The first thing I learned is that there are processed foods certified GMO free and organic that I could have eaten. I didn't know about the Non-GMO project that has been certifying processed foods GMO free for over 4 years.
When I talk about processed foods this means anything that's not in it's natural state and had to be altered like blue corn chips, orange juice, salsa...this goes beyond cookies, crackers, bread and junk food (I don't ever recommend drinking bottled orange juice btw - completely over processed, cooked for safety and left devoid of nutrients and flavor that's all added back in...try squeezing an orange yourself - the taste is amazing!).
For my meat and animal product eating friends this also means your animal product - beef, chicken, fish, eggs (no dairy as that's processed) better be organic otherwise you are loading up on GMO's and processed foods via their diet. I believe cows are the number one consumer of GMO soy (please correct me if I'm wrong). It's a food chain issue. Most of these animals aren't eating a natural, traditional herbivore diet - which is how they evolved. They have a very processed and GMO filled diet, among other things.
I don't like being paranoid or living from a place of fear, but I have to say this experiment has freaked me out a bit. It has made me realize just how much we trust our food and the food industry and how little we know about what's in our food and how it's grown. I already pay a lot of attention to my food but I'm still quite lazy due to time constraints and the demands of my modern life - there is much to learn.
 |
| Modern farming methods |
 |
| Traditional farming methods |
If you have a moment for me to digress, just think about how much our food system has changed in just a few generations. Agribusiness and mass manufacturing - most modern changes to our food system started in the 1940's (better living through chemistry). Before this it was smaller scale family owned farms, little processed foods, and minimal packaging. Just think about it for a minute, I'll wait. I'm not one to want to live in the past - women and children were property for goodness sake - but I think we've experimented a bit much with our farms and food.
 |
| extra processed extra packaged |
 |
| shopping at farmers market |
As for specific changes, I think the weirdest, and excuse my science background observations here, but my waste is strange. Now that I'm a few days in I can see a change in color. At first I thought I was sick, but I feel fine - my lymph nodes aren't swollen. So that's interesting and I'm not sure what it means yet.
On the second day my left arm was shaking for about an hour. Not major convulsions, just minor, but enough for me to notice. If you were standing next to me you probably wouldn't know anything was going on. I guess this may have been a detox side - effect. I haven't had any break outs which normally occur when I do the Master Cleanse detox. I also had bad headaches the first two nights/mornings, but they went away (with the help of ibuprofen on the second day).
I feel hungry for sure. That is not a big deal in the sense that I over eat - I blame that on evolution and my instinctual need to survive, as well as the endorphin's I receive that make me feel happy and tell me to keep eating. Over all I've lost 2.5 pounds since starting. A bit of cleaning out I suppose.
So I've been eating homemade vegetable soup, quinoa, and eggs. I've been juicing and of course eating fruits and vegetables as well as cashews, almonds, and sunflower seeds. The juice can include any of the following: kale, spinach, oranges, lemon, cucumber, apple, celery, carrots, and ginger.
I still have to get through this day and two more to make it a week. I don't know what I'm going to do tonight though. Going to a Christmas party at a friend's bar....even if I find a GMO free drink, technically it will be 'processed.' I should have JUST gone 'GMO' free - really - and not included the processed foods. In any case I like a good experiment.
Alexandra Gnoske is a nature lover, writer, and environmental expert.
No comments:
Post a Comment