I am not a doctor, nutritionist or even certified in any way, so please read on at your own risk since the following words come from personally acquired knowledge and experience. I cannot nor do I wish to tell anybody what to do because, ultimately, your decisions result in actions, not somebody else’s words, even words that come from a professional such as a doctor or nutritionist. I am merely here to share what I have experienced.
Conventional and Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs)
This is where the adage, “A little bit won’t hurt,” comes into play. Although the conventional watermelon I had the other day didn’t make me glow in the dark or anything, I sometimes catch myself wondering what fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals go into conventional foods. Even if “natural” fertilizers from manure or compost is used, what remains is questionable because we all know most farm plants and animals that produce this natural fertilizer definitely don’t live organically. Still, this is better than synthetic fertilizer. For example, there is naturally occurring nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which arise from decomposition and there are the synthetic versions. To keep things simple and short, I will say that comparing natural fertilizer to its synthetic counterpart would be like comparing humans to robots, which we all know eventually become Terminators.
Speaking of Terminators, the root word “cide” as in “pesticide,” “herbicide” and “fungicide” is Latin for “killer,” or “to kill.” The first thought that comes to mind as to why humans are not affected by these killers in the way insects, plants and fungi are is that we are much larger and have many more cells, capable of taking on these killers. This means many more cells can be sacrificed and, while we won’t die on the spot from the first couple of exposures, we will eventually run out of healthy cells because killers do, after all, kill.
The seeds alone in genetically modified foods consist of all of the above decoded into their DNA and then get all of the above applied on top like an ice cream sundae. They remind me of the Terminator being lowered into the molten pit because these seeds are designed to withstand excessive amounts of pesticides and self-destruct after a certain time, causing farmers to keep buying the seeds. The manufacturers of these seeds encourage farmers to lay down excessive amounts of pesticide, which is supplied by the same company, which sells the seeds under a strict legal binding agreement.
The solution to this is to eat the most fresh, local, organic foods you can find, preferably raw. Foods that do not contain 100 percent organic ingredients can contain GMOs. Organic produce numbers consist of five digits and start with the number “9,” as in 94011 for organic bananas. Conventionally grown foods typically have four digits as their produce numbers. Genetically modified produce numbers normally have five digits and begin with the number “8,” which is easy to remember because it also happens to be the number of the 8 ball, which we all know not to sink too early, or it’s game over. A diet consisting mostly of fresh organic foods will help the body heal from just about any illness and will help one to thrive. Otherwise, every little bit will eventually hurt.
Ingredients
A diet that does not consist of mostly fruits and vegetables means there is an ingredient list for most of the food products one consumes. This list is a vital source of information and is, in my opinion, more vital than the nutritional data that accompanies it because it reveals what makes up the product. I would rather eat something labeled with poor nutritional data but with quality, natural ingredients listed over eating a product with good nutritional data and poor ingredients. There is a reason the nutritional facts label is larger and easier to find than the ingredient list, which is sometimes so small that it is barely readable. The point of this is to deceive the consumer into thinking the product is healthier than it really is.
The ingredient list off a small bag of pretzels, for example, reads, “Wheat flour, salt, vegetable oil (palm and/or corn oil), maltodextrin, buttermilk solids, lactic acid, citric acid, yeast, modified corn starch, natural butter flavor, vinegar, soda. Contains no hydrogenated fats.” This list may not set off any alarms in most people, but I know well enough not to eat it. Bear in mind, ingredients are listed in order from the largest amount to the smallest, starting with the wheat flour contained here. Wheat is a form of gluten, which is Latin for glue and acts just like it once in the digestive system. Enough of it causes the commonly known “beer belly” and is an intestinal abrasive. The next largest ingredient is salt, which is usually chemically derived, unlike sea salt or Himalayan salt, which is healthier but can deprive the body. The third ingredient is vegetable oil (palm and/or corn oil), which does not sound all that bad unless one knows where it comes from. The corn and palm oil industries are one of the leading causes of deforestation and are heavily treated with pesticides. Although palm oil, to my knowledge, is non-GMO, corn is a well-known GMO product.
The fourth ingredient is maltodextrin, a heavily processed result of protein separation used as filler and sometimes to add texture. It is a white powder that has no nutritional value, considering it is not even a whole food. Farther down the list of ingredients is modified corn starch, used as a thickening agent. There are many different types of starches, all of which are chemically derived, have a negative nutritional value and/or are genetically modified. The next smaller ingredient, natural butter flavor, is not even natural butter or even derived from it but one of several chemically combined ingredients composing of anything from diacetyl to stearic acid!
If you do not know an ingredient, look it up, especially if it is hard to pronounce. A shorter ingredient list is typically healthier than a longer one. I read the ingredient list even if the product is certified organic because there are certain things I tend to avoid such as wheat, soy and animal products. Take the time to research each ingredient and where they come from. Be wary of ingredients such as “natural flavors,” which can contain several dozen ingredients and is a loophole for companies to hide the true ingredients. The same goes for “fragrance” when it comes to toiletries, and a good rule of thumb is, “If you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your body.”
Animal Products
Forget the hormones and drugs that go into the animals, the heavily processed, chemically refined, pesticide-laden animal feed, some of which, by the way, is literally garbage, and the preservatives, dyes and flavorings that go into animal products—the human body still cannot effectively process animal products! Plant-based raw foods take sometimes less than 24 hours total transit time while animal products can require 100 hours to pass through. Animal products are acidic and are treated as a toxin to the body, which stores the toxins in one of many forms such as fat. These toxins also include what I refer to as “death toxins,” which occur while the animal is in a state of fear and panic prior to its death. Overabundance of these toxins leads to diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and so on, all of which are the same thing treated in different ways by the body, hence the names. There is, however, one name for all this, and it is called “The Animal’s Revenge.”
Human beings are the only beings on the planet without razor-sharp hands or feet and with flat teeth, small throats and long digestive systems that eat other species! Even if armed with a weapon, most would feel guilty about killing an animal because we are not naturally wired as predators, just like a cow or horse isn’t. Even if we could get to the cutting part, the fresh flesh wouldn’t taste and smell appetizing. Instead, it needs to be cooked and spiced up in order to fool the brain into thinking it is food. By this point, most of the nutritional content (if you want to call it that) is destroyed and greatly decreases digestive efficiency, reduces assimilation and contributes to toxin buildup.
The consumption of animals is not only destructive to the body but to the earth’s environment, as mentioned in last month’s article. If we simply stopped consuming these products, disease would reverse, bodies would heal, nature would be restored and suffering would be virtually eliminated. There is no question about it.
Eating Habits
Smoking advertisements, which ran from 1930 to 1953 read, “The Doctor’s Choice is America’s Choice,” were major influencers of American population who smoked, which hit an all-time high by the mid-fifties. Supposedly healthy, it wasn’t until later in the fifties when major studies starting coming out regarding the negative health effects of smoking. Finally in 1966, the first warning was issued on cigarette packages sold in the US. Eventually, Canada followed suit in 1989! Amazingly, the nation’s top tobacco manufacturer was a Fortune 10 company until 2002 and remains in the top 200 to this day. I find this remarkable for a company that everybody has known for quite some time is hazardous to one’s health. If you think that’s scary, check out today’s list for, they are the ones who heavily influence the choices of many.
From what I have seen in those who venture down the healing path, change is the most difficult thing to make because old habits can be hard to break, especially when one is faced with daily advertisements—visual and audile, clear and hidden, on-the-go routines designed to maintain order, supply and demand feeding off addictions, and instant access to commodity that covers up the pain. This whole hullabaloo was purposely designed as a never-ending circle that loops itself over and over again in order to keep the general population busy and distracted, so perhaps this realization will help one attain a state of health.
Surround yourself with like-minded individuals committed to healing and take the time to understand the natural circadian rhythm and food combining. Fast for a minimum of 12 hours daily. Take the time to prepare your food with gracefulness. Chew until the solid food becomes a liquid-like state and to activate the digestive enzymes. Breathe calmly in between swallows with a nice deep breath every now and then. Make eating an essential part of your day without the TV, phone, computer or reading material. Food is an important part of health, so why not make it an important part of your time?
Hasta la vista, baby.
Check out Korey’s whole series on the four causes of disease!
- Story 1: Four Causes of Disease and How Health Can Be Achieved
- Story 2: Learn How to Improve Household Conditions
- Story 3: Improving Your External Environment
- Story 4: Diet Is Key to Outstanding Health
- Story 5: The Mind Is the Lynchpin of Optimal Health
Explore Words of Experience from Korey Constable, Korey’s guest stories for Fruit-Powered Magazine!
Check out Korey’s transformation story!
