Category Archives: Health

Stay Healthy Recipe

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With winter many people worry about catching a cold or flu.  It seems the media can’t stop reminding us that it is flu season, and everywhere we go we are bombarded by advertisements for flu vaccines, flu remedies, cough and cold treatments.  I guess everyone is just trying to do their job, market their wares – they probably need their paycheck and like to eat and live indoors just like the rest of us.

I wrote this card for my 13-year-old daughter so she could stay healthy and boost her immune system this winter!  I wish everyone would do these simple things so that they too can enjoy health and not live in fear of the flu!

However, with the intense focus on flu and sickness it’s no surprise that people are getting sick! I prefer to focus on health and how to stay healthy.  Stay Healthy Recipe

  • I like to keep my supplement-taking to a minimum.
  • I like to empower my children to take responsibility for their health.
  • It must be easy to remember, so I needed it on a card on the refrigerator!
  • I prefer to use natural substances and foods to heal.

Here is my brief recipe:

  • DAILY:
  • Water is our best detox help.  I’m trying to help my family form the habit of drinking a large glass of clean water first thing in the morning. We drink spring water only.
  • Vitamin D.  It is well-known and documented that the reason people are more prone to illness in winter is because they have reduced levels of this important factor. In the winter we need to take D3 supplements.
  • Probiotics are always beneficial to boost our gut flora since 85% of our immune system is in our gut!
  • Omega 3 boost with fish oil (or chia seeds, hemp, etc.)
  • Vitamin C in ascorbic acid form (non genetically modified) or sodium ascorbate
  • AT THE FIRST SIGN OF ANY COLD/FLU SYMPTOMS:
  • Colloidal Silver – a natural antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal.  Very safe and effective.
  • Olive Leaf Extract – has an enormous ORAC score, full of antioxidants that will help boost all the important cells in your body to do their work of fighting infection.
  • Frequent Vitamin C
  • Extra D3 and Omega 3.
  • Thieves essential oil on feet, behind ears and throat.

Another very important aspect of health is we need to eliminate all sugar especially when we have any symptoms.  If we reduce or eliminate sugar ALL the time, that is a great boost to health, but when we eat sugar while our body is trying to fend off foreign bad guys, it’s like we are feeding the enemy army.  Avoiding milk and dairy products will also be a good idea.  These concepts might seem difficult to some people in the beginning, but as you begin to increase your awareness of improving your health, you will see the benefit!

I’m not saying these are the only things important to boost your immune system,  I’ve written and shared a great video about all the facets of the immune system and know that it is important to pay attention to many areas of life, but this is just a short winter prescription.

What are the essentials you use to keep your family healthy during the winter?

Experimenting with Raw Chocolate – Again!

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Raw Chocolate ExperimentThis version of my Raw Chocolate earned high praise from my daughter, “Mom, these are the best you’ve made!”

My friend asked me to share a recipe for raw chocolate.  One challenge I have with recipes is that you have to write down what you do in order to be able to do it again! Raw chocolate is something you can experiment with.  It is really good, and good for you.  Raw Cacao powder is loaded with minerals and has an outrageously high ORAC score.  Coconut oil is a healthy fat which provides more benefits than I can explain!

Just make it – and eat it and enjoy!

In a small saucepan combine, and melt slowly on the lowest heat possible (or you can use a double boiler). Quantities are just rough guidelines. Use what you have.

  • ±½ Cup peanut butter (organic ground peanuts)
  • ±¾ Cup coconut oil
  • ±¼ Cup or more raw local honey
  • ±¼ Cup cacao butter (if you can find any)

Blend in blender or finely chop and add to the above mixture when it is fully melted:

  • ¼ – ½  Cup  coconut flakes (unsweetened)
  • A handful of goji berries
  • 10 whole cacao beans, or cacao nibs
  • ±¼ – 1/2  Cup pecans, walnuts and/or cashews

Add:

  • A sprinkle of cinnamon
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2 Tablespoons hemp seed
  • ¼ – ½ Cup Raw Cacao powder
  • raw organic oats

Stir together and put into silicon chocolate molds, a glass dish or BPA free plastic containers.  Put into the refrigerator (or freezer if you need it quickly) until hard. You can keep the chocolate in the refrigerator or the freezer, cut into pieces as needed.  Raw chocolate melts easily, so don’t hold it in your hands for long!

If you don’t have any cacao butter, goji berries, cacao beans or hemp, just leave it out! Don’t let, “not having all the ingredients” keep you from experimenting with delicious Raw Chocolate.  I add these superfoods, when I have them, to boost the nutritional value.  If you do leave them out, you might need to add more cacao powder. You can vary the type and quantity of nuts depending on what you enjoy.  In fact, you can vary most everything! My daughter-in-law didn’t believe it when I told her that you can’t mess up this recipe.  She was thrilled with the chocolate she made and said “It’s so rare for a recipe to work for me!”

Happy Grandparents June 13Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus Christ and truth seeker, especially in the areas of health and children. Facing a world quite different from the one in which I grew up, I seek to research and understand the true route to health, freedom and joyful family living!

Superfood Rich, Guilt Free, Chocolate Ice Cream

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chocolate ice cream

I quickly need to write down my recipe so I don’t forget how to create this frozen deliciousness!  It was 100% an experiment with no outside input.  I did read about raw cacao last night from David Wolfe’s Superfoods – which is probably where I got the inspiration.  Or maybe I dreamed it up during the night.  Anyway, first thing this morning I just had to try mixing the following ingredients together in my Vitamix (like most of my recipes, everything is more or less – an approximation.  I apologize to those for whom this drives them crazy, i.e. Gary).

  • 1-2 Cups of raw milk with lots of cream included (don’t tell my microbiologist husband).  (I think it was actually 1 1/2 Cups, but I didn’t measure)
  • 1/2 Cup coconut* oil (I did not melt it, I might try melting it next time)
  • 1-2 Tablespoons flake coconut*
  • 1-2 Tablespoons goji berries*
  • 1-2 Tablespoons hempseed*
  • 1-2 Tablespoons honey*
  • 5 heaped teaspoons (Menchies plastic spoon) raw cacao powder
  • pinch Himalayan salt
  • 10 or so almonds (save till last)

I added everything to the Vitamix and blended for nearly a minute, then I dropped the almonds in last in the hope that some of them wouldn’t get too blended.  I was hoping for a bit of crunch.

If you don’t have a Vitamix you can either blend or grind or chop the chopable ingredients and then shake everything else together.  The hard part is distributing the coconut oil evenly throughout, which is why melting it might work better.

I then poured it into some empty Talenti gelato containers.  My plan was to put it in the freezer and shake it every so often on its way to getting frozen.  I only managed one shake before I had to go out.  It doesn’t have a genuine smooth creamy ice cream consistency, but it is GOOD!  Now my ‘reluctant to enjoy truly healthy foods’ thirteen year old daughter, was not quite as excited about this concoction as I was, so it may have more appeal to those already enjoying their journey towards health!  Truly, I think it was better than any chocolate ice cream around – because I know every ingredient is good for me and it wasn’t too sweet.  But we have to allow for differences of opinion and also growth!

* The ingredients marked thus are all listed as the top 10 Superfoods according to David Wolfe.  Count them – there are 5 different super nutritious foods in this unique frozen blend!  I tried to think of as many of them as I could that I had available and that would add to the flavor and nutritional content of this delightful dairy blend. Next time I hope to add Maca Powder.

Did you know?  Some of the benefits of raw cacao:

  • it is off the charts for its ORAC score (which means it is VERY HIGH in antioxidants –  about 100 times higher than blueberries)
  • it is a natural great source of magnesium – which is great for so many reasons
  • it is a natural appetite satisfier – which means you won’t feel so hungry
  • it has a lot of other good minerals too – in fact, it’s like taking a mineral supplement!
  • it makes you feel good!

That’s all I can tell you from memory, but I do recommend reading Superfoods.

Top 10 Superfoods:

  • Goji Berries
  • Raw Cacao
  • Maca
  • Bee products, including Honey
  • Coconut
  • Spirulina
  • Hempseed
  • Aloe
  • AFA Blue Green Algae
  • Marine Phytoplankton

Please experiment and let me know how yours turns out.  It really was super super easy and super super nutritious!  You can do this!  Let me know if you enjoy Superfood Rich, Guilt free, Chocolate Ice Dream!

 

Raw Chocolate Revisited

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2 piecesThis is a great way to eat coconut oil and cacao deliciously! Coconut oil is a great healthy fat. It will help you beat your cravings, with a lot of other benefits. Cacao has so many minerals that it is like having a mineral supplement!

The following quantities are approximate only!  More or less of anything doesn’t impact too much.  I don’t usually measure too fastidiously.

Melt together in a double boiler, or in a bowl placed into a pan of hot water over a low heat on the stove. Raw chocolate must not be heated too hot or the nutrients will be destroyed.  Just melt it so you can mix it well.

  • 2 Tbl organic coconut oil
  • 1 – 2 Tbl local organic honey

Optional, but highly recommended:

  • ground peanuts (i.e. peanut butter) or other nut butters

Optional:  Cacao butter or cacao paste, if you can find it or afford it.

Remove from the heat.  Add to the coconut oil mixture:

  • Himalayan salt, a couple of turns
  • 1/3 – ½ Cup cacao powder (the more, the higher the % dark chocolate)
  • 1/3 – ½ Cup pecan or almond nut flour (optional, when I have it)
  • ½ – 1 Cup unsweetened coconut (flakes or shredded, or both)

Stir thoroughly with wooden implement.

More options:

  • ± ½ Cup Cacao nibs,
  • cashews,
  • pecans,
  • goji berries,
  • cranberries,
  • raisins,
  • espresso bits,
  • fresh ginger finely chopped,
  • cinnamon,
  • orange or lemon peel,
  • chili.

Use your creativity to mix and match your personal favorite flavors. Look at combinations in some processed chocolate bars and experiment. If you want a great energy bar, add hemp.  But be sure to only eat the hemp bar early in the day or else you might not sleep too well!

Stir everything together and pour into a suitable dish (or chocolate molds), either glass or BPA free plastic.  If needed, press down into the corners. Allow to set in the refrigerator (or faster, in the freezer).  Cut into pieces and be careful not to eat too much!  You also might have to hide it from other family members – or else you might go looking for it and find an empty dish – it’s happened to me!

Also, raw chocolate will melt on your fingers – so warn people. It needs to be eaten with clean fingers so you can lick all the deliciousness off!

Let’s do a chocolate collaboration.  What are your favorite options?

Self-Talk

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Talk bubblesWhether we are conscious of it or not, we all use self-talk.  Sometimes we use it positively when facing fears or trying to increase our motivation.  But many times we are our own worst enemy and sabotage our best efforts through our self-talk.  This is an exercise that will help you to analyze your thoughts, your life and where your self-talk could be taking you.

What is your current self-talk?  You might not even be aware of it.  The thoughts or feelings (that don’t always make themselves into comprehensible words or sentences) you experience in your mind are powerful and you need to pay attention.  If you are stuck, if you are not making the kind of progress you desire, if you are not currently feeling the energy and joy you would like in your life, I suggest an exercise to pay more attention to your self-talk.  Over the next 10-30 days begin to note some of the things you say to yourself, or try to articulate some of the feelings you are experiencing.  Things like…

  • This pain is killing me.
  • The only thing that helps this pain is taking NSAIDs.
  • I’ve messed up.
  • It’s too late.
  • I can’t change.
  • This relationship can’t be fixed.
  • I’m so stuck.
  • I’m beyond redemption.
  • I catch every bug around.
  • My child is just clumsy.  (Not self-talk, but damaging ‘parent-talk’  whether it is stated or  just thought.)

Once you determine some of the tapes that are regularly playing in your brain and sometimes that slip out in conversation, write them down.

Now take each statement and ask yourself:

  1. Is this true?  Or is it a misinterpretation?  Define more exactly your situation.  Is this an actual fact?
  2. What do you become by believing this information?  How does it make you feel? How does it impact your experience of life?
  3. Realize that you are programming this thought into your brain.  What would life be like if this thought didn’t exist?
  4. Replace your old self-talk/thought with a newly framed look at your situation.

Old thought

New thought
This pain is killing me. My body is regenerating.
I’m never gonna get better. I get better everyday.
I don’t have any friends. I attract love and deep friendship.
This relationship is hopeless. This pain is part of my healing process.
This is a hopeless situation. God is at work in this situation.

This process will change your feelings.  You need to dial into a new brain channel.

Awareness of self-talk and deliberately challenging our automatic response is the first step towards changing in a very significant way.  Begin your conscious exploration of self-talk today.  Make a commitment to yourself to be more encouraging.  Look for information and ideas that help you see your life with all its potential.

What is the best new phrase you would like to repeat daily to yourself?

Boosting our Immune System

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apple in waterWhere do we get information on how to boost the immune system?

If you trust some ‘experts’ you will make sure to get every injection against any disease in order to protect yourself.

If you look into ‘alternative’ approaches, you might be overwhelmed with information and could spend a lot of money to purchase all the different supplements recommended.

Like most topics faced by parents, we need to follow our hearts and seek true wisdom.  I believe wisdom comes from God through Jesus Christ.  He created our bodies and understands exactly how they function.  We live in a fallen world with disease, food shortages and greed.  Navigating the reality of the world we live in seems to be getting more difficult.  Who do we actually trust?  Many people are quick to demand “scientific validation.”  However, there are so many reports of bad science, false science, and biased science on both sides of every argument, so a non-scientist simply has to decide whom they are going to believe.

One thing I’ve noticed through the years is that a lot of information is surfacing and confirmed by a huge variety of people from many different disciplines and locations.  It is as if a body of wisdom is arising that people are universally finding helpful and then sharing – almost a natural peer review process.

I don’t claim to know everything.  I am just a fellow traveler and learner.  I have taken various supplements over the years, but I like to keep them at a minimum.  Here are some things I have found on my journey to boosting the immune system:

Regularly:

  1. Water.  Drink lots of clean water, especially first thing in the morning.  I choose spring water.  Solarized water or water treated with wheat grass might be good economical options to explore if spring water is not available.
  2. High quality food.  Organic food might be expensive, but sickness is very expensive. Choose the cleanest meats, wild caught fish, organic eggs, and raw dairy.
  3. Meat broths with organic meats.
  4. Healthy fats: avocado, coconut oil, cacao butter, olive oil. I haven’t yet tried red palm oil, but it is on the radar.
  5. Reduce/Eliminate processed foods, trans fats, GMOs, sugar, carbs, wheat, prescription drugs and over the counter medications.
  6. Superfoods whenever possible.  Superfoods are foods supplying high density nutrition.  I find combining them into a morning smoothie of fruit and vegetables is a very effective, sustainable solution. Spirulina, hemp seeds, cacao powder and nibs, aloe, goji berries, maca powder, Moringa berry powder, Chia seeds, honey.
  7. Vitamin D from sunshine exposure or D3 supplements when sunshine is not available.
  8. Probiotics in therapeutic or prophylactic doses, depending on your need.
  9. Regular exercise, especially to work up a sweat.
  10. Sauna if/when available.
  11. Dry skin brushing to boost lymphatic drainage.
  12. Cold burst at the end of a warm shower for as long as you can stand.
  13. Chiropractic: regular adjustments.
  14. Positively promote positive thoughts – don’t worry.
  15. Prayer and meditation.
  16. Harmonious relationships.
  17. Grounding by walking barefoot on the earth (especially beneficial for pain).
  18. Apple Cider Vinegar in salad dressing, or straight first thing in am
  19. Garlic – eat it whenever possible!
  20. Avoid Wheat. My husband swears this is one of the biggest reasons he has stopped getting colds and allergy symptoms.

At any symptoms of illness (don’t have to do them all, use what you have):

  1. Vitamin C in high doses (1 gram per hour of  sodium ascorbate, see more by Dr Suzanne Humphries on the best form of Vitamin C).
  2. Colloidal silver hourly.
  3. Extra Vitamin D3.
  4. Olive leaf extract (very high source of anti-oxidants).
  5. Oregano Oil (in carrier oil on bottom of feet).
  6. Essential oils (such as Thieves) on bottom of feet or temple.
  7. Cayenne pepper.

Washing your hands could possibly be on the list, but a little bit of dirt is good for the immune system.  I usually try to wash my hands after handling money or doing a lot of hand-shaking. I usually avoid antibacterial soaps.

I haven’t included links, but you can find information about a lot of these topics.  I appreciate all the people who have generously shared their knowledge and information with me over the years on keeping healthy.

Have I left anything important off my list?  What are your favorite immune boosters?

Raymond and Olga Klein promote a proactive approach to understanding and working with our immune system.

Raw Chocolate Extraordinaire!

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piecechocolates

I’ve been promising a lot of people to share my favorite raw chocolate recipe in a blog. I thought this might make a great Christmas gift for everyone who reads – especially those too far away to receive a warm hug.  One of my challenges in writing this blog and sharing this recipe, is that I don’t always measure precisely and I don’t always make the chocolate the same way every time!  So, to insure that I give you a good rendition, I made the best chocolate ever – then I wrote down what I did (more or less), then I made it again, following the recipe I had written down.  There really is no need to measure, you can just eyeball the quantities.  I hate to waste any ingredients in a measuring cup, and you can’t really go wrong with these ingredients!  This truly is the best chocolate ever!

There are two options:  make the chocolate base and put it into molds (pictured on left) or a dish and eat it just like that.  For an amazing addition, add a layer of  raw chocolate icing courtesy of rawtarian.com to the bottom layer in the glass dish (pictured on right).  I’ve included a simple version of the raw chocolate icing below.

I’ve made chocolate in my Vitamix and I’ve made it by combining the ingredients in a bowl.  Use whatever you have.  You can’t really go wrong when you mix this combination of ingredients! For truly raw chocolate, the ingredients should only be heated enough to melt in order to best preserver the antioxidant benefits.

Best Ever Raw Chocolate

  • 2/3 C melted coconut oil
  • 1/3 C melted cocoa butter
  • 1/3 C melted honey (can use a bit less)
  • 1/2 C raw cacao powder (adding slightly more will make it darker)
  • 1/2 C or so whole dates (finely chopped if not using a blender)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • Dash salt

Blend in Vitamix or bowl until very smooth. Once blended, add nuts.  If added to blender, just blend to desired consistency.  If mixing in a bowl, chop them first.

  • 1 cup pecans

Pour some into chocolate molds if you have them and pour the rest into the bottom of glass dish(es) about 1/2 inch thick. Put into the freezer to harden. After hard, the chocolate molds can be popped out and kept in a container in the refrigerator.

For the mixture in the glass dish, to make it even more incredibly delicious, top it with raw chocolate icing made by combining in a blender or food processor:

  • 1 C dates
  • 1/4 C raw cacao powder
  • 1/4 C coconut oil
  • 3/4 C water

Let the contents sit for 10+ minutes or so to soften the dates. Blend on high. Stop and scrape down the sides and blend on high again.

This is now awesome deliciousness. Pour or spread on top of the chocolate base. Put in the refrigerator, or freezer if you need it to harden faster.  Store raw chocolate in the refrigerator.  You can cut it into any size pieces you desire!

Share with those you love A LOT!

Please let me know how this recipe works for you!

ingredients

 

Quick Easy Chicken Butternut Curry

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IMG_0488For those of you who don’t always plan in advance as well as you would like (my hand is up), I thought I might share a very easy last-minute recipe you can make which will surprise you by how fast it is ready and how good it tastes.

It does depend on having a few things in your refrigerator on stand-by, which is a good habit to get into, especially if you try to figure out last-minute healthy meals like I do.  These quantities serve about 4, but you can add a bit of everything to serve more. Preciseness is not that important in most of my cooking, much to the dismay of some of my family members!  Prep time is about 10-15 minutes, depending on your chopping speed.  Cooking time is about 10-15 minutes too!  You can hardly go out and get fast food for under 30 minutes!  And this is WAY more delicious and healthy!

Ingredients & Method all mixed together:

  • 2 Chicken breasts (organic, if possible.  They can be frozen, so don’t worry if you didn’t thaw it out!).  If you are able and want to cut them into pieces, you can, but for a faster result, just use them whole.  If they are still frozen solid, then use them whole, and you can break them into smaller pieces somewhere along the cooking process!
  • Coconut Oil, 1-2 Tablespoons (depending on your budget and how much you have on hand, more is always good!)
  • Onions, chopped.  Either ½ onion leftover in the fridge, or a whole one, your choice.
  • Garlic, couple of cloves, chopped or pressed (I’m still chopping, though I am hoping for a Pampered Chef garlic press for Christmas!).

Throw all of that into a largish pan on a medium low heat (it can go in stages, whatever works!).  Cover and simmer on a low heat, turning the chicken occasionally to brown.  If frozen, this stage will take a little bit longer.  You can also use a firm wooden spoon to break the chicken breast into pieces whenever you are able to do so.  Wait until it’s cooked a bit, so that it is not a difficult thing to do). I never use metal on metal when cooking, just saying.

  • Curry Powder, 1-2 Tablespoons.  Add curry powder to the pan after the chicken has mostly changed color on all sides and stir everything around so it gets impacted by the curry powder.  The chicken does not have to be cooked through the middle. The curry powder likes to sauté with the other ingredients to share its flavor. I have been enjoying Simply Organic Curry Powder, which I think I buy from Kroger.  It is a staple in my cupboard. I will also experiment with different curry powders.  It’s great to get one with Turmeric, since it has so many beneficial qualities.
  • Butternut, chopped.  I chopped about ¾ of a butternut into small pieces (while the chicken mixture was browning).  I actually left most of the skin on, but it was cut small.  It was fine with the skin on, and it is a lot faster than having to peel it!  (I took the seeds out and put them in a glass dish (see picture) with coconut oil and salt to roast in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes – makes a wonderful snack for later! Once I figured this out, I was amazed about how I had been wasting butternut seeds for years!  Don’t worry about cleaning them, just dump all the insides in!)  If you don’t have any butternut, you could use carrots or any combination of vegetables that you have on hand, and change the name!IMG_0487
  • 1-2 Cups Chicken Stock.  This is a great thing to find in your fridge or freezer!  If I didn’t have any homemade chicken stock, I would have just added one cup of water
  • Ground Salt, Himalayan Crystal.  A few turns.
  • Ground Pepper, a few turns.

Allow to simmer on low for about 15 minutes.  Put some Quinoa or rice on to cook and it will be ready at the same time.

Optional:  cashews.  If you are a bit short on the meat, add cashews, or if you have an abundance of cashews, just add them for the taste!

While simmering, make a quick salad and Voila, a wonderful dish to delight the family – and they didn’t even guess I wasn’t prepared!  I promise I didn’t use any recipe for this, except what was stored in my head.  That doesn’t mean no one else gets any credit, I just can’t remember who I need to acknowledge for how I’ve learned to make curry.  I used to have no idea how to make a nice curry and asked a lot of people along the way.  It turns out, it isn’t really all that hard!  And it gets easier and better with a bit of practice!

I don’t think this curry was spicy at all.  If you want it a bit more spicy, add a chili pepper with the onions during the sautéing process.

 

Shopping in the USA

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I feel vulnerable at the very core of my existence in the USA. Spending 30 years living in a foreign country and coming back has given me a different perspective than the average person.

I see an older couple shopping at Kroger.  They look sweet, loving, normal.  They put two huge boxes of Diet Coke into their shopping cart and take them to their car.  I want so badly to ask them if they’ve ever heard of the dangers of aspartame.  They are not energetic looking, but they also aren’t sickly – not riding in the wheelchair carts like so many I see.  They just look like people who grow older and think that life is all about aches, pains, medication and doing the best you can because we all know growing old brings health challenges.  I don’t know if the Diet Coke is for them or maybe for someone else, who knows?  Maybe they are trying to bless someone else.

They trust the FDA, Kroger and the US “system” to keep them safe and healthy.  They don’t know that their trust has been violated.

I just walk past rows and rows of food.  I don’t stop.  I already know that nearly 100% of it contains ingredients that have been proven to be harmful.  Hydrogenated fats, colorings, flavorings, aspartame, HFCS, and on and on.  It does not promote or sustain life in any way.  It is all marketing ploys to get the unsuspecting public to purchase their products.  I walk down an aisle containing incalculable varieties of products sold to help us keep our clothes clean and fresh.  It is a maze trying to decipher.  Are all these claims real?  Is there any negative impact on the environment from any of the products? What are these things doing to my skin?  Our water supplies?  Does it matter?  Is it all about the cheapest one to do the job, or is the traditional brand, or the one most advertised better?  I’m overwhelmed by just one product decision.

People are oblivious.  They know what they like. They know what their momma used. They know what tastes good.  After all, taste is the supreme indicator for goodness.  Once the bagger at the grocery store asked me if organic bananas tasted better than the others.  As if I am choosing them all because of taste!

What do I do with this great burden I carry?  The burden of living healthy.  The burden of the knowledge of what people are doing to their bodies – yet most are oblivious.

Not all big business is bad.  But big business is in the business of making a profit – for their shareholders.  Along the way something has gone very wrong.  I don’t know how to fix it.  What do I, one individual, have power to accomplish in the face of this onslaught by big business that impacts me at the core of my existence?

I can….

  • Choose to buy organic and local only (or as much as possible – but I can raise the bar higher than is comfortable).
  • Choose to cook healthy food in my kitchen with the organic ingredients I buy.
  • Help others understand whenever I have the smallest opportunity.
  • I can learn the facts so that I can share the cold hard facts and not just vague feelings.
  • Lean hard into Jesus when I feel overcome with fear or anxiety.
  • Meditate on God’s word.
  • Use the passion for health I have been given as a gift to share in a winsome way.

Am I crazy?  Am I delusional?  Is it all safe and I’m just over-reacting?

Or am I on the right track, but missing other important things I can do?  What else can one person do to buck the system, live with health amongst so much plenty?

What thoughts and feelings impact you during your regular grocery store expeditions?