Most of us know that the Government Pyramid is a guide to how we should eat. It includes fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and grains. But what the guide does not tell us is which foods are healthy and which ones make the body toxic. Although not a complete list, the following will be a helpful start.
Fruit juice: Orange juice is probably a staple of the American breakfast. Most store juice is pasteurized; the heating kills off the vitamins and minerals. Then vitamins and minerals are added back but not necessarily the ones that were in the fruit originally. It also takes 4 oranges to make a glass of juice. Because this amount has such a high sugar content, raising our blood sugar levels and causing disease, it is better to eat the whole orange and get the nutrients plus the fiber. The whole orange also helps us feel full longer.
Conventional meat, chicken and turkey: This term refers to the methods used in raising animals and poultry. It includes raising them in stalls or crowded cages where they get no exercise and no sun; disease runs rampant. It consists of feeding them genetically modified (GMO) corn and soy, giving them antibiotics and steroids. Growth hormones and grains fatten them up more quickly for market and bigger profits.
Organic meat is not necessarily healthy; it only means there are no hormones or antibiotics in the meat. This is an improvement but we need to buy “grass fed and grass finished beef.”
Farm raised fish: Much of the same that we mentioned in meat applies to fish. Tilapia is especially toxic. Buy wild fish where the fish are not produced on fish farms but are allowed to be in their natural environment and feed off of other creatures of the sea.
