For years, my shopping trips have been restricted to just a few lanes in the supermarket.

These are the fresh vegetables sections, fresh fruits sections and whole/organic packaged foods sections.

I seldom wander into the packaged, processed foods or convenience foods section unless I need to grab some other household neccessities like paper towels.

The reason is simple - I find it increasingly difficult to trust food manufactures and food regulating authorities, thus reading labels have lost its purpose.

The recent Melamine poisoning scare probably woke many of us up - as can be seen from the never-ending queues at soy-milk vendors.

People are switching away from dairy in fear of what lurks within.

Food manufacturers inject melamine substances to trick machines into giving higher readings for nutritional content.

Just like them, there can be other unethical business owners engaging similar practices to fool authorities.

We probably do not know of them yet - just like how we had been silently poisoned all these while.

It is impossible to cut risks down to zero, but there are definitely lifestyle changes we can adopt to protect ourselves and our families.

1) Cut down consumption of meat and dairy products.

The higher the animal on the food chain, the higher the risk of contamination. Especially for farm-bred animals which could be raised on tainted feed.

Most farm-bred animals today are raised using artificial means to shorten growing time, so that the animals can be slaughtered for sale earlier.

At best, these animals are fed antibiotics (for quick fattening) and maybe colorings (to enhance the color of the meat).

At worst, they are fed melamine substances. If all these had been happening under our noses all along, what else could be wrong?

2) Include more fresh, wholesome greens/vegetables and fruits.

In replacement of meat products, incorporate more fresh greens, vegetables and fruits into your diet.

Even if you can only afford non-organic produce which may have some pesticides residue, it is still better than ingesting animal products which contains these residues (unless we are talking about organic meat products) AND many more other pollutants/contaminants!

We live in a world today where we no longer know what goes on behind the scenes when the food reaches out table.

To protect ourselves and our families, we need to opt for the least altered, least adulterated fresh and wholesome foods as much as possible.

3) Think twice before you buy something in the form of a packet.

All packaged products run the risk of having some form of undesired ingredient added to them. Some approved food colorings have already been proven to cause hyper-action in children (who have weaker immune systems).

But because there will be some time before the authorities take action, we still have to assume responsibility for our own health.

Table salt, food additives/enhancers and preservatives are present in almost all packaged products. In small amounts, these cannot trigger immediate noticeable health failures.

But, have we wondered why advanced nations are getting sicker and sicker by the day?

Most of the developed societies suffer from some kind degenerative disease (if not all!) like cancer, diabetes, infertility, pre-mature aging etc.

The good news is that we do NOT have to put up with all these suffering, once we stop letting others decide our health for us.

By taking action right away, we protect not only ourselves, but also our loved ones who may be less savvy.

Claim your right to natural, vibrant health today!

(C)Copyright 2008, Linda Loo

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Tags: vegan weight loss, low fat recipies, raw food recipes, raw food health