You Are What You Eat

AlterNet has a great piece today on the food we eat and how it may be killing us. This issue is tough for many to truly understand until something like cancer or a chronic illness results. It's incredible to me that so many people can say, "Yeah, I know that stuff is terrible for me and I shouldn't eat it, but..." and then laugh it off. Eating is the most intimate interaction you can have with the environment outside your own body - more intimate than sex - and yet most of us (including myself up until this year) choose our food according to taste, time, and perhaps weight loss factors. Many of us who are somewhat concerned with the health implications of what we eat will still naively believe health claims stated on packages and in advertisements. This is no different than having indiscriminate sex with anybody who looks good and claims to be disease-free.

Sadly, even those foods we think are perfectly healthy can be dangerous time bombs because of how they are produced. My own diet has changed radically after spending some time investigating the subject. I now avoid: all pre-packaged foods, most forms of grain including bread, most dairy products (except cheese occasionally), and all produce and meat not raised organically. I'll try to put up some links later for anyone who's interested.