Monday, January 25, 2010

A Conscience

The other day my friend J and I had a great conversation about what we put into our bodies and what we put on our bodies (face creams etc). J had just watched the movie Food Inc.

I'm eager to see the movie. I have been thinking a lot about our conversation. My grandparents (my Mum's parents) both died in their mid-60's of breast/bone cancer and a brain tumor. I miss them both, and I worry about the history of cancer in my family.

I'm not someone who will ever be fanatical about what I put in my body, or on my body. I simply do not have that sort of discipline. I wish I did. I admire people who can stick to a regime of organic foods only and exercising 3-5 times a week. I'm someone who puts in an effort every day to eat well and exercise regularly. But I also slip up. However, I figure all my efforts will add up over the years and are a lot better than never trying at all.

I rarely if at all eat meat or eggs. I drink milk though, so will look at buying organic milk. I have decided to make even more of an effort for my husband to buy free range meat/eggs. Organic groceries are more expensive of course, but if we can afford to spend money on other random things - we can afford good groceries, and cut back on the random things we don't really need. Its not just about me, its about my husband also - and living healthy long lives. My friend J brought up an excellent point about there not being the fructose corn syrup in everything when our parents were growing up. It angers me that its in everything here in the US. If we can be aware of what has HFCS in it, and cut some of it out of our diets that would be great.

We got talking about parabens. Parabens are in cosmetics, face creams etc to preserve their life. I got home and looked at some of my face creams. I use Yes to Carrots which is a vegan line, and I'm happy to say Paraben free! So, next step... I'm going to switch up my deodorant to something more earth friendly (body friendly).

Like I said, I'm not going to be all-about-organic. I like some processed foods. But all in all I like to cook fresh foods every day, and the efforts I make now will hopefully help over the years.

3 comments:

Frank said...

Eh...I'm half way there. I run at least 5 miles a day...but my diet is still absolutely terrible. I could make some changes...but I just like bacon too much.

Its Just Me - Daring to Dream said...

You have a good point. I used to be more aware, but it got expensive shopping and eating by my convictions...but every little bit counts, thats for sure. For me - I am just off of red meats, caffiene, sugar - and I try to eat fresh veges vs canned/frozen. Its not much. But I enjoyed reading your blog to remind me of what I slowly forgot.

sui said...

Food Inc is a GREAT movie. You should definitely watch it. I'm all for sustainability... HFCS is in practically all processed foods and even things like bread, and a bunch of other preservatives and artifical stuff (even "natural flavors, etc." aren't necessarily good or even truly natural) are as well. Did you know there's mercury in HFCS? And artificial food colorings can cause ADHD in children. :|

I encourage you to research it yourself (and if you have time, read The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan). The best food is local, grass-fed (when it comes to meat), free-range, etc. ... even organic can be somewhat industrial and harmful to the environment (i.e. importing organic food from other countries burns more fossil fuel) but, eating real food is always good :)