15 Tips to Shop Healthier at Your Supermarket

Many consumers shop for food without thinking too much either about food safety or the repercussions of eating things with long-term harmfulness.  Warning people about things posing immediate danger is generally well received and understood. But try telling people that glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup now found in increasing amounts in our food, beverages, and drinking water) causes cancer.  For some reason, people have difficulty grasping or appreciating harmfulness that may take 10, 20, 30 or more years to come about. 

In spite of people's reluctance to believe in long-term toxicity harmfulness, those of us in positions to know better still have a responsibility to continue to sound the alarm.  With that in mind, here are 15 guidelines/tips that should make your next food supermarket trip "healthier:"

1.  Buy "natural" products whenever possible.  While recently shopping at a local supermarket, I noticed a woman buying peanut butter for her kids.  I politely suggested that, instead of her buying a brand-name regular peanut butter, she might consider buying a "natural" one.  The latter had fewer chemicals listed, didn't contain refined sugar (which, by all means, doesn't belong in peanut butter!) and was even cheaper.  To her credit, she took my advice.

Her kids probably didn't like the taste as much as the more toxic popular peanut butters but that's only because their taste buds need re-training.  Fortunately, it's never too late to get started on that good-parenting, set-your-kids-on-the-right-path task.

Although the term "natural" is sometimes abused/misused by food manufacturers, in general, natural products are a better buy than their more synthetic alternatives.  Just remember that the more chemicals/additives there are in the foods you buy, the more risks you are taking with your health and your kids' health in the long run. 

2.  Buy organic.  Although this term (like "natural") is also being deliberately misused by the food industry, in general, buying organic (if it's really organic) is a good idea.  "Organic" doesn't necessarily mean that the product doesn't contain some traces of dangerous chemicals--it just means that it should contain fewer. 

For the record, true "organic" products shouldn't have been exposed to proven-to-be-toxic preservatives and pesticides, should not have been exposed to irradiation, and shouldn't contain GMOs.  

3.  Stay away from meats that were exposed to "nitrites" (or nitrates) preservatives.  Unfortunately, most cold cuts and other processed/packaged meats have been laced with this proven carcinogen.  Your best bet is to look for nitrites-free meats and stick to meats locally grown (not in factory farms) and cut.

4.  Stay away from MSG-containing products.  For sure, this is very hard to do since many (if not most) packaged/processed foods contain monosodium glutamate; in fact, this stuff is hidden under a variety of deceptive names meant to keep consumers in the dark.  As further evidence that this stuff is harmful, the food industry spends millions putting out articles that lie about the dangers of MSG. 

For the record, MSG is an obesity-inducer and a known neuro-toxin.  And, no, the glutamic acid naturally found in things like tomatoes and cheese isn't the same as the factory-produced (and, therefore, highly contaminated) monosodium glutamate carelessly and excessively poured into most packaged/processed foods.

5.  Shun pre-packaged/processed foods when possible.  There is no question that packaged/processed foods are to blame for several skyrocketing medical problems, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and other chronic diseases.  This is most probably due to all the toxic chemicals--including preservatives, artificial colors & flavors, taste enhancers, and refined additives--in processed/packaged foods. 

6.  Stay away from irradiated meats, fruits and vegetables.  Contrary to what the so-called authorities tell consumers, there is no such a thing as a "safe" level of radiation.  Even small amounts of radiation can be carcinogenic; besides, radiation (like mercury, lead, etc.) is cumulative--in other words you need to decrease the amount of radiation you are already being exposed to, both from natural sources (radon gas, etc.) and man-produced (X-rays, PET-scans, etc.). 

Additionally, there are much safer ways to keep foods fresh.  Radiation high enough to kill small organisms is also high enough to damage human cells--end of story!

7.   Buy locally grown and cut meats.  Meats transported from far away locations are heavily injected with toxic preservatives.  An example of which is the ammonia-based paste ("pink slime") that is commonly shoveled into ground meat. 

8.  Buy canned foods only for emergencies.  Canned foods are chock-full of many nasty chemicals, not the least of which if Bisphenol A (BPA), a known carcinogen, as well as an endocrine disruptor. 

9.  Don't purchase soda pop--not ever!  There is absolutely no nutritional value in these soft drinks; besides, all of the ingredients in soda (carbon dioxide, BVO, high fructose corn syrup, caramel, refined sugar, carbonic & phosphoric acids, etc.) are toxic.

If that's not enough for you, also consider that most carbonated drinks are highly acidic . . . they damage the enamel in your teeth, open you up to osteoporosis and other bone diseases by leaching calcium from your bones, and make GERD worse.

10.  Don't buy margarines and other make-believe butter products.  These things are mostly made from vegetable and canola oil--both of which are almost impossible for your body to digest and the synthetic & high Omega 6 trans fats in them may be the real reason (not natural cholesterol) for the ever-worsening CVD rates. 

11.  Don't ever buy any of the so-called "vegetable oils," especially so-called "canola" oil.  These oils, which are derived mostly from seeds and nuts and not from "vegetables" as the public is duped into believing, are heated to great temperatures--a process which pretty much destroys the oil's nutritional value; then, merely to add insult to injury, the oils are treated with special chemicals (hexane, caustic lye, etc.) in order to remove the terrible stench the process leaves behind and to make the oil look, taste and perform better in the trenches--i.e, fast-food slophouses, low-nutrition products food processing plants, and the private kitchens of clueless consumers. 

12. Beware of rice--even the "brown" type.  Most of the rice in supermarkets is heavily laced with arsenic.  This time we can't blame the processing and the packaging but that doesn't exonerate food manufacturers who should, if they were more conscientious, warn consumers in the packaging of the danger of high levels of arsenic in rice.  As such, eat rice very sparingly.

13.  Beware of most seafood for sale in supermarkets, especially the type raised in artificial farms (as opposed to the "free-caught" varieties.  Most seafood contains high levels of mercury and other toxic chemicals in our highly-polluted oceans, rivers, ponds and lakes.  Much of our seafood these days is also radioactive, either because of radioisotopes-polluted water or the irradiation often used to preserve meats. 

14.  Avoid all factory farm-grown meats.  All factory-farm-grown meats are heavily laced with pesticides, insecticides, hormones, antibiotics and growth hormones.  These chemicals are not only making these animals sicker (collectively as a species) and compromising their immune systems but they are also harming, in ways we can only attempt to understand, every human being consuming these toxic meats.

15.  Avoid GMOs at all cost.  Unfortunately, these Franken-foods/ingredients are already commonly found in many processed/packaged foods; as if that were not enough, they can also be found in the raw foods section of your supermarket.  Here's the main problem with GMOs:  no one really knows how they will affect humanity at the DNA/genetic level. 

It would have been better if long-term toxicity and food safety studies had been conducted (using human beings, not just rats) before they were approved.  Like many things that may not kill or harm you right away, GMOs were prematurely approved.  Do you really want to take part in this outrageously risky experiment the FDA and the USDA have okayed? 

Conclusion

It may sound sensationalistic but you really are taking your life in your own hands every time you shop at your local food supermarket.  While it's true that most of the food in these places won't harm or kill you right away, this doesn't address the question of long-term food safety. 

For the record, you can't assess long-term food safety with studies that don't last long enough, don't contain controls, don't use human beings (after first trying them on animals), and don't make accommodations for conflicts of interest on the part of the study participants, supervisors, and most important of all, sponsors. 

It should also concern you that foods don't get to be tested as closely and carefully as pharmaceuticals--in spite of the fact that food is more of a necessity for human survival. 

For your part, become a well-informed, critically-thinking and wary food shopping consumer.  After all, what you eat greatly impacts your health.  Or didn't you know that?