Most of us love bacon but is it msafe to eat? Why is there so much salt added to bacon (isn’t too much salt a health risk) and nitrates added to bacon?

They say nitrates are added to preserve our foods but I do not believe that after doing some tests in our kitchen.

A few weeks ago, 4 to be exact we visited the local farmers market and bought some freshly frozen, freshly cut off the pig, bacon. Nitrate free, salt free, pure pig fat bacon! Mmmmm.

That same day we bought a pack of bacon from our local grocery store, zehrs. This package of bacon has the following ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrate, smoke.

Now for the test.

We opened each package and cooked up a few pieces of each bacon. First off let me tell you there is a HUGE difference in taste. The organic free range bacon with no additives smelled amazing (who doesn’t love the smell of bacon cooking) while the store bought bacon smelt ok, but not anything like the organic free range bacon did.

Now for the taste test.
Free range all the way. Tasty, thick, greasy good bacon full of flavor and yumminess!

The store bought bacon was thin and did not taste anywhere near as good as the organic free range bacon. It did not taste real. The flavor was missing.

So the taste test goes to Organic free range bacon.

Now for part two of the test.

The freshness test.

Leaving the bacon in the fridge for days which actually turned to weeks.
Within 5 days we noticed a difference with the store bought Presidents Choice bacon we purchased at Zehrs. By day 7 the PC brand bacon had to be thrown out, while the organic free range bacon was still looking great and smelt normal.

10 days passed and we cooked up a few more pieces. 16 days passed and we had cooked a few more pieces, still half of the package left and it still tasted great!

Day 21 and the bacon still looked and smelt fresh in the original wrapping, so we closed it up and forgot about it.

We actually did forget about it till a week later.

Day 33 and it was breakfast time and guess what. We wanted eggs and bacon. Remembering about the bacon I rushed to the fridge, grabbed the bacon out of it and unwrapped it and it was still perfectly fine. No as fresh as day 1 obviously but still in very good condition and still very eatable.

So the freshness test goes to organic free range bacon.

So my question is why do they load up our meats with all these chemicals. Do they really preserve our foods? By my tests they do not. We all know that nitrates are carcinogenic. So what is the real deal??

People are consuming these products without thought like Mindless idiots. Is it there fault? Partly yes.. and partly no. I personally always read the ingredients and if I am unsure what it is, I put it back. My health and my children’s health is more important to me than a tasty treat that will kill you later.

I do not trust the FDA even though they are not our governing body in Canada. I would not trust them if I was American either. There is to much proof that the FDA is corrupt company created for the wealth of mega companies to control markets and trick people into believing things are safe and good for them.

That being said the Health Canada seems to rather stupidly accept what the FDA says as the truth. Something I hope will come to an end and that Canadians will voice their opinion on. We are not American and do not believe the influence of the FDA should cross our border.
The FDA is not a real company but a company created and paid off to do bad things so that companies like Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble and others can do what they want to people and control the markets. Another company to be careful of is Nestle. They own hundreds of other brands you may not be aware of and are eating. Dr Oetker, Michelinas are two off the top of my head.

Back to Chewing Gum though and is it safe.
The answer you will get really depends on who you ask. If you ask a rep for the company that uses these products the definitive answer will be YES! If you ask people on the health side of things or that have had their health compromised from these ingredients, the answer will be NO. Who you believe is up to you, but I tend to believe the people who are not selling me the product.

We all know that Aspartame is not safe. It is downright dangerous for us and causes many many health problems. Some you may not see for years to come. Others can appear overnight.

Sucralose the 2nd artificial sweetener is also not a healthy or smart choice. For those of you that do not know Sucralose is produced by chlorinating sugar (sucrose). This involves chemically changing the structure of the sugar molecules by substituting three chlorine atoms for three hydroxyl groups. (adding chlorine.. do you think it is safe still??)

Sucralose is not yet approved for use in most European countries, where it is still under review. This is where Health Care is the best in the world and free. They do not want the burden of health issues that come with its use and that is why it is not approved there.

Where you will find Sucralose:

• Baked goods and baking mixes
• Chewing gum
• Confections and frostings
• Fats and oils (salad dressings)
• Fruit and water ices
• Jams and jellies
• Processed fruits and fruit juices
• Sweet sauces, toppings and syrups
• Beverages and beverage bases
• Coffee and tea
• Dairy product analogs
• Frozen dairy desserts and mixes
• Gelatins, puddings and fillings
• Milk products
• Sugar substitutes

Here is a small list of side effects from using Sucralose.

• Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
• Enlarged liver and kidneys
• Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
• Increased cecal weight
• Reduced growth rate
• Decreased red blood cell count
• Hyperplasia of the pelvis
• Extension of the pregnancy period
• Aborted pregnancy
• Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
• Diarrhea

I personally would have read the first ingredient (sweetener) as Aspartame and put it back. I would not have had to keep reading but for those of you that do and got to Sucralose. I hope this has shed some light on what it is exactly and how it is not healthy for you and downright dangerous to your children and your health. My advice is if you want to live a long healthy life and not die before your kids or struggle with your health you do not eat these mad made sugars. Go for products with natural sugars which have been used for thousands of years! White sugar is better but not great, but still better than artificial sweeteners. I personally go for Raw sugar if possible or sugars like Fructose (fruit sugar), Dextrose or Xylital.

The 3rd man made sweetener on the list is Acesulfame-K. Another one you should avoid.
Acesulfame-K is an artificial sweetener that’s about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It’s used in baked goods, chewing gum, gelatin desserts and soft drinks. Studies have found that this substance may cause cancer, and other studies to reliably prove this additive’s safety have not been conducted. Acesulfame-K also breaks down into acetoacetamide, which has been found to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits and dogs.

If you do some searches on Yahoo and other Search engines I am sure you can find tons more of info regarding the toxicity of artificial sweeteners and how they affect your health.

My advice is the next time you pick up a pack of gum to put it back if it reads one of those ingredients. Email or call the company and let them know you want natural sugar back.

Natural sugar is not the cause of health problems, diabetes etc. Artificial sweeteners are along with over eating bad chemical filled products.

In all my years growing up I never knew anyone with diabetes till the last 15 years. Now I can name of 10 people and these people eat artificial sweeteners, drink diet pops and do not watch what they eat.

Knowing what you eat is important. Not just what it is called or the brand name but the ingredients. Do your self and children a favour and read the ingredients on the products you by and make your opinion heard to store managers and the companies that make these products.

There is a new Organic line of products out and on the shelves at Chapters and I am sure many other stores called Beautea. An Organic Tea based lotion that looks great, smells great and works great too. (i tested it). However my upset came when I tried to look up the ingredients on the box. To my surprise there were no ingredients listed. I checked the bottle of Beatea lotion and only the Organic Teas were listed. No mention of any other ingredients (which there always is).

My first reaction when I cannot find ingredients is to put whatever I am looking at back down as the company is usually hiding something. Maybe this is not true in all cases, but I have found it to be true in many.

So I set the overpriced $20.00 bottle of hand lotion back down. A general rule I love by is that I won’t buy something that goes on my skin or my childrens with out knowing exactly what is in that product.

I am not sure if you are aware, but your skin is the largest organ on our body and absorbs everything you put on it. To stay healthy we follow a simple rule. If you can’t eat it then you shouldn’t put it on your skin.

Since I liked the product I decided to email them when I returned home to get a product list. They kindle sent me it in 24hrs but questioned my asking. ???

Below I have copy and pasted the ingredient listing from their Moisturizing Body Lotion, exactly as I was sent it. At a quick glance it looked good, but once I slowed my eyes down I ended up dissapointed with this new Organic body lotion from PureLiving.ca. I have bolded the ingredients that should cause concern to you.

Beautea (pureliving.ca) INGREDIENT LISTING
——————————–
Beautea Organic Body Lotion / Moisturizing Body Lotion / 250 ml – 8.5 fl oz

Water (Aqua), Certified Organic Sesame (Sesamum Indicum) Oil, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Carbomer 941, Tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), T.E.A., Certified Organic Fragrance, Certified Organic Ginseng (Panax Ginseng) Extract, Certified Organic Green Tea (Camellia Sinensis) Extract, Certified Organic Lemon (Citrus Limon) Oil, Certified Organic Orchid (Cymbidiums) Extract, Certified Organic Oolong (Oleum Amygdalarum Amarum) Extract, Certified Organic Soybean (Glycine Max) Oil, Certified Organic Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus) Oil, Sesame (Sesamum Indicum) Oil, Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii).

Their product is loaded with great ingredients and organic ones at that but these two ingredients are unsafe to put on your body and should cause concern.

Here is a little bit of info on these two ingredients and why you should not use them.

T.E.A is usually a combination Triethanolamine and Diethanolamine (also known as D.E.A) but can sometimes be just Triethanolamine & water.

TEA is a synthetic emulsifier. Over 40% of cosmetics containing Triethanolamine (TEA), have been found to be contaminated with nitrosamines, which are potent carcinogens.

If we break it down you have Diethanolamine, which is a foaming agent widely used in personal care products such as shampoos, hair dyes, and bath products. DEA can also be found in some pesticide formulations, as a so-called inert ingredient.

Products containing DEA may be contaminated with nitrosamines, some of which may cause cancer, if the product contains nitrites as a preservative. Nitrosamines may accidentally contaminate DEA-containing products as well.

European Union restricts DEA use to 1% of any cosmetic ingredient. But in the U.S., there are no such regulations. Manufacturers are advised by the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association to limit DEA usage to five times what is accepted in Europe. This is not acceptable and just another thing wrong with the United States and something that makes us think many things link back to the big medical industry!

My advice to you is to not use products that contain DEA.

My advice to you is to not use products that contain  (T.E.A) Triethanolamine.

These chemicals are already restricted in Europe due to known carcinogenic effects. Repeated skin applications of DEA-based products resulted in a major increase in the incidence of liver and kidney cancer.

If you want to support the American Medical Industry and bring their wrong standards into Canada, then by all means buy their toxic laced organic products and join the long list of patients that support the medical industry by poisoning themselves.

My advice is when you come across products that contain ingredients that are known cacarcinogens or toxins is to email or call the company and let them know your dissappointment with their products ingredients. Let them know you will not buy it and let them know you will inform all your friends about the toxic ingredients they use.

The more we voice ourselves as consumers and people who deserve to keep our health when using products. The more the world will change.

My youngest is now 4 and eldest is 8. There are time when we still get the sniffles and spike a fever but thats no reason to visit the doctor. This usually happens after a few days of snotty noses at the kids school during the winter months. They say its the season to be merry.. but I am thinking otherwise.

So you set off to the local drug store to find something safe to give your children that will bring them ease and break that fever. If you are like me and read the ingredients you can easily spend 20-30 minutes trying to find something that has little filler ingredients in it or known toxic and dangerous chemicals. YES…THESE ARE IN YOUR CHILDRENDS COUGH MEDICINE!!

Last year after having to head to the drugstore to get something to break my sons fever, I spent over 20 minutes trying to find a product that would take my sons fever down. My first thought was Tylenol.. Why? Because we grew up on that brand. It is a brand you would think you could trust. Right? Well not in my eyes anymore.

Here are just a few of the ingredients i have found in Tylenol products that I would not ingest or give to my children due to known side effects and the fact they are not safe!

Butylparaben, propylene glycol, methylparaben, propylparaben, sodium lauryl sulfate, titanium dioxide, butylparaben, Aspartame (yeah.. I want my kids having that), castor oil (contains a known poison.. seriously) and I am sure I could find more with some reading.

So when it comes time to get some Tylenol or another brand of fever medicine. Make sure to read the ingredients and look for one with the least amount of fillers. Don’t trust a brand name because you grew up on it and your mom said they were the best. Read and educate yourself.

Our children are our most precious and I personally find it upsetting that companies put these ingredients in products we give to our children. Time for some change I say. Tylenol, Motrin, Exact.. get with it. Stop poisoning us and our children.

White coffee filters, white toilet paper, white tampons, what sugar, white, white, white! Does it all have to be white?

I think their is an unknown obsession with white items.. and its killing us.

Personally I don’t care what colour my sugar is as long as it tastes like sugar. As long as my coffee filter, filters my coffee I am good there too. Tampons, well I dont use them but them miss does and I have read and hear some things about the chemicals used in bleaching those and how it can and I am pretty sure she would not care if they were not white either.

This obsession with white is killing people and they just don’t see it.

Now the companies who make these items say to us “the chemicals that can leech out of the product are minimal and harmless in such small amounts”. That is if they say anything at all. Now lets take a minute and add up how many times a day you drink coffee, times that by the week, times that by the month, then times that by the year… you will see that it adds up to a MASSIVE NUMBER and a boatload of bad chemicals being put into your body.

Then add in other items you use during the day that have been bleached white with harmful chemicals like your toilet paper, tampons, and more.

See there is a much bigger picture here.. its not about just one thing. Its about a little bit of everythign adding up to a big problem.

So.. next time you go to get your coffee filters.. reach for the unbleached tan looking ones. When it comes to toilet paper.. get the recycled kind, since it ends up rather non white in the end anyways.

It will do your body good!

P.S. And don’t forget to tell your store manager your not a fool and to stop using the word ORGANIC and NATURAL as a reason to over price items and rip us off.

I really suggest that everyone uses glass to drink from. Unfortunately that is hard with babies and water bottles. But .. I do it as much as I can and try to keep my family using glass also.

Here is my advice to avoid all these problems that you are seeing come up now and will see a lot more of in the future. Think about what your great, great grandparents lived like and used to live and do that.

On a side note. There are many good baby bottle products out there. So don’t think you are screwed.