As I lay in bed the other night, I started thinking about my journey and quest to learn about our toxic food, products and world. When did I stop just accepting things as they were? How did I get to a place where I read labels and question my purchases so much? Others seem oblivious to what I automatically question! My inquiries and probing eventually resulted in my creation of this Website and Facebook page.
For more than half of my life I ate almost anything without thinking much about what ingredients were in it or whether it was organic or non-GMO. When my son was young we ate at fast food restaurants like Taco Bell and McDonald’s. I bought more packaged foods then too. Of course I believe that our foods and environment were less toxic when I was growing up and certainly when my parents were young; they didn’t even have fast food! GMO’s didn’t hit the stores until the 1990’s so their affect is relatively new. It embarrasses me to say that I actually ate raw hot dogs from the refrigerator as a child; now it is hard for me to even eat one cooked! And I just found out that hot dogs are as toxic as cigarettes and plutonium. Many people still eat fast food and seem oblivious to its harm yet our rates of disease continue to rise. Could there be a link?
I feel motivated (or even feel a calling) to share information to those who will listen and I certainly don’t want to come across as preachy. Once one knows what one knows, one can’t go back; at least I can’t. It’s like once you know you’ve been lied to, you have trouble trusting again. I believe that we have been lied to by corporations who are trying to make lots of money regardless of the health risks they pose to us; case in point lead in the water in Flint and other cities and the commercials saying fracking is safe. (The way they frack has changed in recent years for one.) You can’t even believe the words on packaging that say ‘Natural’. Lies! Mistruths! And more lies! Most of our skin care products are never tested either but we assume they are safe. Europe doesn’t allow half of the things that the U.S. does on their shelves. Obviously everyone has the freedom of choice, but I can’t help wondering how many just put their heads in the sand or their hands over their ears and don’t want to know what is true. Some can’t believe we would be lied to by our own government or corporate America. Believe me it’s easier to just do and buy whatever you want without even considering or understanding the consequences! That applies to politics, religion or about anything. You can be spoon fed information and take it in without research or questioning and live your life very happily, perhaps even more easily. (Dare I say some Trump supporters?) I just don’t happen to be one of them.
Also, I question authority and what we are being told and spoon fed. Much of what is televised is for making money. Companies and even the EPA have a ‘products are safe until proven faulty’ attitude and have had great latitude in the crap they make for us. You see so many commercials that you grow to trust companies because their names are so familiar but in fact they are producing toxic products that are harming our families! One case is Johnson & Johnson, who put toxic ingredients in baby products (for our little sweet babies!) until ladies took them on and they were forced to make some changes in recent years. I still won’t buy their products! Knowledge is power right? It can also be scary! You can’t unlearn what you have awakened to! I am happy to say there are people bringing issues to light like the Food Babe who are prodding restaurants to make changes in the food to make it healthier. I want to be a change agent too or at least make you think about your choices.
My high school teachers taught me to be a critical thinker. I think that is being lost in our current education system but that is another topic for another day. I am no expert, but I have many years of learning and researching under my belt! When I returned to college as an adult, I took many single credit classes in health areas such as massage, reflexology, naturopathic remedies and yoga. In my nutrition class I learned how to read labels on food. I also listened to weekend radio programs on cooking and natural health topics and learned natural ways to deal with minor health issues like flu and the common cold. I have many books on health issues and can look up many ailments and find natural remedies or essential oils (sell them too) to help with them. I prefer that over western medicine for the most part; emergencies are different. I am reluctant to take new medications and often seek alternative solutions whenever possible(I have used chiropractry, acupuncture, Quantum neurology, Chinese herbs, reflexology, and Reiki).
Since I like to learn how to improve my life, I feel moved to share what I learn with others. Sometimes I feel like a sponge as I have so many interests and love watching documentaries and picking up new books and hobbies. I just watched a good Netflix film last night that I would recommend: The Human Experiment. It talks about all of the chemicals in our lives and how it adversely affects us. Cancer, ADHD, Autism, and more are on the rise since we began using more chemicals (BPA) in plastics, etc. Could GMO’s play a key in these rises too? I also enjoy watching and getting tips from Dr Oz’s show on television and other PBS documentaries on health and healing.
Ten years ago I joined Lemongrass Spa Company as a consultant and learned that our skin is the largest organ and that most of our personal care products contain toxins. Our products do not! So I decided I wanted to promote healthier products and to make changes in the products I sold. Until then I had been successfully selling Avon products for over 20 years. But knowing new things, I questioned those products and the toxins they contained and stopped selling them. Avon products used to be made in the U.S., and that was moved overseas. (Clue 1) Cheap products sell well, but at what cost? I even wrote to the CEO of the company and told him that I could no longer sell something that contained known carcinogens. They responded quickly denying it, but I saw the ingredients list and new better.
Also, from Lemongrass Spa, I learned about the Environmental Working group and their database of products showing levels of toxicity (skin deep). Just put in a name of a product and it will rate it’s toxicity for you. Also, I met many people through the alternative health fields that I began using and started trying other more healthy products and supplements. I watched PBS shows on food and nutrition. Documentaries (like Food, Inc., Food Matters and Cracking the GMO Code and more) came out exposing the food industry and pushed me toward becoming almost a vegetarian (I like variety but I eat a lot less meat and buy grass fed and antibiotic-free now). Besides, less meat also helps the planet! I began changing my health products, my food choices, and my home cleaning products and began buying filtered water. Most of the food in my home is organic, including spices and condiments now. I do much of my own baking from scratch; yet realizing when I dine out it will not be as good quality.
Three years ago I watched my mother die from cancer. She was the first in her generation to have cancer! Born into a large family of nine, she was the first to die from cancer.. She got a good start growing up on a farm in Michigan where they ate fresh foods they grew. My generation has not fared as well; I have lost many cousins to cancer, many who died before their parents. So that began my search into cancer prevention. I can’t buy into ‘the cure’ and big businesses selling products just to make money in the name of a cause (watch Pink Ribbons and read earlier blog). We need to work toward prevention, not waiting until we have a disease in my estimation!
So I have read and listened to many programs about preventing cancer. There are now groups promoting the prevention of cancer with diet and other tips. I will likely never know exactly what caused my mother to get cancer as there are so many toxins in the environment. Yet I can’t help wonder if a few things may have contributed to her cancer as she ate many processed foods (but was a good cook), had diabetes, lived in Iowa awhile where she ate more pork and pie, and used toxic cleaning products at home. Plus she used baby powder when we were young and that has been linked to ovarian cancer from which she died. Unfortunately, she was a naysayer of my efforts to eat more organic, more vegetables and to change other products for home and personal care; in fact many of my friends and family probably think I am overzealous when it comes to what I eat and use at home. I realize it is a bit more expensive to make these changes, but so are health care costs and can you put a price on quality of life?
Anyway this has been my journey of knowledge of the past twenty years or so.. Each person has to make their own decisions and I urge you to do more research too. Perhaps I have at least awakened some curiosity in those who read my blogs enticing you to read labels, consider trying some of the products that I support and be aware of the choices you make in your daily life. I list some recommended products and resources on my website too. For one, I love Bio Green Clean which is non-toxic with no smell and cleans about anything! You can even get if from Amazon now. I also post news and articles frequently to my Facebook page with the same name so check those out and please like my page. May you enjoy good health!