has come with a price: food safety. It’s sad…but at the same time, I don’t see how it’s going to change any time soon. I remember in Food Inc. when someone was talking about how we spend less money on food now than ever before…I think people have gotten used to the cheapness of (bad) food, and aren’t willing to pay more now that they see how cheap it can be (even though we’re paying for it IMMENSELY in other ways– hello, healthcare?!?).
I love Dr. Oz too! I have been home recovering from shoulder surgery and have been able to watch him almost everyday! He had a great piece last week about a woman army sargeant who lost her leg in a roadside bomb and how she was determined to recover…with hard work and a tenacious attitude. Wrote about it on a recent blog post at the Two Whos
http://www.Thetwowhos.com
Love your blogand am visiting regularly!
cece …one of the two Whos
Thanks for such an informative post Angela!! I’ve been trying to increase the amount of organic produce I buy and work it into my budget to reduce pesticide exposure to myself and the environment :)
Awesome, awesome post, Ange. Very informative!
I’m a huge Dr. Oz fan, too.
I agree, it’s so scary how more and more studies keep popping up about how we are putting chemical-laden, genetically engineered bad foods into our bodies!
I completely agree that we can’t obsess over the chemicals that we are exposed to, but at the same time it’s scary to think about it! I take the same approach as you and try to buy organic as much as I can afford for the foods I eat the most of and hope that’s enough!
I agree…it is a delicate balance between opening our eyes and not being in denial to trying to live our lives and not obsess!
Great post!! Question – do you buy organic or regular bananas? I noticed in the one article that they have slipped from 9th cleanest to 21st. Quite a drop!
We buy non organic bananas unless the organic are on sale. I always assumed that the thick skin protected them?
I always thought so, too.
I’m a huge Dr. Oz fan too :) I’m glad he got his own show!
I don’t consume fish so I think I’m fine with mercury; I only buy organic for things on “the dirty dozen” so I’m good with that, but BPA I’m really bad about :? Too many plastic containers…
The poisons really scare me, but I’m not one who can afford organic, so I try to stick with the fruits that are thick skinned.