Avoid These 7 Foods - Dr. Mercola News

Avoid These 7 Foods and You're Off To A Healthier New Year

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
December 29 2009 | 70,369 views

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Acidity -- a prominent characteristic of tomatoes -- causes BPA to leach into your food.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of books on sustainable farming

Cattle were designed to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. A recent comprehensive study found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group

Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize -- and migrate into your popcorn.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany

Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, codirector of the Cornucopia Institute

If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides with Parkinson's disease.

Sources:

  Yahoo Shine November 24, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is one of the best “foods to avoid” lists I’ve seen come out of the mainstream media. It is very rare when this happens, but I agree with every food on this list.

The reality is that most food nowadays is far from pure. Pesticide residues have been detected in 50 percent to 95 percent of all commercially grown U.S. foods, and that is only one type of toxin.

Babies are actually born toxic due to the toxic load of their mothers, some of which comes from dietary contaminants and food additives. One study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that blood samples from newborns contained an average of 287 toxins, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, and Teflon chemicals!

The list above is a great starting point to cleaning up your diet, but focusing on organically grown, biodynamic whole foods is really the key to success here.

I want to expand on some of the toxic foods mentioned above, as well as add a few more to the list, so you can significantly reduce your exposure to toxins in the foods you eat.

Why Fresh is Better Than Canned

Many leading brands of canned foods contain BPA -- a toxic chemical linked to reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems.

According to Consumer Reports’ testing, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children.

The current US federal guidelines put the daily upper limit of “safe” exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. You should know, however, that even low-level exposure to BPA can be hazardous to your health, and Consumer Reports’ testing found that eating popular canned foods may expose you to excessive amounts of BPA:

• Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb
• Progresso Vegetable Soup had BPA levels ranging from 67 to 134 ppb
• Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup had BPA levels ranging from 54.5 to 102 ppb

So, ideally avoid canned foods entirely and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, or switch over to brands that use glass containers instead.

Grass-Fed is the Healthy Choice for Beef

Grass-fed beef is vastly superior to grain-fed beef, and in fact it’s the clear beef of choice you should be eating. It is far more important to choose grass-fed than to choose organic, as most grass-fed beef are also organic

Not only is it raised in a more sustainable way for the environment and a more humane way for the animal, but it’s the superior choice for your health.

Grass-fed beef, for instance, is lower in fat than regular beef and, more importantly, contains higher amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid. Grass-fed animals have from three to five times more CLA than grain-fed animals.

CLA has been making headlines for its extreme health benefits, which include:

• Fighting cancer and diabetes
• Helping you lose weight
• Increasing your metabolic rate, a positive benefit for promoting normal thyroid function
• Helping you maintain normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels
• Enhancing your immune system

Keep in mind that grass-fed meat is almost always preferable to certified organic meat also because most organic beef is fed organic corn, which is what causes the myriad of health problems associated with eating beef. If you can find organic, grass-fed meat, that would be ideal.

What You Need to Know About Milk

I strongly recommend you avoid milk that has the added growth hormone rBGH.

Samuel Epstein, MD, a scientist at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, is one of the top experts on cancer prevention, and he has been speaking out against rBGH in milk, the so-called “crack for cows,” for years.

For starters, Dr. Epstein points out that rBGH milk is “supercharged with high levels of a natural growth factor (IGF-1), excess levels of which have been incriminated as major causes of breast, colon, and prostate cancers.”

But that’s not all.

"This milk is qualitatively and quantitatively different from natural milk," states Dr. Epstein. "In addition to the issue of increased IGF-1 levels, these differences include:

• Contamination of milk by the GM hormone rBGH
• Contamination by pus and antibiotics resulting from the high incidence of mastitis in rBGH-injected cows
• Contamination with illegal antibiotics and drugs used to treat mastitis and other rBGH-induced disease
• Increased concentration of the thyroid hormone enzyme thyroxin-5'-monodeiodinase
• Increased concentration of long-chain and decreased concentration of short-chain fatty acids
• A reduction in levels of the milk protein casein."

You very well may be drinking rBGH milk and not know it, as no labels are required. This is despite the fact that nearly every American wants it labeled, but the government, as usual, bowed to industry lobbyists and, amazingly, does not require this on the label.

However, as increasing numbers of people and dairies choose to avoid rBGH, you can find labels that say “rBGH-free” or a similar variation. Organic milk is also rBGH-free.

This is certainly preferable to milk that contains this dangerous hormone … but I still don’t recommend drinking any milk, organic or otherwise, that is pasteurized.

You can avoid both the risks of rBGH and pasteurization by only drinking raw milk that comes from a small farmer you know and trust. This is the only way to drink milk if you’re interested in protecting your health.

The Most Important Foods to Buy Organic

Most fruits and vegetables contain unacceptable and unsafe levels of pesticides, so it’s a wise choice to buy organic produce as often as you can.

However, if you need to pick and choose which foods to buy organic, the most important foods to buy organic are animal products -- not produce. This is because animal foods, which are raised on pesticide-laced feed, tend to have higher concentrations of pesticides.

Non-organic meats have up to five times more pesticides than non-organic vegetables.

Non-organic butter can have up to 20 times as many pesticides as non-organic vegetables.

So when prioritizing your purchases, look for organic meats, eggs and dairy products before anything else.

There is one exception to this rule, and that is you may be better off choosing fresh local foods over organic foods. Often, locally grown foods are raised according to organic standards at a more affordable price.

Is Farmed Salmon the Only Seafood to Avoid?

Farmed salmon is among the worst seafood choices out there, as numerous studies show the salmon contain toxins and cancer-causing pollutants. Farmed salmon typically have at least 10 times more cancer-causing persistent organic pollutants than their wild counterparts.

That said, I do not agree that farmed salmon is the only fish you need to stay away from.

A recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey detected mercury in every fish sampled from nearly 300 U.S. streams. Among them, 27 percent contained mercury at levels that equaled or exceeded the U.S. EPA’s criterion for the protection of human health, and more than two-thirds exceeded mercury safety levels for fish-eating mammals like mink and otters.

Therefore, I do not recommend eating any fish -- whether farm-raised or from an ocean, lake, river or stream -- unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.

There are still some safe areas out there, such as in certain pristine waters in Alaska, but it will take some searching on your end to seek them out. The ONLY safe fish I have discovered so far is Vital Choice wild red salmon, which remains the only source of fish I’ll eat.

Eating smaller fish, like anchovies and sardines, is also an option, as their small size makes them far less likely to be contaminated.

An important point to remember if you’re not eating fish is that your body still has a requirement for omega-3 fats. Fortunately, you can easily meet your omega-3 needs by taking a high-quality krill oil supplement, instead of risking your health by eating contaminated fish.

Another Food to Avoid: Unfermented Soy

This one did not make the above list, but it’s one I would definitely add.

Any soy that is unfermented -- soy milk, tofu, soybean oil, soy burgers, and all the other processed soy products out there all belong to this category -- is not a health food and in fact is not a food I would advise eating at all. This is true whether it is “organic” or not.

Soy infant formula is also on this list and is one of the absolute worst foods you can give your baby.

Unfermented soy products have been linked to everything from reproductive disorders and infertility to cancer and heart disease.

Further, unfermented soy contains isoflavones that are clearly associated with reduced thyroid function. Eating unfermented soy products is likely the single largest cause of hypothyroidism in women.

Another major problem with unfermented soy is that it contains natural toxins known as “antinutrients.” This includes a large quantity of inhibitors that deter your enzymes needed for protein digestion.

While a small amount of these antinutrients would likely not be a problem, the amount of soy that many Americans are now eating (and drinking in the form of soy milk) is quite significant.

The result of consuming too many of soy’s antinutrients is extensive gastric distress and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake, which can result in pancreatic impairment and cancer.

For more details on soy foods, including the fermented varieties that can actually be healthy, please read Why This Type of Soy is Better.

Guidelines for Healthy Food

Whatever food you’re looking to eat, whether imported organic or locally grown, from either your local supermarket or a farmer’s market, here are the signs of a high-quality, healthy food:

1. It’s grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
2. It’s not genetically modified
3. It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
4. It does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
5. It is fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)
6. It did not come from a factory farm
7. It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
8. It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

If the food meets these criteria, it is likely a good choice. Most often, the best place to find these foods is from a sustainable agricultural group in your area. You can also review my free nutrition plan to get started on a healthy eating program today.

Related Links:

  The Five Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat

  Ten Worst Breakfast Cereals

  12 Food Additives to Avoid

Brought to you by Hawkwind Going Places!
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009, 8:29 AM

from; http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/29/The-7-Foods-Experts-Wont-Eat.aspx

ps. Did you know, they are hydrogenating our meats now with gases, to make them stay red longer, and seem to have longer shelf life?  "If we did one thing, leave all hydrogenated foods out of our diet, we surely would live healthier lives..Eat organic foods from your own garden, with non-genetic altered seeds, when you can!"White Buffalo Calf Woman

I tell you truly the sun does rise, to bring the heart of our surmise, the grandest show we ever did sea, the vision of rainbows within you and me. I come to tell you we are a song, the greatest miracle left undone. But all we have to do, is share our songs, the living and giving of the receiving sun. My heart of Grandmother Going Places I do gift, the heart of what door do you gift? And when you choose to outweigh the sun, to be the setting of heaven's rungs, there will be standing the sacred circle of fun, the destiny of loving, that comes home when we run. Come child, into my arms, where Grandmother will hold you until the "DAWN".

Rainbow Children, the Song of You!

Posted at Google Groups http://groups.google.com/group/whitebuffalocalfwoman

"WhiteBuffaloCalfWoman.Net 3rd Hoop Songs of the Heart" group

[whitebuffalocalfwoman:262] Arkiana Kramarik - inspirational link

On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Hawkwind Going Places wrote:

Relatives,

Check out this link which is inspirational.  Made my eye's water it is so beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmm-0-Rdxo8

About a 12 year old who paints pictures of heaven which she can see!

Hawkwind Going Places

Blessed Song I give to you, to know the Sacred Blue. The home that we long to know true, the loving Blue (heart knowing relatives). Where distance is just a call, when you need all that's water fall (tears) and spring will light up inside your heart to find the blue, red illumination's call (finding your spirit)...aho, may your spirit fly!

Beloved Relatives,
Many children are looking into heaven, and this is the beginning and not the only or few, but all of them.  This child has a place to express and capture her imagination, but to be exploited, like she is because of thinking she is better than others, this is the true problem.

When the colors of children are expressed, and even Shining Dove Who Leaks the Tear shares with us the many new colors we don't see yet, however, we have always had these colors of the rainbow, but the recognition has only begun.

The rainbow has always been here, but the recognition of it's attributes are being recognized in a new way.  All of our children need, not only the few.  All of our family needs food, not only a few.  All of our family needs love not only the few.  All of our family needs opportunities, not only the few. When will we stop deciding who is better than others, rather than a sharing of stories.

You know, we are all a perspective or a point of view, except for the Crystal People, because our point of view is all, the Oneness, but still we have many colors too, with us all having four sacred directions.  This girl sees from her point of view, her sacred four directions.  And her mother and father gives her the opportunity to share her talents with others.  But so many don't have this place to be safe.  So many think their kids are better or more talented than other kids. 

We are oneness, that this means we are God.  G_ah_d, means the utterance of heaven's transmission over rolling hills, the law of love. We are all part of this, expression, all of us and all of us belong to the Rainbow Clan.

This girl Akiane is violet, aqua, yellow, gray, which means she has the voice of God, the strength to lead us towards our dreams, as she carries the vision of dreams as the yellow person.  However her imagination brings her to think that God is male, and not female, and this is picked up from her family and society during the second phase of evolution that ends 2013. We all have visions of God, when we look at others.

Yet, we don't realize, this yet, that we are all special and have a place, which is written in our "Book of LIfe", each of us are Rainbow Children.  The world recognizes Indigo and Crystal children, but what about the many colors of the Rainbow. And we think we have only come to play, but now we are beginning to know our souls, but how many will learn to walk sacred?  How many will be safe?  How many will make it into the next phase of evolution. 

Today, I will be finishing the second part of White Willows Vision, which shares with us, the need and imperativeness, to transform into sacredness.  We need share with the world, it's time to be sacred.  We used money to offer us a way to survive, but now money will not be the tool of advantage, but BLESSEDNESS, is the only TOOL of survival.

I remind you of what Indigo and Crystal mean, and that we are all part of the oneness of the Rainbow clan, with all of us having talents to talk and be with God.  Just open your eyes and see, sea, the many who are standing right in front of your faces.

Indigo is the perfect six sided crystalline structure of the soul body, multi-colored each of us have. We can all fly, when we dream. The Indigo person is often a prophet and great teacher who lives with visions and conflict. Most of us do not live our lives like this. Indigo represents our Soul body. An Indigo Person is a Great Warrior and brings to us the inner reflection towards truth! They inspire you to enter your Vision Quest. Indigo(perfect soul body)

Crystal is the perfect six sided crystalline structure of the Physical Body,a powerful and loving being who gifts,the actions of your dream. The Crystal person is reader of the book of life, the sacred four directions, who speaks directly with God and interprets the absolute truth. Crystal represents our Physical body. Most of us do no live our lives like this. Crystal represents our Physical body. A Crystal Person is a Great Warrior and brings peace through the lesson. They inspire you to become your dream of love and peace, what we often call happiness! Crystal(perfect physical body)

The Rainbow Clan are the Sacred Multi-Colored Auras of the Blue in You and Me, our Relation or family. Each of us carry Four Sacred Directions. The Circle of Colors, the Rainbow reflects off the Ocean Blue. Born from these lights We are Perfect Children Within. Each of us carry a Dream seeking Love. The Path we follow are the Four Sacred Directions Written in our Garment of Lights. We belong to the Rainbow Clan. These unseen colors guide us towards our mission. This is written in your Sacred Garment of Lights, the Holy Temple, where Truth is written in the Book of Life! Only a Crystal Person can read this Book of Life.

Embracing and attaining spiritual knowledge(seeking)and allowing the directional flowing(ebb and flow)of the eternal ages Reveals Greatness. A Light From Within. We are the Reflection of our Blue oceans and sky.Water provide us with all that life offers in Unity! Spiritual Warriors are born to be Perfect Blessings

Evolution Within You!
The Rainbow Clan are the Sacred Multi-Colored Auras of the Blue in You and Me, our Relation or family. Each of us carry Four Sacred Directions, the Circle of Colors; the Rainbow reflects off the Ocean Blue. Born from these lights We are Perfect Children Within. Each of us carry a Dream seeking Love. The Path we follow are the Four Sacred Directions or Seasons which vibrate in our Garment of Lights the Holy Temple, where Truth is written in the Book of Life within each of us!  We belong to the Rainbow Clan of Oneness. These unseen colors guide us towards our mission.  Learn to how to stay safe during the up and coming evolutionary changes! 


Just today, I saw a man with no shoes and he has a cane with socks on in the rain.  How can we live like this, when our family out there is without?  Holiness David and I, white buffalo calf woman are missionaries on the streets of San Francisco bay area, California, USA, and we can't even get churches to help the homeless, because they care only for their own needs and not the needs of others.  We are helping everyone, and only a few have sent us anything to assist us.  Because the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.  This is not love, this is separation.  Our heart of the world is the Lakota, not ordained by me or you, but by the ONENESS of God.  The heart of this world, MOTHER EARTH is LAKOTA and they have no food, no blankets, and no heat in the dead of winter. And even some of our own members don't have food in their pantries, even with children.  How can we care for so much and care for so little?  Doing and saying are not united, be blessed instead.  Be Wakan Tankan (sacredness) or Walking and Talking as the Rising Sun (holy and devoted), the birth of love for all.  The Indigo People say, that we are going to shift, from the north pole to the south pole.  That is traumatic.  Get prepared, practice blessings every day, because when the Red Star comes in the sky, the Natives say, it will be too late for survival....

your devoted servant,
white buffalo calf woman, your twin deer mother
elder crystal person, wakan iyeshka or holy interpreter
alightfromwithin.org rainbow warriors of prophecy
twindeermother@whitebuffalocalfwoman.org

ps. You want to know your sacred rainbow colors, then email me, and ask for your blessings.  To hear many rainbow colors, that have a voice, visit http://crystal-indigo-children.blogspot.com

Warriors of the Earth  

Pray With Elders around the World

Hear Your Relatives Perfect Flowing Hearts
Listen to the Blessed Rainbow Colors of the Four Directions

Learn Warrior Skills with the Peaceful Wisdom Prayer!

 

I tell you truly the sun does rise, to bring the heart of our surmise, the grandest show we ever did sea, the vision of rainbows within you and me. I come to tell you we are a song, the greatest miracle left undone. But all we have to do, is share our songs, the living and giving of the receiving sun. My heart of Grandmother Going Places I do gift, the heart of what door do you gift? And when you choose to outweigh the sun, to be the setting of heaven's rungs, there will be standing the sacred circle of fun, the destiny of loving, that comes home when we run. Come child, into my arms, where Grandmother will hold you until the "DAWN".

UFO IN NORWAY 2009

White Buffalo Calf Woman,

My buddy Mike sent me this just now.  I truly hope this is the beginning of the end! This is awesome.  This happened and was filmed in Norway just a few hours ago, and its already gone around the world. 

Cheers!

Grandmother Going Places

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gDPS_Nq0PM

Warriors of the Earth  

Pray With Elders around the World

Hear Your Relatives Perfect Flowing Hearts
Listen to the Blessed Rainbow Colors of the Four Directions

Learn Warrior Skills with the Peaceful Wisdom Prayer!

 

The Wisdom In Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were discussing their lives at a class reunion.  They decide to go visit their old university professor, now retired, who was always an inspiration to them.

During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work, lives and relationships.

Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and assortment of cups.  Some cups were porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite.  He invited each to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor shared his thoughts.

"Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones."

"While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."

"The cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate.  In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink."

"What each of you really wanted was hot chocolate.  You did not want the cup...but you consciously went for the best cups."

"And soon, you bagna to eye one another's cups."

"Now friends, please consider this...Life is the hot chocolate ... your job, money, and position in society are the cups."

"They are just tools to hold and contain life."

"The cup you have does not define, nor does it change, the quality of life you are living."

"Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us."

Always remeber this.......... God brews the hot chocolate, He does not choose the cup.

The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have!!

Live simply...
Love generously...
Care deeply...
Speak kindly...

Leave the rest to God.

~ and remember ~
The richest person is no the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

Enjoy your hot chocolate!!

Brought to you by Grandmother Going Places
Guiding us all in the world of love, where Rainbow Warriors of Prophecy come home!

Warriors of the Earth  

Pray With Elders around the World

Hear Your Relatives Perfect Flowing Hearts
Listen to the Blessed Rainbow Colors of the Four Directions

Learn Warrior Skills with the Peaceful Wisdom Prayer!

 

Let there be wisdom.  Let there be song.  Let there be coming home, when all does go wrong.  And Grandmother will hold you and rock you to sleep, where you can dream of Angels, and you will be safe.  Now it's a place, a dreamland, the well of love.  We need to look further inside our hearts.  And when we find the vision, to bring us all home, then we can be Brothers, who long for should.  There the Rainbows, will land on the ground, where there will be plenty and there will be should, the most we ever imagined, the most God gifts to us, when abundance is for all the Rainbow Children, who love like they should.