We’ve all see those ads for the popular fast food breakfast sandwich being advertised as “Now made with Real Egg” or the commercials from the popular dairy brand referring to themselves as “Real Cheese People“. When my husband I recently went out for breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast spots First Watch, this caught my eye, proudly stating “Real Ketchup” on the bottles, because unfortunately, most ketchup we’re offered does not always include a tomato at all (eek).
While not funny in theory, I always chuckle when we see these things. Shouldn’t this be alarming to more people? “If I haven’t been eating “egg” in my breakfast sandwich, what exactly have I been eating in my Egg McMuffin?” Or the fact that the selling point on this Ketchup bottle is that unlike other brands, they’re advertising that they will feed you what you actually think you’re consuming…Ketchup made from Tomatoes.
While I’m not one to preach to everyone around me to eat organic and clean simply because I do, it is a lifestyle choice we’ve chosen and I choose to recommend and share about it for a few basic reasons:
- It makes me feel good inside (resolved many stomach and digestive issues for me, more energy, boosted immune system)
- The food taste better (you truly start to realize what fruit and vegetables are supposed to taste like)
- It simply gives me peace of mind (and joy!), to know what I am eating is free of genetically modified ingredients, antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals, and potentially something that could cause my body harm. While life can throw us many things we can’t control, what I eat is something I can.
I saw this quote on Pinterest, and think it put it best:
There was a time when all food served was real food. The concept of farm to table isn’t a new “trendy diet” and it’s not “funny” that they’re “now using Real egg”, but it should get you thinking…
Often when I tell people I try to eat organic whenever possible (with the exception of social settings and restaurants, because we’re all human! ), I get an array of feedback. While some people totally get it, others tell me “it’s just way too expensive to eat that way”, (I will prove you wrong, future posts to come!), or believe its a “healthy diet trend” they’ve heard I’m on. That last one makes me laugh, trust me, I can make one decadently fattening Mac n’ cheese, or chocolatey rich dessert, but using real, non-processed foods! People often ask me what made me turn my eating habits towards clean eating, gradually transitioning my kitchen and pantry into a primarily organic space, and only buying items that I could pronounce the ingredients on the back of the box, the answer was simple information and results.
What pushed me to change my eating habits?
When I was in my twenties I was living in my dream (totally out of my price range) bachelorette-pad, living the single girl, paycheck to paycheck lifestyle, and working for a very fun scouting company in the talent/entertainment industry. This job allowed me to travel several times a month across the US and Canada. A true foodie at heart, my co-workers and I would try our best to eat at the best-rated restaurants in each city we were in, but with busy airport schedules and conference work lunches, we also ate at a lot of sports grills and hotel bars (processed foods galore, fried foods, corn oil..). When I wasn’t traveling and eating out several meals a month, I tried to maintain a healthy but budget friendly diet (bags of spinach and egg whites were a regular meal!). One week when I was off the road from traveling I started to have some real stomach issues. I was feeling nausea and had pain in my upper left stomach, started to have significant loss of appetite, and at one point was out of work for 2 weeks in bed. After Ultrasounds, an endoscopy, blood tests, and more, they came to the conclusion that I “have a sensitive stomach”, and that I “hold all my stress in my stomach”. Well DUH! I’m “stressed” because I don’t know what’s wrong with my stomach!
My journey continued and I began looking deeper into some natural alternatives. I found an incredible Reflexologist and Massage Therapist here in Scottsdale, AZ (if you need a recommendation let me know!), who instantly released some of the pain, I started taking Pro-Biotics and Digestive Enzymes regularly, and used Essential Oils to prevent nausea.
Fast forward a couple years, I was at a different job, dating my now husband, and still sleeping every night with a heating pad on my “sensitive stomach”. One night we started watching some documentaries on farming in the US (random date night!). We stumbled upon a film that explored the corporate takeover of our farms, and the use of pesticides and chemicals they started spraying on our crops in the late 90’s (when I was in my teen years, key years for women’s development). They interviewed Organic farmers and their point of view and highlighted the amount of genetically modified farms in our country. I started researching how many countries around the world ban this type of farming, along with the GMO seeds being used and big business behind the foods we eat and that threaten Organic farmers.
This got me thinking, what are we feeding ourselves? What if there is potential harm from these chemicals over periods of time in our bodies? This in itself made me sick (oh no, my “stressful” stomach!). I learned that most corn fields in our country are being sprayed with pesticides and root roundup, and most products have, and most restaurants use, corn oil, syrup, and GMO-filled products that we consume daily. I started thinking, What if, even when I’m eating the healthiest of diets, these non-organic vegetables are causing this stomach pain and these digestive issues. I’ve been eating GMOs for years and didn’t know it….
While some argue there isn’t enough evidence out there for them to make the change (I beg to differ), just the unknowns made it pretty easy for me, if given the option to avoid these chemicals, why wouldn’t I?
Now, I am not claiming to be a scientist, nor a doctor (so please see a Gastroenterologist or medical specialist if you need one), but this simple information got me reading the back of ingredient labels a lot closer. If I can’t pronounce the ingredients, why would I want to eat them?! We are taught since children not to drink the cleaning supplies and chemicals under the sink (granted, we now keep a chemical/toxic free home, so my future kiddos will be safe!), and now who knows what half the things in the pantry are truly made of. I suddenly couldn’t look at food the same way. So I started changing my pantry, little by little, one spice at a time, (tips on how to have a complete Organic grocery list on an unemployed budget to come), and have truthfully never felt better.
Organic and clean eating is something I’m truly passionate about and I’m encouraged to help others feel better by ridding themselves from the chemicals and GMO’s we’re eating. Every time we have a family meal and my dad calls out “Hey D, those carrots are Organic, so don’t worry”, or my Mother In Law, who now makes her famous batch of Italian red sauce with all organic ingredients, it fills my heart with joy and my now “less stressed” stomach with happiness. I even got this as a gift this year for Christmas- they know me well!
