Toxic Humans?

To redeem myself from yesterday's pointless pondering this entry is on a more serious note. I think with all the current threats to our food coupled with and endless bombardment of chemicals both indoors and out, that we as humans are the most toxic species living. I've thought that for a long time but still was surprised at the statistics given by Randall Fitzgerald in The Hundred-Year Lie, How Food and Medicine are Destroying Your Health. We certainly are not the people our ancestors were and if you really put things in perspective despite a shorter life span our ancestors were likely a lot healthier than we are.

I subscribe to the Canada Food Inspection Agency for potential problems like food recalls, health hazards and allergy warnings. Yesterday four notices appeared in my inbox, three were for health hazards including Samonella and lead contamination, the fourth was for allergies. On the heels of the E.coli and Listeria outbreaks, we may as well have Samonella added to the mix. At least we don't have Botulism at the moment but as a home canner that is always a concern. See it is not that we have enough to deal with in life right now! Take one walk through the supermarkets and take a moment to really carefully read those nutritional labels. There are few problems I have with these labels and the first begins with agencies that govern them and why certain things like flavourings are exempt from disclosure due to trade secrets and the myth these agencies are correct. They want us to put this crap into our bodies and pay through the nose to do so but cannot have the decency to tell us what it is we are ingesting and whether it will harm sometime in the future? I'm sorry, this just does not cut it with me. Now that is just the supermarket but what about the fast food industry?

Personally, I refuse to buy into the fast food industry since most of their products are so fat and salt laden it is ridiculous! Taco Bell® is experiencing a nice bought of E.coli in their green onions right now but I'm sure there are other fast food restaurants experiencing problems. It is my opinion that if we truly value our health we avoid these establishments entirely!

As if that isn't bad enough, we bring countless toxic chemicals into our homes, the very place we should be safe. The manufacturers have convinced us we need whiter & brighter laundry, heavenly smelling homes, synthetics, and oh gosh the list could go on forever. Do you know in most homes the indoor air is significantly more polluted than outdoors? When I use the word significantly I am using to indicate hard, cold figures not just as a figment of speech. On any given day we are breathing in the toxins from the cleaners, air fresheners, laundry products, personal product and off gassing from home furnishings. Is this what our bodies were designed to do? NO! Our bodies simply cannot hold up to this total, unending bombardment of toxins.

I am a very, very careful consumer and I strive to avoid toxic products. I preserve our own foods as much as possible. I garden organically, another myth and another topic. We eat healthy foods, avoid fast food restaurants, and don't buy commercial snacks or processed convenience foods. Think back to the land but still dependant on society for some things and that describes us. The other day I heard a burb about propylene glycol being a suspected carcinogenic so decided to investigate as to exactly how many products in our home contained this chemical. My very first thought at the tally was "what the heck?" and I am very careful with what I buy. I guess it wasn't good enough!

I give you, the reader a challenge to take my quiz. Armed with a pen and notepad, go through your house and simply make a tick for each time propylene glycol comes up in the list of ingredients. This is stuff you are using or putting on your body, often on a daily basis that has the potential to cause cancer. If anything it will make you more aware that you, the consumer has to take pro-active measurements to reduce the amount of harmful chemical exposure at every level of your life!