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Unprocessed foods-- avoiding chemicals

SShepherd

New member
I wanted to start this thread, because I didn't want the thread on the glorious goodness that is rendered pigfat (lard) to drift too far :w00t2:

I'm allergic to MSG- in large ammounts it triggers an asthma attack, and the sulfides in wine. I've avoided both for years.
I started eating locally raised eggs and chickens from a farmer I know. Hey, not only is it healthier that robo chickens from the store but the farmer gets more for his chicken, and I still pay less than store prices.

I eat venison, that I hunt. When I can I buy american bison, it's a bit of a luxury but worth it.

I think the biggest thing I've changed in my diet is no more ;pop, soda, softdrinks !
I challenge anyone, stop dinking them for a month and see how you feel.
I have to admit it took me about that long to kick the habit. Now I drink unsweetened tea, or add a small ammount of stevia once in a while.

Anyone else made any diet lifestyle changes lately?
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
I read ingredients on everything and buy very little prepackaged foods. If they list ingredients I don't stock in my pantry, it goes back on the shelf. I do not buy anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, enriched white flour, corn syrup, msg or nitrates. Hormel natural choice lunch meats I like because there are no nitrates but their bacon has gone way up. I cringed at $3.79 for a package. It is up to $5.99, now. Looks like it is headed to being a special occasion food for us.

Because I buy my chicken and eggs from the local food coop, I have the benefit of locally raised truely free range chicken and eggs. I buy 1/2 a cow each year from a local rancher who raises grass fed beef only. Grass fed beef is higher in vitamin e, beta carotene and 3x higher in omega three fatty acids. My chicken and beef is not exposed to hormones and antibiotics.

I prefer raw milk http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html but don't always have access.

We don't drink fruit juice for 2 reasons...have you seen the way they process and store that stuff? (see an old post from Sushi about orange juice, bleck!) and fruit juice has a lot of empty calories. Best to get your calories from solid food than from beverages. IF I buy beverages, I buy sodas sweetened with stevia or pure cane sugar.

My rule of thumb is if the ingredients are man made, it can't be good for you and to avoid or minimize foods that are sweet, white or made with corn. (in some countries corn is cattle feed, only) Internet searches lead you to all kinds of natural foods to supplement for garbage foods i.e. Simple syrup to replace corn syrup. The best thing to do with sweets is to reserve them for special occassions and not have them as part of your routine diet. Most of us are addicted to carbohydrates. If you have ever gone on a low carb diet, you have probably discovered that you are home free after the first 2-3 days but that first 2-3 days is a real booger. Withdrawals pure and simple.

www.westonprice.org is a great site for all kinds of nutritional information.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
CG I pretty much am doing about the same as you. Anything that is processed is not good.

Shep I will also challenge anyone here to stop with the pop/soda's. Five years I stopped for over three months and I felt much better. I just got to kick myself into doing it again.
 

RNE228

Bronze Member
Site Supporter
My wife generalizes that, you shouldn't eat anything with ingredients that you can not pronounce(iw steroglycerized kinda stuff) without a chemistry degree. And, if it has more than 5 or 6 ingredients, you probably do not want it, ie dies and preservatives ect.

re: sodas, most make heavy use of heavily processed corn sugar. It is cheap, and easy use. But, it is aweful for health, bad for teeth. I like the old soda's made with cane sugar, all simple ingredients. Don't drink much soda, but thsoe are the ones I would drink.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
Those who know me know I love to bake, especially breads. The white flour I use (Montana Sapphire) I get from the Amish bulk food store, and it is unbleached and unbromated, meaning it is simply processed hard winter wheat, naturally whitened. I also use stoneground whole wheat flour and rye flour processed the same way. I add bran from the same source to induce more fiber into our diet via the bread. My bread is made with simple, natural ingredients like flour, purified water, salt and yeast. I do also substitute commercial yeast with my own sourdough starter culture that I started in June of '08, and is still kicking today. It's also the base for my rye and whole wheat starters. If there are preservatives in my bread, they are natural like extra virgin olive oil, pure Ohio butter and honey produced locally (Amish). I'm not a fanatic about my eggs, but I do buy eggs from Ohio growers.

Like others, I believe that if I cannot pronounce an ingredient (with or without a chemistry degree) in my food, I don't want it in my food. IMO, these added chemicals are the reason for the high incidence of cancer in our society.
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Those who know me know I love to bake, especially breads. The white flour I use (Montana Sapphire) I get from the Amish bulk food store, and it is unbleached and unbromated, meaning it is simply processed hard winter wheat, naturally whitened. I also use stoneground whole wheat flour and rye flour processed the same way. I add bran from the same source to induce more fiber into our diet via the bread. My bread is made with simple, natural ingredients like flour, purified water, salt and yeast. I do also substitute commercial yeast with my own sourdough starter culture that I started in June of '08, and is still kicking today. It's also the base for my rye and whole wheat starters. If there are preservatives in my bread, they are natural like extra virgin olive oil, pure Ohio butter and honey produced locally (Amish).


I'd like to place my Christmas order, please.:biggrin:
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Dang, and I was feeling pretty good about cutting out 75% of the diet soda I used to drink. I switched to propel, which I simply add to a bottle of water.
This thread made me look at the ingredients that are in propel. :eek: The front of the box says it's a Vitamin enhanced water beverage mix w/ antioxidants. Sounded good to me. Tastes okay. I can drink more of it per day than I ever would drink of straight water. It does have 10 calories per packet (which treats a 16 to 20oz bottle of water) but the very first ingredient listed is: Sucrose, then citric acid and then sodium. :bonk: I guess I did not do myself any favors.
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
I've never had any attraction to soda. But I like a Mich Ultra or 2 :smile:

Two+ years ago I went low carb and still only eat <40 grams of carb a day. No processed foods unless cheese or plain full fat yogurt and cream cheese counts. Almost no beef . No ground meats. No starches or gluten.
Fresh or frozen veges with real butter, natural peanut butter and coconut oil. Chicken, eggs and pork.
Does bacon count as processed ?:blush::blush:

ETA: I love almond milk, unsweetened.
 
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muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
I gave up drinking beer and stated drinking diet Pepsi. It was damn near as bad for me as the booze. Since my health problems in 2007 I rarely ever drink soda. I do drink at least 1 1/2 gallons of water every day. It helps to keep the system flushed of all the nasty stuff. I am a label reading fanatic anymore and especially need to watch the sodium as it makes my legs swell bad. Eat at McDonalds and it takes me 3 days to get back on track. That is my treat every so often. We eat more fresh veggies now than I ever did. Apples and oranges are also regular items around here. While I am not a lettuce fan I do eat salads and like fresh celery although it also has a lot of sodium. Not much bought food anymore which is why we work the garden and greenhouse. I have strawberries forming on our plants right now and will be planting some other thing this week.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
I'd like to place my Christmas order, please.:biggrin:
You'll have to get in line, because Chrismas baking may be sparse this year, as we are expecting our first grandchild (girl) right around Christmas. Instead of 18-20 for Christmas, we will be a small group of immediate family of 7-8, so I won't need to bake as much. Sorry...
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Dang, and I was feeling pretty good about cutting out 75% of the diet soda I used to drink. I switched to propel, which I simply add to a bottle of water.
This thread made me look at the ingredients that are in propel. :eek: The front of the box says it's a Vitamin enhanced water beverage mix w/ antioxidants. Sounded good to me. Tastes okay. I can drink more of it per day than I ever would drink of straight water. It does have 10 calories per packet (which treats a 16 to 20oz bottle of water) but the very first ingredient listed is: Sucrose, then citric acid and then sodium. :bonk: I guess I did not do myself any favors.

Maybe your new found knowledge will propel you to drink water :biggrin: It is cheaper to drink water with a splash of lemon, lime, cranberry or orange juice in it....just a splash. It helps for those who don't like the taste of water.
 

SShepherd

New member
Maybe your new found knowledge will propel you to drink water :biggrin: It is cheaper to drink water with a splash of lemon, lime, cranberry or orange juice in it....just a splash. It helps for those who don't like the taste of water.


ohman that was bad:doh:
 

SShepherd

New member
I notice a few don't like salads. Have you ever tried kimchi?

I had it on our 1st trip to Japan (ys, I know it's korean)

I love the stuff, and eat it with almost every dinner. Not only is it high in fiber, but it's full of lactobacilli.:clap:

Why to try it: Kimchi (or kimchee) is loaded with vitamins A, B, and C, but its biggest benefit may be in its “healthy bacteria” called lactobacilli, found in fermented foods like kimchi and yogurt. This good bacteria helps with digestion, plus it seems to help stop and even prevent yeast infections, according to a recent study. And more good news: Some studies show fermented cabbage has compounds that may prevent the growth of cancer.

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410300,00.html
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
How about the chemicals that can be released in grilled food?
I think that's one of the biggest reasons I don't own a grill and am not really a fan of grilling.

I like miso soup. For some reason I feel fabulous after I eat it, for hours.
Too many carbs knock me into zzzzzzzzz land.
The milk that comes into my house is organic, the meats I can buy here are mostly Amish farm meats, as are the eggs. I love butter.
The diet changes I've made gradually just in the last year alone are crazy.
I read labels. That matters. Now more than ever.
I mostly cook from scratch, but throw in a processed frozen bit of something every now and then, just because it tastes so good.
I don't use a salt shaker. I put a little salt in the palm of my hand and watch it fall into the dish, which is normally less than a pinch.

Green tea? No thanks.
I love soy and all nut milks and cashew butter vs peanut butter.
 

Cowboy

Wait for it.
GOLD Site Supporter
I finally talked my wife into cutting out any type of soda pop completly in the last 6 months or so & she cant beleive how much better she feels & the weight she has lost . I agreed to cut WAAAAY back on my beer & drink a couple of gallons of flavored water instead during the day & it was a perty good trade off . We both have lost 100 pounds between us , bp,s are back to normal , allthough she does take medication to help with hers . I dont do pills other then a baby aspirin every morning & even quit taking my aleve , instead I drink ensure & taking several vitamins & fish pills .

We both have been eating healthy & quit eating beef the last year or so , now its mostly localy raised bison , pork , some fish & ocasionaly farm raised turkey . My wife eats 5 very small helpings a day & I only eat once a day & not very much then . Ussualy no more then 5 or 8 beers a day for either of us , neither of us have ever felt better . My only problem is I continue to lose weight & cant seem to put it back on , I,m down to size wearing 32 jeans which I haven,t been able to wear since I was a teenager . better then the alternative though I recon :wink:
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
My only problem is I continue to lose weight & cant seem to put it back on , I,m down to size wearing 32 jeans which I haven,t been able to wear since I was a teenager . better then the alternative though I recon :wink:

This is a little concerning, Cowboy. Unintentional weight loss is something you should have checked out by a doctor.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
This is a little concerning, Cowboy. Unintentional weight loss is something you should have checked out by a doctor.

Agreed, but given all the changes he has done in the past year I would suspect that is the cause for the weight loss. Keeping to the same routine of course he is not putting it back on. All sounds good, but it never hurts to have that annual check up and get the doctors opinion.
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Agreed, but given all the changes he has done in the past year I would suspect that is the cause for the weight loss. Keeping to the same routine of course he is not putting it back on. All sounds good, but it never hurts to have that annual check up and get the doctors opinion.


True, Doc. Cowboy mentions the changes. But, then he says
Cowboy said:
My only problem is I continue to lose weight & cant seem to put it back on


As a nursing professional with over 20 years experience in critical care, when I see a statement like that, I believe I would be negligent not to encourage someone to have a physical and get checked out. None of us are spring chickens and we have a lot of mileage. I don't agree with a lot of mainstream medicine even though I work in the profession. But there are times when it is best to see a doctor and operate on the premise that it is better to be safe than sorry.
 

SShepherd

New member
PG, cooking things on a grill I don't worry about-people been eating grilled meat forever.

charcoal "brickettes"...I dunno about,never ate one. I use propane or wood.
 
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