Fussy eater?!
Answers: I'm a really fussy eater, but I think it's gone too far. I'm already a vegetarian. However, in my science lesson this afternoon we were talking about where our food comes from and it's got me thinking, how do I know that things I've been eating are clean? (e.g. potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, wheat etc) I know this is just silly, but I can't seem to bring myself to eat without thinking and reconsidering eating. All helpful comments are welcome. Thankyou in advance.
We actually stay healthier when we DON'T obsess about germs and cleanliness . . . within reason, of course, it is better to have natural bacteria and a reasonable amount of germs in our lives/bodies/foods so that our systems stay active and strengthen in fighting off the bad stuff. They say antibacterial soaps have actually contributed to people getting sicker than if they'd just dealt with some germs from time to time and I believe that's probably the same about food . . . we're made to ward off the bad stuff and in turn, that makes us healthier.
Normally this is why we wash fruit and veggies before eating them. You know the spinach e-coli scare was from when the people are in the fields picking, they use the field as their toilet and don't wash their hands either.
Just a thought.
Enjoy ;)
good grief dont worry ...just wash them under running water...life is full of risks
You don't.
There is a maximum limit of foreign matter (insects, rocks, mud, sticks) in flour, canned food, chocolate and various other things. This limit is not zero, so obviously there's some.
Some things are cleaner than others. Fruits are obviously cleaner than roots and tubers. Whole products (a tomato) are cleaner than processed ones (wheat flour).
Some folks are paranoid about contaminants in their food, i.e., bacteria, antibiotics, insecticides, etc. Let me say right off the bat that these are real concerns. However, I’m referring to the people whose thinking grossly exaggerates the danger or has no basis at all.
Let’s take egg phobia, specifically the thinking that eggs not fully cooked, (such as eggs over easy), are dangerous because of salmonella. According to the US Department of Agriculture, one in 20,000 eggs will be contaminated with salmonella. If you’re an average American and consume 180 eggs per year, it will take you 111 years to encounter a contaminated egg. But not all the eggs we eat are raw or partially cooked. We consume many fully cooked eggs such as omelets, hard-boiled, in quiche, in baked goods, and other preparations. So assuming that even half the eggs you eat each year are over easy, it will take 222 years to actually consume one contaminated egg whose bacteria was not destroyed from cooking. And even then, depending on the amount of salmonella in the egg, you may not even get sick. Your immune system will fend off small amounts. If your immune system is compromised by age, (the elderly and young children), pregnancy, certain medications, or medical illness, then all bets are off. But if not, when you start crunching the numbers, the issue begins to become absurd.
Some fearful thinking is completely groundless. I know a chiropractor who deprives his children of milk because of his fears that antibiotics given to cows will wind up in the milk. Yet it is against the law in the US to sell milk containing antibiotics. Milk is tested for antibiotics and if found, the milk is not allowed to be sold to the public. When dairy cows are given antibiotics for various infections, their milk is discarded until the medication has passed through their system.
At the very least, aberrant conceptions about food only serve to limit our pleasures. They restrict us from embracing life by decreasing our options and our freedom. Or they impose unnecessary guilt or self-disparagement if we partake in a mentally “forbidden” delight. At their worse, they can cause us to harm others. A recent news story reported how some babies of ultra-vegetarian mothers were developing neurological disorders from the lack of certain nutrients in the mother’s diet, and hence her milk.
America has become far too neurotic about food. Numerous other cultures embrace food without reservations, and joyously make it a pleasurable part of daily life. Many Europeans eat whatever they want with far less hang-ups, and still live longer than us. Of the many explanations for this, one is the difference in how we mentally approach food. They celebrate food. We draw all sorts of kooky conclusions about it and then become leery of it.
The Inuit are the native people of Greenland and the Artic. In an interview with the Canadian periodical “Health Canada” one of their individuals stated: “For us to be fully healthy, we must have our foods, recognizing the benefits that they bring. Contaminants do not affect our souls. Avoiding our food from fear does.”
Eat or die.