Archives January 2018

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Sometimes I almost feel like a chemist in a laboratory when I walk through the aisles of my local supermarkets! Each time I make that trek I become more and more convinced that that’s not the place I need to be picking up items to put in my stomach. I’m convinced the packaged food aisles are simply halls of death masquerading toxic food additives as “flavor” enhancers or “benign ingredients”.

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While packaged foods can be helpful sometimes (i.e. emergency foodstuffs for disaster relief, etc), they are definitely a class of foods every person should avoid if they value their lives!  Few people realize that those “packaged” foods they’re eating are loaded with toxic food additives!

Depending on what region of the world you live making sense of food labels can be a mysterious and frustrating task for the average person. For instance, here in the U.S. food label regulations and protections are ass-backward in my humble opinion.

Over the years, I’ve made it my business to become my own food and health advocate. I’ve been pouring over labels, ingredient names, questionable additives and so forth. What did I learn? Well, MY health and wellbeing are definitely not high up on the list of priorities for the packaged food industry!

Now I don’t know about you, but I LOVE my Mayo! I love it on my sandwiches and I sometimes use it as a base for some of my recipes. BUT after a bit of label reading, I was shocked to find an ingredient that is typically used in medical labs (and other industries), is showing up in my mayo! Say what? That’s right people. A dubious chemical that’s used in industrial processes and in certain medications, has a home in our mayonnaise! Everyday people seem to be missing the fact that this toxic food additive is hiding in their food!

Don’t take my word for it. When you read up on some of the “potential” health issues associated with this toxic food additive you will leave that jar of poison on the shelf too! I’m definitely not the only one raising the alarm about these toxic food additives and I am convinced that the more we rise up as consumers, the better of we will all be.

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Coming from a background in the medical laboratory, I KNOW that this is nothing I want in my food. It has no business showing up on my plate! As a matter of fact, EDTA is actually banned in some countries outside of the U.S. (i.e. Australia) and is well regulated elsewhere (i.e. Europe) in its use in personal care items, etc.

EDTA is a chemical really should be in our food. The packaged food industry uses it as a stabilizer and preservative to give their products a longer shelf life-too bad it doesn’t give YOU a long shelf life!

Thanks to the organic revolution and food advocates, the use of these toxic food additives are coming to light. As a matter of fact, some of these large corporations are trying to rebrand themselves as “healthy” by doing what they should have done in the first place. What’s wrong with producing food items that are not harmful to consumers? There’s no need for “rebranding” if you don’t put questionable and toxic food additives in the foods you’re marketing to the public!

Enough with the additives already! If it’s not processed sugars, in our foods it’s chemicals with questionable impacts on our health and wellbeing. It’s up to us to help educate one another and compel our regulatory agencies and our legislators to do the right thing!

The processed and packaged food industries have done their best to hide what’s in our food as well as the origins of the ingredients they contain. Thanks to organizations like the EWG (Environmental Working Group )  and others like them, we are becoming educated about what’s in our food.

I have become a label fanatic simply to keep myself and my family from being poisoned by our food industries, which is a sad commentary on the state of our regulatory agencies here in the USA. While, I know no country has consumer protection down a 100%, we’ve got to do better starting with now.

As consumers, we need to educate ourselves about our food and demand that our legislators step up and force compliance. You really can’t trust the “fox” to “guard the henhouse”, that’s just nuts and totally ineffectual!

Bottom line? know what’s in your food and get involved in your community. It is our responsibility to rise up and demand better from the food industry and our legislators. The only way we can protect ourselves and our families is to get involved and educated about what’s in our food. I’ve found a number of online resources to help me fight back!

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Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quick. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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There are so many reasons why ingesting huge amounts of (processed) sugar is a terrible idea, but few people recognize the devasting impacts sugar can have on the body. Between the heavy marketing and confusing information from doctors and nutritionists alike, it’s no wonder that the facts get lost in the shuffle. Processed sugar in all its forms and packagings are literally killing us and if we don’t stop it right now, more people will die.

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Here are some basic facts about sugar:

1.First and foremost, sugar contains a lot of calories and has no essential nutrients. If that isn’t enough to make you pause, consider the fact that it also causes tooth decay by fueling the production and proliferation of harmful bacteria in the mouth.

2.Next, added sugar is high in fructose and can overload your liver. A sedentary lifestyle coupled with the typical western diet that’s filled with processed foods, high in sodium and lots of sugar; the high levels of fructose in this type of diet is transformed into fat in the liver. The danger here is that it can lead to non-alcoholic liver disease.

So what’s the big deal?

The problem arises from the fact that when sugar enters the bloodstream from the digestive tract, it gets broken down into glucose and fructose. Now, while glucose is present in every living organism (if we don’t get it through diet our bodies can also produce), fructose is much different. This particular type of sugar is neither needed by the body nor do we produce it in any significant quantity.

While it’s not a problem when we take in small quantities (i.e. from fruits) since fructose can only be metabolized by the liver, consuming large quantities of this sugar can overload the liver. Not only this, fructose elevates your LDL (a.k.a. bad cholesterol), blood fats and lowers insulin resistance!

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3.The big “C” or cancer is one of the leading causes of death throughout the world. It is essentially the uncontrolled growth and proliferation of cells. Also, since insulin is one of the major hormones responsible for regulating cell growth, excessive levels of this hormone can contribute to cancer.

Several studies also show that people who consume large amounts of sugar in their diet are at a much higher risk for both cardiovascular disease and cancer (with inflammation listed as a potential cause).

4. Still hanging on to that crazy train? sugar cause large amounts of dopamine to be released in the reward center of the brain and is very addictive. In fact, because of the large amounts found in processed foods, etc the danger lies in the fact these amounts are much larger than what we ordinarily are exposed to from natural sources.

The truth is that most of the processed and fast food industries are aware of the addictive nature of processed sugar but do little to address the issue so it falls to the consumer to educate his or herself about what’s in their food!

5. Experts now believe that consuming large amounts of sugar over a long period of time can accelerate the aging process. So those lines and wrinkles you’re seeing in the mirror? You can blame a good portion of that premature aging on your diet!

While the breakdown of the skin is the result of a natural process that’s known as glycation (a  process in which the sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins to form harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products or AGEs). When you eat a lot of sugar you increase the amount of AGE production.

When it comes to breaking unhealthy relationships with food, the struggle is real! SIGN UP & Find out more about ditching that processed sugar craze in my free 7 DAY DETOX event (Live on Facebook) beginning January 20-27th

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Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quick. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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Hello, goodness and all my fellow skincare freaks! I make no bones about splurging on skincare, especially when I come across a brand that’s all about eco-friendly, animal-friendly, and plant-based skincare. Today I’m sharing my new secret weapon from Benu Cosmetics.

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I know it can often be hard to see the forest for the trees in the world of cosmeceuticals, skincare and wellness industries, BUT I would be doing us all a huge disservice by not featuring this up and coming skin care gem. I hate when old favorites keep messing with their formulas in the name of “improvements” (it’s just reformulating and branding, seriously, who gives a flying fig?) to the point where my skin straight up lodges a serious rebellion and I’m forced to go a-hunting for a new line that’s all natural, loaded with anti-oxidants and won’t throw me into a tailspin. Well, enough of that! I recently got the opportunity to try out “Hello Skin” serum from ©Benu Cosmetics, and needless to say, I am a fan.

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 I love the feel and texture of Benu Cosmetics’ “Hello Skin” serum! It’s an awesome new line, founded by a millennial who’s serious about making changes in both the skincare industry and the environment! It’s vegan, organic and uses all natural ingredients that will nourish, moisturize and heal your skin. Additionally, if you’ve got sensitive skin like I do this is one item you won’t want to pass on. My love of organic and all-natural skincare is what fuels my interest in this particular brand.

Don’t take it from me though, grab yourself a bottle of Benu Cosmetics’ flagship serums, “Hello Skin” and try it out for yourself. It’s not every day that you encounter a product that is both simple and complex in one encounter. Boasting a short list of ingredients (no more than five ingredients) blended together in a unique proprietary formula, ©benucosmetics is my new bestie for my skincare needs. While it isn’t always the case that I fall in love with a particular skincare brand, I had to share my review of ©Benu Cosmetics “Hello Skin” serum ’cause I’m all about loving the skin I’m in!

Plus, since I’m also a great shopper I’m sharing my discount code with ALL of you>> RIGHT HERE!

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Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog, helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her approach is “the cookie cutter method only works for cookies,” meaning she helps each person in a unique way helps them transform their lives from the inside out. She’s not about helping you lose weight quick. She’s about changing your habits and helping you fall in love with yourself so you can live a life with pure joy.

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