How Good Is Good Food Really?

I have always been an advocate of eating right. And please don't get me wrong, I am in no way suggesting in this article that we all give up trying to eat right and start living on a diet of Twinkies and Yodels. That would certainly be a one way ticket to an early grave. However, we can't bury our heads in the sand regarding the real condition of the food that we eat. In this article, I'm going to take a good hard long look at some of the things that we put into our bodies that we truly believe are good for us. In today's world, good is a very relative term, as you will soon find out.

Let's start with something that almost everybody will agree is good for you. I'm talking about fresh fruits and vegetables. Certainly there can be nothing wrong with these wonders of nature. They're loaded with vitamins and minerals and help keep us healthy. Well, they're also loaded with something else that is hard to get around unless we go to special organic farms. See, in today's world where everything is about the mighty dollar, keeping our crops from being eaten by predators is our main concern. After all, every apple with a worm is one less apple that we can sell to the public. To achieve these ends, our fruits and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides in order to keep the critters away. Well, as bad as the pesticides are for the critters, they're even worse for us. Yes, the government has strict regulations on these pesticides and insist that the levels are not harmful. I prefer to take what my government says with a grain of salt. If you want to be really safe in this area, get your fruits and vegetables from an organic farm where they don't use pesticides. You'll pay a lot more, but it's worth it.

What about our fresh meats? I'm not talking about the ones that aren't any good for you anyway, like pork or beef. I'm talking about the lean meats like chicken and turkey. Certainly these meats that are low in cholesterol and fat have to be good for you, right? Well, have you ever seen what these chickens and turkeys are given in order to fatten them up? They're given drugs. Guess where those drugs are going. Right into our bodies. Again, the FDA says the levels are harmless. Again, we won't go there. If you want to make sure the meat you eat is really good for you, make sure it comes from a farm where the animals are not given drugs to make them look like Arnold what's his name.

What about fish? Certainly fish is very good for you, right? Well, it all depends on the levels of mercury found in the ocean where these fish have been floating around. In case you're not aware of this, the sea is not as clean as it once was. With all the dumping and polluting of our waters, eating fish can actually be hazardous to your health, depending on the fish you're eating.

The truth is, because of the industrial age we live in, the days of truly natural food are close to being over. We can come close, and certainly eating an apple is a lot better than eating a Yodel.

It's just not as good as it used to be.

To YOUR Health,

Steve Wagner