Chemical Stress Part 3

Our food supply has been completely transformed since the middle of the 20th century. Unless you organically grow all of your own fruits & vegetables, raise your own food-producing animals (and give them natural feed), make all of your meals from scratch and choose the correct type of food to prepare, you are consuming stressful chemicals every time you eat.

In my opinion, the biggest culprit for creating chemical stress is our food. First, the quality of our food supply has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. Next, the decisions that we make as to what type of food we eat can contribute greatly to our chemical load. And finally, the way in which we prepare our meals is very important to our health.

The use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers on our fruit and vegetable crops not only adds harmful chemicals to our diet but has been shown, over time, to deplete the mineral content of the soil that they are grown in. Studies of soil samples from 30 years ago compared to soil used in farming today, show a significant decrease in mineral content. This leads to a decreased nutritional value of all crops grown on the soil.

Do you eat meat? Do you know what the animals are eating prior to going to the butcher? The answer to this question can also determine your levels of chemical stress. Lets take the beef industry as an example. Nature intended cattle to graze and mainly eat grass. When a cow is able to live & eat naturally, they are typically in good health, which leads to healthier, leaner meat. Grass fed cattle gain weight gradually and they are typically not ready to go to the slaughterhouse until about age 4.

Allowing livestock to live this natural way creates a few problems for the beef business. Tending to cattle for this four-year period of time is quite costly. Also, most Americans prefer the taste of beef that is marbled with a higher fat content than the leaner, grass fed meat. Unfortunately for us, the beef industry figured out solutions to these problems. For example, by feeding their livestock inexpensive corn and adding hormones to their feed, they found that these cows gain weight rapidly making them ready for the butcher by the age of 9 months old. Also, the meat produced from this corn fed cattle has a much higher fat content. They now can produce more beef in a lesser amount of time, for less cost with the higher fat content that most Americans prefer.

How does this affect the person who eats this meat? Simple, cattle were not designed to eat corn. This type of feed is highly stressful to their systems and literally creates sick cows. In fact, these cows become so unhealthy that just in order to keep them alive for the full 9 months needed for them to grow & gain enough weight to be butchered, this livestock must be given large amounts of antibiotics. Therefore, not only does this meat have a higher fat content but it is also laced with hormones and drugs creating a high level of chemical stress for whoever eats it. Similar practices are occurring with other forms of meat production (chicken, pork, fish, etc.), milk, cheese and eggs.

The use of additives & preservatives in our foods has increased the shelf life of many of our groceries and has made storage more convenient. However, additives and preservatives also increase our chemical load. Many studies on individual who suffer from allergies, or have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, have shown positive results when these artificial food preservatives were eliminated from their diets. Also, several major studies show academic performance increased and disciplinary problems decreased in non-ADD student populations when artificial ingredients, including preservatives were eliminated from school food programs.