***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:
~~~~~~
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
What’s interesting about tuna is that it’s also supposed to be one of the best foods to keep your mind alert (so eat it for lunch at work!). I wonder how the alertness & mercuy fog work together.
I am just now starting to get into the “organic” movement and reading about how HORRIBLE the American (western) food industry is. I read “In Defense of Food” and it makes me want to go join a CSA right now!
Very interesting points though.
Most of the Fruits and veggies I buy are organic. However Potatoes I wasn’t buy organic as I didn’t think it was a big deal… that will change this week!!
I think one of my pet peeves is ORGANIC Veggies in cans, like Tomatoes or beans? I don’t understand why they can’t come in glass jars like the tomatoe sauce.
I just watched the Cove this weekend and they talked about Mercury in Fish and that it’s higher as the fish is bigger.It’s scary to think what my kids will eat when they are my age.
I try to not eat canned fish too often because of the mercury concern. It is worrisome but also seemingly unavoidable! This is a great post :)
I have to be careful about the mercury thing because I love tuna! I agree it’s so cheap, healthy and easy!
I know I SHOULD eat seasonally but I just want everything I want all year round :)
It almost makes me sick thinking of all the harmful chemicals I ate before going organic. So much that I started gardening. Of course, I still make trips to the store, but it helps keep the food bills down. I even use this organic bug killer by a company called Safer. Here’s the link if you’re interested:
http://www.saferbrand.com/store/garden-care/5102
Thanks for the great post…I don’t have a TV so I have not seen Dr. OZ but I always hear so much about him! Thinking I should get one of his books :-)
Personally, after years of worrying about food, I try not to get too obsessive about this stuff. I’m sure there are bad things about consuming non-organic foods, or fish with mercury, but if I think about it too much, I’ll find something wrong with every food out there (and I don’t want to do that). We only live once and I don’t want to be afraid to eat. I’m sure food is pretty safe. That said, I do try to buy organic when I can, but I don’t stress out if I’m eating food I didn’t purchase myself. My grandma is nuts about this stuff. She has a huge number of food restrictions because she considers people like Dr. Oz to be God. I don’t want to live in a bubble with too many rules and fears. I consider myself pretty educated on the food industry, and I’m sure I could make healthier choices at times, but I think I’m doing well enough :)
Another couple foods to get organic are strawberries and carrots. Both have such thin skin that the pesticides seem through into the flesh and can’t be washed off.
I didn’t know about cans! I’ll definitely be changing my ways with that!!!
…scarey!!! And on a happier note…just got home from work and my Glow Bars are here!!! “Adore” my fist taste lol.
first lol
Thanks for the info! I’m totally shocked about the tuna. I had no idea it had such high mercury levels! I eat tuna pretty often :(
Yes, I love Dr. Oz too and saw that episode. It’s scary!
I gotta say i am not a fan of Doctor OZ… nor do i think mercury or pesticides are doing anyone much real harm. the human body is adapt to dealign with toxins. it is in a constant state of detoxification.
However, i do think there are 3 things causing all the diseases of civilization
i just found you blog it looks good!
Wow – great post. Thanks for sharing Angela :)
I have heard that about apples before…it’s definitely something I will be more conscious of in the future.
So interesting. I have actually been hearing more and more about this stuff. I think that it’s important to be conscious of it, but not go crazy overboard worrying. I am trying to figure out all of the facts (and your post is great for this!) so I can make sure I am buying the right organic foods, eliminating the #7 plastic wherever I can. etc. One thing that has stood out to me in the past few weeks is the bpa in canned goods. I eat a decent amount of canned goods. Now I think I might switch to frozen wherever possible.
My mom had mercury amalgam fillings (the metal ones) when she was younger. The side of her face went numb in her 20s and she was tested for mercury poisoning. It was found that mercury was leaking from her fillings. She had them all replaced with the porcelain fillings, and was fine for about 25 years. 6 years ago she was diagnosed with primary progressive (the worst kind) of MS. I think there is a connection. I don’t drink tap water, and I avoid fish that is high in mercury, eating cheap tuna only about once a month.
I try not to eat too much fish, which is difficult for me since I love it! But other than that, I purchase organic produce whenever it’s available (always organic apples, since I eat so many!). And I’m not too educated about BPA, but I don’t eat much out of cans besides soup, so I guess I’m ok :)
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for this post! A few years ago, I was one of those people who didn’t think buying organic produce mattered, but ever since I started educating myself, I make it a priority– especially when it comes to the “dirty dozen!” For me, I still buy some things non-organic, for budget issues, but I feel like I can taste the difference lately; especially with bananas!
Also, I’ve started re-thinking the use of our microwave! According to Natalia Rose, author of “The Raw Food Detox Diet,” microwaving our food does way more than quickly cook away all the nutrients– it actually creates a negative impact on our body! I’ve almost completely eliminated the use of our microwave– heating everything over the stove or in the oven. It might take a little longer, but it’s worth it to know I’m NOT ruining all the organic produce I just spent good money on! ;)
Very well said! Thanks for all the fun facts!