Top Two Products You Should Eliminate From Your Diet

The main message of my previous food post was to follow the path of bio-individuality – each of us are unique and should tailor our diets to what best resonates with our body. This means that you might be eating completely differently to your best friend, partner, or children.

But here are some hard, fast rules about foods you should avoid, no matter how you eat. They are toxic to our bodies, and there are plenty of healthy alternatives out there - so it’s simply a matter of being aware of what you’re putting in your mouth.

1. Polyunsaturated oils

Fats are a staple in our diets, but there are good and bad kinds of oils. And believe it or not, the good ones are saturated fats like butter and coconut oil, despite the bad rap previously given to them by science. Good ones also include essential fatty acids like Omega-3 and DHA, which are found in animal products.

But now we see new types of oils like canola, sunflower or vegetable oil, which we think are ‘healthier.’ The truth is, these polyunsaturated oils are killing us: they’re the bad ones.

Because of the high-pressure method of pressing the seeds into oil, the oil actually becomes rancid – yeah, gross. The only reason they taste “ok” is because factories bleach and deoderise them: two things that I definitely do not want done to my food. And when you heat them up for cooking, the oils oxidise and become even worse for us. The build up of these rancid oils in our body has been proven to cause heart disease and cancers. They're a real problem.

Another problem: polyunsaturated oils give us too much Omega-6 and very little Omega-3. Yes, we need both in our diets, but nature requires balance - so an Omega-6 overload creates inflammation in the body. Health lesson: inflammation always leads to disease. If you want to read more into the science, check out this article. Infuriatingly, it is one of the few articles that brings up the truth when you Google ‘polyunsaturated fats.’

The tricky thing is, there’s a big political push for consumption of these oils because they’re cheap and easy to produce. So you’ll find them everywhere: in tuna cans, in pre-packaged cookies, in French fries.

And what’s even more scary? Many scientists and health authorities still support them as being better for you than saturated fats. If you do a web search, the results will mostly be websites claiming that polyunsaturated fats are “heart-healthy” and “better for you than saturated fats” because they “help lower cholesterol.” Quite simply, they’re wrong. Replacing olive oil with canola oil will do you more harm than good. Of course if you consume way too much saturated fat, even though it's essential, your cholesterol will skyrocket. But in moderation, olive oil is much, much better for you.

Yes, seeds and nuts are amazingly healthy for us, but they were not intended to be pressed into oil. Avoid these oils, they’re toxic.

Consider this: 100 years ago, nearly all fats came from animals (so, saturated fats) rather than canola oil and sunflower oil. Heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes and obesity were pretty much non-existent. Now? We have an enormous problem with these lifestyle diseases. This is linked with the over-consumption of polyunsaturated fats.

Olive oil, butter, and ghee are our tried-and-true fats that have withstood the test of time; they've been around for centuries and are the backbones of some of the healthiest traditional cuisines in the world (the Mediterranean diet was built on olive oil, and the Indian diet has used ghee for millenia).

Seed oils are the cheap, new, knock-off versions that have only been around for a couple of decades, and seem to be accompanied with more and more lifestyle diseases every year. Hmmm, suspicious, don't you think?

So here's what you can do

• Choose olive, coconut, or avocado oil instead of the“omega-6 oils” corn, canola, soybean, and cottonseed oil. Read this detailed review of every type of oil

• Choose butter or ghee instead of margarine

• Read the labels on packages carefully – most snack foods and fried foods have corn oil, sunflower oil, or soya oil

Now onto my next enemy.

2. GMOs

Genetically-modified soya, corn, wheat and cottonseed plants are taking over agriculture. They constitute about 90% of crops grown today, and this means that they’re a huge part of our daily diets. GMO corn, wheat and soy sneak in everywhere – pre-packaged biscuits, lollies, frozen foods, sauces. And they like to disguise themselves – “high fructose corn syrup” and “crystalline fructose” appear in so many products it’s scary.

GMOs come with many long-term health issues, and are at the root of cancers, allergies, and Alzheimer’s. But the worst thing about them? Pesticides. Buckets and buckets of them.

This is how GMOs work: they are manufactured to resist toxic weedkillers like RoundUp, and the more they become resistant, the more weedkiller farmers need to use. And more spraying increases the amount of “superweeds” that are pesticide-resistant, and then – you guessed it – that needs even more pesticides. It’s a vicious cycle.

The longer we plant GMO seeds, the greater the build-up of toxic chemicals like 2, 4-D in our soils, foods and bodies. By the way, 2, 4-D was a chemical used in Agent Orange. Isn't that lovely.

Of course, the agricultural giants who manufacture both the seeds AND the pesticides (and hence profit from the sale of both) will deny everything. They’ll insist that GMO crops are not harmful to humans, that there’s not enough evidence and no scientific studies have verified the link between GMO crops and health conditions.

But GMO plants have only been mainstream for the past 20 years, so it’s obvious that no longitudinal studies have been able to prove this connection. Yes, a scientific study might be able to show there are no immediate, short-term effects of GMOs and chemicals – and yes, it would be difficult to prove their impact on the body over years and years of consumption.

But build-up of any toxin equals inflammation. And remember? Inflammation always leads to disease. We cannot deny that the rise of lifestyle illnesses and cancers coincides with the proliferation of these chemicals. We can’t simply ignore it just because conventional science has not caught up yet. Anything so unnatural will always have an impact on health. Just ask the earth.

Don’t forget that animals are now fed a diet of GMO and pesticide-rich corn, soy and wheat, so these toxins will also appear in the meat we consume. Of course there’s not a ridiculously high amount in each chicken breast, but again, it’s the build-up we’re concerned about. It’s the long-term impacts of consuming these in every meal, day in day out.

So don’t panic about all the toxins you’ve been eating throughout your life and trying to eliminate every single one straight away. Just think forward, and make some changes to limit your exposure. The power is in your hands to support the growth of healthy, nutritious, chemical-free food. And you can take away the power of profit-driven agricultural companies.

On your visit to the supermarket, here are some things to be aware of.

These ingredients in packaged foods mean danger

• Corn oil, cornstarch, corn syrup, crystalline fructose

• Soy protein, soy lecithin, soy flour

• Sugar beets

Look for non-GMO and Certified Organic labels

• Organic and 100% grass-fed meat

• Wild-caught fish

• Non-GMO and organic tofu and tempeh

• 100% organic fruit and vegetables wherever you can (or just the Dirty Dozen)

• Or better yet, start growing your own veggie patch!

(But beware: “natural” does not mean GMO free)

Here’s a spoiler: you’re going to find it pretty hard to choose packaged foods free of all the nasty stuff. So the solution is to buy whole foods.

Avoid the middle of the supermarket, where the shelves are packed with things in boxes and cans and jars, as you’ll be struggling to find products friendly to your body.

Instead, shop around the peripheries, where the fresh fruits, vegetables and raw animal products are located. You can make just as delicious meals with these whole food ingredients.

It’s all about thinking where your food comes from. Does the product you’re picking up look completely different to what it started off as? If you’ve never seen what a wheat grain looks like, let me tell you, that flawlessly smooth and soft Wonder White bread slice does not resemble it at all.

We don’t want to be choosing food that is disguised by colours or sweeteners or flavours, that has hidden ingredients, or that has been transformed into something else. We want food that looks similar to how it did when it came out of the ground, or off the tree, or from the animal. That means your vegetables should be misshapen and not ridiculously glossy; your bread should be seedy and brown.

Of course, I’m not saying don’t treat yourself to the foods you enjoy - but try to find a friendlier alternative in the health food aisle, or make them at home so you know exactly what’s going into them!

Really, in the end, it comes down to having a greater connection with our food. Modern life has divorced us from what we put in our bodies, as we ignore where it comes from and what’s has been added to it.

Take more time to reflect on all the extra toxins you’re eating – do you really think this is the way food should be? I think not.