It is seldom mentioned or even thought about, but much of our food is irradiated.Irradiated food is supposed to be labelled as such, but in restaurants or processed foods with several ingredients, you will never know.
And yet there are some major questions about its safely. There are no long term studies to determine whether there are harmful consequences. Animal studies have shown an increase in chronic degenerative diseases.
Irradiation creates URPs, which are "unique radiolytic products." These are a result of the free radicals created by using X-rays, electron beams, or nuclear exposure. The stated purpose is to discourage pathogenic microbes which may be in the food.
But the process does not destroy them all, and the free radicals can combine in unpredictable ways with pesticides and other chemicals and produce serious toxins like formaldehyde and benzene.
The process was encouraged mainly by the nuclear power industry to work its way into the food industry to make the nuclear waste from the power plants a part of the food processing process.
Though the food is not actually radioactive, still, is this really what we want to be eating?
Watch this video for more details. https://youtu.be/0R-N5I3NFjM
Randy's Take Home Tips: This is another reason to buy foods marked as organic. Foods labeled USDA Organic, or with other organic certifications are not supposed to have been irradiated. Even spices and herbs need to be organic, because if not, there is a high likelihood they have been irradiated.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Thursday, June 11, 2020
7 reasons for seasonal eating ICS #281
When you are deciding on what to prepare for your family meal, one of the factors to take into account is whether the food is in season. Seasonal eating is getting attention these days to reduce the carbon footprint of food distribution through long distance transportation and to support local farming. But there are health and lifestyle reasons too. At least 7 reasons good reasons.
But keep in mind, it only works if you consider what would grow in your own region in the current season. It is easy if you live in Pennsylvania to get foods even in winter which are in season in in south America where it is summer, and so on.
So watch this short video to hear the 7 reasons to choose seasonal foods.
This is #281 in my series on vibrant Health Through Natural Living! Please subscribe!
Randy's Take Home Tips: Kids enjoy choosing and preparing food, and learning about it can be an adventure! Research together what foods would normally grow in your area say 200 years ago and search out organic versions of it in your grocery store. Of course 200 years ago, all foods were organic so that's a good way to go too!
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Put raw foods on the family table ICS #280
Before we humans discovered fire about 100,000 years ago, everything we ate was raw. So our basic eating pattern is raw foods.
They are rich in enzymes and other constituents which help with good digestion and with encouraging a healthy bacterial population in the digestive system.
As a successful species, we migrated to other parts of the world where raw foods were hard to come by, and we learned how to use fire to make foods which were otherwise inedible or unsafe for us safe to eat. We have been doing this long enough that we do have the systems to deal with cooked food.
But that doesn't mean we don't still benefit from eating raw foods! The best way to think about including raw foods is to prepare foods in traditional ways. If a food has been traditionally eaten raw, then that's the best use.
Like an apple. It contributes more to your health raw than baked. But certain vegetables, like fibrous greens or tubers like potatoes are best cooked. Likewise with beans.
For example, if soybeans aren't fermented or cooked thoroughly they can interfere with normal hormone function. So for your kids, plan on frequent fresh fruit and salads as well as cooked protein foods and vegetables.
And get organic and local whenever possible to avoid adding the extra stress of chemicals derived from petro-chemicals and coal-tar which our bodies never have had to deal with until less than 100 years ago. century.
Here's my short video on raw foods. It's #280 in my series on Vibrant Health Through Natural Living.
https://youtu.be/Pi-PqaA2tx4
Randy's Take Home Tips. It's hard these days when we are trying to shop less often, but try to use raw foods within a week. Keep a fruit salad in the fridge for hungry kids. Chop up an apple, a banana and an orange or grapefruit and add some fresh berries. As you chop, cover the pieces in orange juice to keep the apple and banana from oxidizing (i.e., turning brown). In a covered bowl in the fridge it will keep half the week.( I use a ceramic bowl with a plate on top to avoid any migration of BPA from plastic containers.) You can do the same for a vegetable salad. Make it colorful. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, or whatever you have. Just leave off the dressing until it's served. Show kids how to add extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the veggie salad to enhance taste and absorption of minerals. Better yet, take time with the kids every couple of days to chop up the fruit or veggies for these salads. (Remember, any task takes two to four times longer with kids but it's more fun and adds to their education and growth way beyond the time spent.) Then show them where the salad is stored and how to serve themselves when they're hungry. Kids are much more likely to eat food they have helped to prepare. And these salads will nourish them and keep them from choosing some processed snack in a bag or plastic sleeve.
They are rich in enzymes and other constituents which help with good digestion and with encouraging a healthy bacterial population in the digestive system.
As a successful species, we migrated to other parts of the world where raw foods were hard to come by, and we learned how to use fire to make foods which were otherwise inedible or unsafe for us safe to eat. We have been doing this long enough that we do have the systems to deal with cooked food.
But that doesn't mean we don't still benefit from eating raw foods! The best way to think about including raw foods is to prepare foods in traditional ways. If a food has been traditionally eaten raw, then that's the best use.
Like an apple. It contributes more to your health raw than baked. But certain vegetables, like fibrous greens or tubers like potatoes are best cooked. Likewise with beans.
For example, if soybeans aren't fermented or cooked thoroughly they can interfere with normal hormone function. So for your kids, plan on frequent fresh fruit and salads as well as cooked protein foods and vegetables.
And get organic and local whenever possible to avoid adding the extra stress of chemicals derived from petro-chemicals and coal-tar which our bodies never have had to deal with until less than 100 years ago. century.
Here's my short video on raw foods. It's #280 in my series on Vibrant Health Through Natural Living.
https://youtu.be/Pi-PqaA2tx4
Randy's Take Home Tips. It's hard these days when we are trying to shop less often, but try to use raw foods within a week. Keep a fruit salad in the fridge for hungry kids. Chop up an apple, a banana and an orange or grapefruit and add some fresh berries. As you chop, cover the pieces in orange juice to keep the apple and banana from oxidizing (i.e., turning brown). In a covered bowl in the fridge it will keep half the week.( I use a ceramic bowl with a plate on top to avoid any migration of BPA from plastic containers.) You can do the same for a vegetable salad. Make it colorful. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, or whatever you have. Just leave off the dressing until it's served. Show kids how to add extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the veggie salad to enhance taste and absorption of minerals. Better yet, take time with the kids every couple of days to chop up the fruit or veggies for these salads. (Remember, any task takes two to four times longer with kids but it's more fun and adds to their education and growth way beyond the time spent.) Then show them where the salad is stored and how to serve themselves when they're hungry. Kids are much more likely to eat food they have helped to prepare. And these salads will nourish them and keep them from choosing some processed snack in a bag or plastic sleeve.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
How and Why to Buy Fresh ICS #277
These days sometimes our food isn't so fresh when we are limiting our outings and farmers' markets are closed. But it's still possible and worthwhile to think about seeing that our foods are as fresh as possible., Watch this short video.
Saturday, April 11, 2020
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