Chemicals in the Body

[farewell_nancy]

Good article. I hadn't been interested in switching to organic because the reasons presented to me had been heavy on sentiment rather than science, but this really does give good reasons and advice on when and where you ought to alter your' eating habits.

Avoiding plastic packaging could be really hard though. What are you supposed to use when you need to take a water bottle to the gym?

@Sally Neuf I used to live in Florida and when I was a kid their used to be trucks that would drive around and spray the air, sometimes little cropdusters. My mom always told us to run inside if we saw them. It was pretty gross. I think they gave up the spraying fairly quickly though since it didn't seem to give the mosquitos pause.

[LucyHope]

Avoiding plastic packaging could be really hard though.

It's not. Personally, I find being surrounded by useless plastic and having excess rubbish/recycling on collection day to be really hard, but hey - YMMV.

What are you supposed to use when you need to take a water bottle to the gym?

Something like these.

Personally, I use an ECOtanka, a Tupperware sports bottle, and an Ecocup.

And it's not just drink bottles either, but all food containers - Why?
Because I'm a waste-not-want-not, earth-friendly, logical INTJ who wants things as EFFICIENT as possible!

[MandyBeth]

Having been other countries -

US has the problem with obesity because we eat a crazy amount of absolute crap. Now granted, not eating crap (Cheetos are not supposed to be part of the daily diet) would also in turn means you aren't eating as many chemicals.

Given Monsanto's dictatorship over certain crop markets, the avoidance of Genetic Modified food is harder now.

ETA - Skeeter spray. It doesn't do any good if you have standing water. ANY standing water. Even like in the bottom of a planter or in a tire or in a kid's sand bucket. Vile little beasties. Tho they are fun to get the eggs in a bottle, put a little bit of water over them and shake it up - they'll hatch almost right away. Then pour 'em out and smash the worthless pests.

[Fractalsofhair]

I don't think pesticides are likely to cause weight gain, but I do think eating too much on vacation can. I think they could mess with hormone levels possibly, which might make it easier to gain weight, but in reality, Brazilian food is tasty. It's not a wonder you gained weight! I try to eat organics(though most of the certified stuff still uses harsh chemicals, so I generally ask local farmers, for veggies in the summer. I'd love to grow my own, but my yard is too small.)and mainly natural foods. They make organic cheetoo type stuff with "natural" flavorings. That's just as bad as normal junk food. My rule of thumb is if nobody 200 years ago would have known what sort of food it is, it's probably a bad idea to eat it. GMOs are great for developing countries, if the place has very poor soil, but it's wrong IMO to waste them in the US, where we have good soil.

[Kirry-Folk]

I don't want to offend anyone, but the term "organic" is misleading and often times false, particularly with meat (no standards, can often mean your chicken only receives antibiotic-laden feed once per week rather than every day) and produce (rotenone and pyrethrin are both pesticides approved for organic use, but both are known carcinogens). Let's not even get into snack foods.

I've never bought into the organic trend because there is no way of knowing what's in your food unless you've grown/raised it yourself or you're living near the farm it came from. The organic movement is a silly, feel-good trend that robs a person of twice the amount of money the same product WITHOUT the organic label costs.

However, I am in favor of shopping locally (I get everything but grains and a select few roots/herbs from the local farmer's market), because most decent farmers are happy to let you visit their farms and see what it is they do and under what conditions the animals and vegetables are kept/raised/grown.

Again, I don't wish to offend or upset anyone, just sharing my perspective on the matter.

[LucyHope]

I agree a little, but with the caveat that it really does depend on where you are, and what their laws are regarding organic certification. Some countries make certification impossible to get, so no-one bothers, others make it pointlessly easy and hand organic certs out like lollies to people using all manner of techniques and materials.

Personally, I feel healthier and fuller-longer if I err toward organics, but usually, when cost is a factor if I have to pick between organic or Fair Trade, I go Fair Trade - though luckily, they're often the same thing.

(There are also people out there who prefer organics for religious/spiritual reasons, not just chemical paranoia or feel-good eco-tokenism. Just a thought.)

I have to agree with the snack foods thing though - just because a sugary, fatty, mostly-processed "health" bar has 2 or 5 or 10% organic flour doesn't make it good for you!

[Bellalalala]

This article is disgustingly misleading and it is one GIANT advertisement for a book that is linked on every single page.

Having just finished the med school unit on metabolism, I can't even believe this kind of garbage gets published.

Yes, there are known negative effects of estrogens and pesticides in food, but the absurd misrepresentation of these facts and tenuous conclusions are downright irresponsible.

I HATE HATE HATE the diet industry. It is pure evil and completely exploitative.

[ravenreed]

I am not surprised... Any time I see a website crying out how X,Y or Z is HORRIBLE for you - Here buy this book to read why -or -Buy this pill to fix it- etc, I get a bit suspicious.

So what do you think about the studies being done on intestinal flora/fauna in mice and how that can affect their weight? I don't have a link offhand, just thought maybe you had discussed it in class?

This article is disgustingly misleading and it is one GIANT advertisement for a book that is linked on every single page.

Having just finished the med school unit on metabolism, I can't even believe this kind of garbage gets published.

Yes, there are known negative effects of estrogens and pesticides in food, but the absurd misrepresentation of these facts and tenuous conclusions are downright irresponsible.

I HATE HATE HATE the diet industry. It is pure evil and completely exploitative.

[kwaniesiam]

I don't want to offend anyone, but the term "organic" is misleading and often times false, particularly with meat (no standards, can often mean your chicken only receives antibiotic-laden feed once per week rather than every day) and produce (rotenone and pyrethrin are both pesticides approved for organic use, but both are known carcinogens). Let's not even get into snack foods.

I've never bought into the organic trend because there is no way of knowing what's in your food unless you've grown/raised it yourself or you're living near the farm it came from. The organic movement is a silly, feel-good trend that robs a person of twice the amount of money the same product WITHOUT the organic label costs.

However, I am in favor of shopping locally (I get everything but grains and a select few roots/herbs from the local farmer's market), because most decent farmers are happy to let you visit their farms and see what it is they do and under what conditions the animals and vegetables are kept/raised/grown.

Again, I don't wish to offend or upset anyone, just sharing my perspective on the matter.

THIS! Thank you!

The "organic" industry these days is extremely misleading and there is no real scientific evidence that organic produce is better for you OR the environment. Most organic produce is not grown locally unless stated, but chances are the organic products from your grocery store are imported. I'm all for supporting local farming but most of the time that just isn't the case.

I highly suggest anyone curious to watch the episode of Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t! on the subject. It was extremely eye opening for me and I hope you as well. Here is a link to where you can watch the episode, nsfw due to language. http://www.megavideo.com/?v=DZT6RLNG

[GoddesJourney]

I don't think pesticides are likely to cause weight gain, but I do think eating too much on vacation can. I think they could mess with hormone levels possibly, which might make it easier to gain weight, but in reality, Brazilian food is tasty. It's not a wonder you gained weight! I try to eat organics(though most of the certified stuff still uses harsh chemicals, so I generally ask local farmers, for veggies in the summer. I'd love to grow my own, but my yard is too small.)and mainly natural foods. They make organic cheetoo type stuff with "natural" flavorings. That's just as bad as normal junk food. My rule of thumb is if nobody 200 years ago would have known what sort of food it is, it's probably a bad idea to eat it. GMOs are great for developing countries, if the place has very poor soil, but it's wrong IMO to waste them in the US, where we have good soil.

Actually, I hated Brazilian food. I was brought up without a taste for fried food, so it really made me sick. I wasn't on vacation, either. I was spending a few months there with my husband who was waiting for his visa to come here. I guess I get all backwards with the obesity thing. When people talk about Americans all being so obese, it's confusing to me. I'm from an area of S. California that is very health conscious. We like to excercise and eat healthy food. Most of the people around here are in pretty good shape except for those who come here from other places to go to school. Also, while I was in Rio de Janeiro and a couple of neighboring places, I found that there is *a lot* of obesity. The wealthier are often in better condition, but they are also the highest consumers of diet pills in the world. I was a little confused to find out that this is completely normal and acceptable at least in that city. My husband thinks I'm crazy for getting all upset about diets and pills and surgery. The extremely poor are obviously quite skinny as well because they don't have the money to eat. Most everyone else I met or saw on my way to the bus or beach was at least chubby if not flat out obese. Just not the people you see on tv.

On the upside, they're much more accepting of weight on a person. It's perfectly acceptable to be quite obese and still wear a tiny bikini on the beach if it makes you happy. That's nice. No one seems to notice or care. Over here, I think it wouldn't be long before someone would give a rude stare or something. The hot weather there definately influences the culture such that it's okay for someone my mom's age to wear a little strapless dress. Very nice.