You Are What You Eat

I am a lot like the rest of you: I wake up, shower, eat, work and play. About 7 years ago, while I was in the Navy, I heard a rumor that the enlisted crew was getting "Grade D but edible" meat (animal skin, testicles, intestines etc). This rumor turned about to be false, but it did get me to pay attention to what I was eating. At the time, I discovered high fructose corn syrup (hfcs) and ultra high temperature processing (UHT). We all know about the damage of too much corn syrup, but UHT is relatively new to the American market.

UHT, when found as the primary or secondary ingredient in creamers and milk products, essentially allows the creamer or milk to be transported without refrigeration for several weeks. In fact, the main milk provided aboard Navy ships is UHT. On my ship we ran an experiment: we left a 5 gallon bladder of UHT out on the flight deck for two weeks then brought it in and drank it (after 30 minutes of chilling). It tasted fresh (as fresh as processed milk can taste) and the only problem came later in the form of loose stool (which is the most common side effect of consuming UHT).

But on a normal day, we wake up and start our day before work. If your sheets, pillow covers or sleeping clothes are newer, they have a trace of formaldehyde and more than a trace if you had not washed them before use. In case you didn't know, formaldehyde is what dead people are injected with during the embalming process for preservation.

So next, you might shower. What you may not know is that a chemical from your shampoo called phthalates (the plasticizing agents from shampoos and pesticides and vinyl shower curtains), go down the drain and to the sewage processing plants where they do not break down. Once the sewage dries out, those soap chemicals (along with chemicals from medicine and pills flushed down the drain) hang out with the processed poo in sewage sludge, which is then left out to dry in a field. After it is dried out for a few months, farmers buy said sludge and put it on their corn fields as fertilizer. Thankfully, the FDA does not allow corn for human consumption to be fertilized with our own waste. However, they do allow cows to eat the corn. Next time you drink a glass of real milk or eat a hamburger, you may be taking in the soap from your shower last year or taking in the xanax or anti-depressants your neighbor got rid of down the toilet. Phthalate exposure, even in small amounts, has been linked to behavioral problems in children, allergies and asthma, eczema, and unhealthy changes in our hormonal systems.

Well, you've done a proper wash and now you are ready for breakfast. But have you had your beaver anal gland juice yet today? Perhaps you have. It's a bitter, smelly, orange-brown substance known as castoreum. In nature, it's combined with the beaver's urine and used to mark its territory. For us, it's used extensively in processed food and beverages, typically as vanilla or raspberry flavoring. This gross ingredient won't show up on the label. Instead, companies use it in making processed food list it as "natural flavoring." This poses a dilemma for vegans and vegetarians—and anyone who wants to avoid eating any creature's anal excretions.

Do you find Golden Grahams or Cinnamon Toast Crunch tasty? Or perhaps you might chew some Orbit Gum after lunch? Then you are taking in Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT). These are petroleum derived anti-oxidants and preservatives. The Department of Health and Human Services says BHA is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," yet the FDA allows it to be used anyway. BHT is considered less dangerous, but in animal research, it too has resulted in cancer. Oddly, the chemicals aren’t even always necessary; in most cases they can be replaced with vitamin E.

On to lunch time and perhaps a white bread sandwich. Most of your white breads or other processed grain products contain an additive called L-cysteine, which is a non-essential amino acid. Most often this additive comes from China in the form of dissolved human hair or other places in the form of duck feathers. Food manufacturers use the ingredient as a commercial dough conditioner, meant to improve the texture of breads and baked goods. Eating something derived from the human body violates the religious and ethical beliefs of Muslims and vegans.

If you are having just a salad with ranch dressing or perhaps a piece of cake with vanilla frosting, I'm sure you're eating it for the titanium dioxide. Big food corporations often add titanium dioxide—commonly found in paints and sunscreens—to processed foods like salad dressing, coffee creamers, and canned icing to make them appear whiter. Titanium dioxide is a component of the metallic element titanium (plus two oxygens), but more importantly, mining companies typically use lead in their extraction and purification process. If you are using that ranch dressing for the lead, you might as well just chew on an old pipe.

Perhaps you've fasted the entire day to have a nice juicy aged steak with some mushrooms for flavoring. The FDA legally allows 19 maggots—tiny, rice-shaped fly larvae that feast on rotting foods—and 74 mites in every 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms. So when you order an "aged steak" or pop open a can of mushrooms, this is what you are getting. While maggots do have their place in the medical world, most of us would agree that they don’t have a place in our mouths. Opt for fresh mushrooms instead, and if you need another reason to ditch canned goods, consider this: most are lined with bisphenol A (or BPA), a plastic chemical that causes unnatural hormonal changes linked to heart attacks, obesity, and certain cancers

If you think dessert is the prime meal of the day, you might consider one of my favorites: carrot cake. Most store bought carrot cake mixes, and indeed most cereals, contain artificial food dyes. Many artificial food dyes—found in hundreds of everyday foods—are made from petroleum-derived materials. Food producers use these chemical dyes in cereals and candy to make them more “fun” for kids, in pickles to make them appear fresher, and in place of real ingredients in a variety of other packaged foods. For example, Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix, is actually a carrot-free product with “carrot flavored pieces” cooked up from corn syrup and artificial colors Yellow 6 and Red 40. Orange and purple food dyes have been shown to impair brain function, and other dyes have been linked to ADHD and behavioral problems in kids, as well as brain-cell toxicity. And not only are these additives potentially hazardous, but they’re also a rip-off! It’s cheaper for food companies to use fake dyes in place of real ingredients, so you end up with food frauds like Tropicana Twister Cherry Berry Blast, a “juice” product without a trace of cherry or berry juice.

By now, I sense you might be disgusted in what you are consuming, so imagine this: a hot summer day in July. It's sunny, the sky is blue and in the distance you hear the ice cream man coming. You pony up to the truck and get a cold and tasty Creamsicle. Or, perhaps if you are watching your figure, you might indulge in a Weight Watchers Giant Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Bar. Well, I'm sure you are eating it for the Carrageenan. It is a seaweed byproduct (waste product more accurately, until they found a use for it in ice cream) that is used as a thickener and emulsifier. Through animal studies, it has been linked to cancer, colon trouble, and ulcers.

At this point, I'm kind of disgusted with foods so I may fall back to a comfort food. In this case, it is a drink from my local Cold Stone Creamery called a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Shake ... large of course. But wait, what does CSC's page list the nutritional information as: 1,750 calories, 118 g fat (64 g saturated, 2 g trans) and 140 g sugars. This one drink does pack more calories than a dozen ice cream sandwiches and more saturated fat than nearly 20 large orders of McDonald's French fries

At the end of the day, it is up to YOU to know what you are putting in your body. Take responsibility for you, your children and loved ones. Know what you are eating and know what it will do to you. Do not overload you or your children with high fructose drinks and then wonder why your asses are so fat or why your waist line looks like a freshly baked muffin as it spills over your belt.

Take action to know what you are eating, but more importantly, take responsibility for your health and safety. Essentially abusing your body with food choices that kill you slowly means you'll die a horrible, drawn out death where your body gradually fails you. Actually, never mind the slow death; your choices are making the rest of our health insurance premiums go up. Normally I wouldn't presume to tell anyone what to eat or drink, but now it comes down to money. I'm not willing to pay more money so you can be stupid,