Big Food: America’s Formidable Predator Episode Transcript
Part 1:
00:00 - Nachi (Host)
Have you ever heard the phrase food is medicine? But so find yourself and your family struggling with various health issues. In this episode, we'll discuss how specific ingredients in the foods we eat can contribute to our health problems instead of helping us. Let's explore how these ingredients affect us, what we need to be vigilant about and strategies to get back on track and truly enjoy our meals. Welcome to another episode of I'm Matt Yellen I'm Dominican podcast. Hey everybody, this is your girl, nachi, and I'm here with Damaris, affectionately known by her husband as the Vulcan.
00:46
Love it. Oh, and today we are going to talk about the food industry specifically what's in our food, how it impacts us, what we should be looking for and how we just could do better in the food that we eat so that we can truly use food as our medicine but also enjoy it, because I know I love to eat. I love food.
01:14 - Damaris (Host)
Praise God, so do I.
01:15 - Nachi (Host)
You can tell, okay, but let's just be conscious about the things that we eat. So we're going to get into it.
01:25 - Damaris (Host)
Yeah.
01:26 - Nachi (Host)
Talk to us, Damaris.
01:28 - Damaris (Host)
Yes, you know, certain very close friends of mine and other family members know I am.
01:39
When it comes to food and understanding what we consume and, in particular, obviously, what I consume, it is something that I hold very near and dear and important for my overall health.
01:56
So, just stepping back right, like I think I'm excited about what I'm potentially titling this episode and calling it America's formidable predator, the US food industry. I say that because the way that food is, or has been, industrialized over the last 100 years and the process in which it's made, being delivered to us all to increase consumption, and all for the sake of profits. I have to be disheartened and I have to look at the industry holistically and our government who regulates that industry and think about why I'm calling that industry a formidable predator. Because it is, because once you understand what it is that they put in our foods legally, it is just like I'm flabbergasted, it just blows my mind. And then so once I know, I know I'm now culpable, right, like I can no longer say, oh, why, I didn't know that was bad for me. No, I didn't know, and it's a choice. It's always a choice.
03:27 - Nachi (Host)
So Right, it becomes the choice, yeah.
03:31 - Damaris (Host)
And you cannot deny the fact that over the last 50 to 60 years, all types of underlying health conditions have increased dramatically, exponentially, in the US population. We're talking about obesity, diabetes, being pre-diabetic and heart disease, all of that cancers. Like you cannot sit back and say, oh well, nothing's really changed. No, a whole lot, and a whole lot of that has to do with our food and what we consume, and I find it very interesting that, instead of getting to the root of what is causing a lot of these underlying conditions that I just mentioned, the conversation or the narrative is always shifted to well, health comes in all different forms. Now, no, a healthy life is a healthy life and we're not living that right now. So let's stop pretending that the symptoms of not living a healthy lifestyle, like obesity, is an OK way to be, because it is not. But if the conversation is focused on, that is a hell of a lot better than people actually asking the questions about why is the food that I'm consuming making me sick?
05:02 - Nachi (Host)
And I think people aren't thinking like you said we're not aware of it. And once you're aware of what's actually in the foods that we eat and how those specific ingredients that one is supposed to enhance flavor or enhance the shelf life of a particular food, it's actually combating the inside of our bodies and the way we function on a daily basis and we don't make that connection. When things happen, when things flare up, we don't necessarily make that connection. But once you realize and understand how these ingredients really affect you and impact you, you'll start to make those connections and start making better choices, hopefully for yourself.
05:55 - Damaris (Host)
Absolutely, and this is why I'm very big about why we need to be judicious about what we consume and put in our bodies. And I think for a lot of people, like oh, that's obvious, like yeah, but let's cover why that's so obvious, why it should be obvious we need nutrients to survive and be healthy. The source of those nutrients come from the foods that we eat. Food is our number one medicine. I think people again and this is has largely to do with the fact the way Western medicine is set up, right when it's like nutrition is not even really being taught in medical schools outside. More than like 10 hours is something that I read recently 10 hours yeah.
06:50
So all those years of medical school we're talking about something like 10 hours. They're now, in the last 10 years, trying to make that a bit more part of the curriculum nutrition, the science behind the nutrition and the diet, versus just like the biochemical makeup of food and like, oh, you need vitamin C, but where do you get the vitamin C from the food? Et cetera. So to separate food from our well-being or the health and the medical community, to me is just is incongruent. It just doesn't make sense. It's like why wouldn't it be right? Food is our number one medicine period, point blank. That's where it starts, that's where you prevent these chronic illnesses and these other again underlying health conditions. That's what you do. And so that's the starting point, right? And that's why I'm like really big about like okay, well, what is it? That we're trying to survive and be healthy? How do we do that? And so you know I'd like to get into the whole idea of like okay, well, let's get into what we're buying and what we're eating and the why. For me.
08:09
I think it's important to always buy organic when possible, and I know many people understand what organic is, but you know what? For some, I know there's a lot of confusion, especially when you start getting into organic versus GMO and all that good stuff. So, basically, if you organic food is food that was processed without synthetic chemicals or genetically modification, you want to reduce the amount of pesticides you consume, and you know, I've, for me, obvious reasons. Number one it's synthetic. It's a synthetic chemical, which means that it's fake, and a lot of these chemicals have been known to cause adverse effects like cancer, disruptions to your organs, disruptions to your endocrine system, which is like your hormone that manages your hormones, things like that. Their long-term effects and they can become chronic.
09:14
So when you hear that, I don't know, I know buying organic is more expensive, but it's either. Okay, I want to spend a lot of money in the long-term trying to take care of my health with private health insurance and all the medications and all these things that I have to do, because I'm now sick with an illness because of the food that I ate over the last 20, 40 years or even the last five years, like at some point. You just got to start now and once you know this information, then that's the choice you make. You don't always have to buy organic. If you can't, you can't, I get that, but this is why it's important.
09:53 - Nachi (Host)
And I think, yeah, and I think when we talk about organic, it's not, you still also have to be mindful of what you purchase, even when it says organic or non-GMO. With produce is very simple You're right, you're organic. You cumber, let you know things of that nature. But when we look at those packaged foods that have organic on them or non-GMO and I think it's I can't recall who says this. I think is I'm surviving vegan. She always talks about how the front is always for advertisement so it's supposed to pull you in to buy that.
10:47 - Damaris (Host)
Oh, it's organic, it's non-GMO, it's you know it's X, y and Z Right.
10:53 - Nachi (Host)
But you also have to start reading the ingredients that are listed in there, because, although it may say organic, there are certain ingredients in there that may not, that's not going to be good for you in the long run, and so you have to be mindful of what you're ingesting and taking and purchasing that's going to be harmful for you down the line. So I've also been able to look at and just been conscious enough to say let me read, like I'm constantly reading the materials.
11:35
Because we also live in this space of convenience, right, because we're not going to make things from scratch all the time. I mean, we may attempt to every so often but, realistically speaking, most people are working. There's not that many people who you know you don't have the. You know people that stay at home and have the capacity to to make things from scratch or do other you know other things to for sustainability. But we fall into that convenience and I I'm guilty of that. You know, when I look back at how I started to purchase foods because of convenience, I realize how, later on, I realize how that's impacted me. Health wise, you know, I started seeing my hormones were in balance. You know I saw differences in my children and it's funny because when they were real young I used to make their food.
12:48 - Damaris (Host)
I remember.
12:51 - Nachi (Host)
I used to make their food fresh. I you know that I they don't eat certain things.
12:58 - Damaris (Host)
You were that mom.
13:00 - Nachi (Host)
Yes, as I was, I was and as they got older yes, as they got older and I was a single mom things became a little bit harder, and then it was just like I need something quick, fast and that's just not going to take a whole lot of time. Yeah, and in hindsight, that was probably the worst decision I've ever done. But those are facts right I've ever made.
13:27 - Damaris (Host)
You gotta give yourself grace and compassion because you were in a. You were at that time. I mean dealing with about to end your marriage and a lot of major life changes.
13:38 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, so you know. But then now I'm trying to get back to that where, okay, I need to include fresher and greetings, I need to see you. You know what are some of the things that I can do fresh. Or you know that I can make from scratch, that I don't have to add all this, that I don't have to go to the store and buy a package product, you know. So the less package products I can buy, the better I am, and so that's you know. That's something that I've learned, but I definitely seen the difference health wise and how that impacted me and yeah, no.
14:27 - Damaris (Host)
And I want to just step back to one thing, because I think what you're saying is the perfect segue into process foods. And well before we get into that, this idea between organic versus GMO. I mentioned it, you mentioned it and some folks are like you know. Some people confuse it and think they're the same thing. Non GMO just means that the food that you purchase has not been, has not come from a genetically modified seed, but they could have used pesticides to you know, to lace over your, your food. You're still ingesting those chemicals, those synthetic chemicals, whereas with organic, it truly means that there are no synthetic chemicals, use no, no pesticides, nor has it been genetically modified. So when you go organic, it covers all the bases. When you just go non GMO, it is just saying that that particular, you know, and I think, is a strain and the DNA of that seed has not been genetically modified. That doesn't mean that that I can't even get into this.
15:36
There's a whole another thing of like how you know, you could still genetically modify an organism but it may not be labeled as non GMO. That is another rabbit hole. I cannot get into that in this episode. But think about you know why that came to me? Because one time I'm in the supermarket and I was like, if seedless grapes are genetically modified, right, because grapes always used to have seeds.
16:05 - Nachi (Host)
And I love grapes.
16:06 - Damaris (Host)
Right, I was like how can it be organic? And then I looked down I was like holy shit, right. So, guys, if you really want to know, if you want me to investigate that, let me know. I'm not an investigative journalist, but you know, I like to do research, even though they're trying to make you seem like you're dumb. If you do research, I don't know. That's also conflicting, but anyway, back.
16:38
So I wanted to at least make it clear what organic versus non GMO is. Yes, well, non GMO is good to consume. You're still consuming pesticides. So, yes, is it better than things that have been genetically modified? Absolutely, but when it comes to organic, it covers everything. So that's the better way to go, if at all possible. But to your point, which you touched on earlier around, just because it's organic doesn't mean that it's necessarily great for you really speaks to the idea of process foods. That is an important takeaway. Again, yes, when you're buying your individual whole foods, yes, they should be organic, but just because you're buying something with an organic label and it's processed, it doesn't mean that that's necessarily good for you.
17:36
I think about when we were growing up and how processed foods were more expensive than organic foods. I mean not organic foods, rather whole foods, and when I say whole foods it is whole, it's a food that is whole. Two separate words, not the supermarket, right? So we're talking about an apple. These are when I'm referring to a whole food. Sometimes people call it real food. It's just, you know, something that's not been processed, and so your mom, because those things were expensive, she's like I'm cooking. So we had whole meals, we had rice, we had beans, chicken, you know, a salad, and that was it. We had minimally processed foods in our life, which was probably one of the best things. That, and we didn't really suffer from constantly being sick or, you know, suffering from you know, whatever any other thing like that. That.
18:39 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, those were like treats. I remember with mommy. Mommy would buy Coca-Cola but it was really for his mixed drinks when he had company. But it was just like I can't wait, wait till people come over so I can have a sip of Coca-Cola.
18:54 - Damaris (Host)
Mommy had soda under the cabinet, under the sink, and that was not for us to consume.
18:59
It wasn't a regular yeah, it was for Saturdays and then when we had guests, that's if we had guests, otherwise we're not consuming that, and I'm so grateful that that actually turned out to be the way, because now in today, today's day and time, it's the reverse. Processed foods are less expensive, so they're more enticing to buy, especially when you're in a bind with time and money. So you're like, okay, you're pushing me, you're pushing me to eat these highly processed foods with these ingredients that are built into everything and all these things that we eat, like seed oils and sugar, and those things are known to be major causes for, again, all these underlying conditions, these chronic diseases that Americans now suffer from. You have to understand that. When I looked up the definition of processed foods, I know what a processed food is, but I'm like I want to be very clear. When we talk about this on the show, it is transforming food into other food items. What?
20:14 - Nachi (Host)
Other food items.
20:16 - Damaris (Host)
When food is processed, fat, sugar and salt are usually added, and important nutrients such as fiber are usually removed. Whole foods, on the other hand, are not processed or are foods that are as close to its natural form as possible, with minimal to no processing. That's mind blowing.
20:33 - Nachi (Host)
Just the idea of like I think of cheese products no like when you buy.
20:40 - Damaris (Host)
I like cheese products. What is that? I was spending like 30 minutes in the dairy aisle trying to read the right label, to pick up the right cheese, especially when it comes to American cheese. It's like food cheese product, food cheese food. I'm like what is a cheese food? What is a cheese product?
20:56 - Nachi (Host)
I took it for a regular cheese, clean Like what. What is happening Like this can't be real, and I will read the back of you know, what's so funny is just like how the mindset had switched because, to your point back then, convenience was a luxury right.
21:18
So the processed food was a luxury. Now it's like oh, these processed foods. Everyone needs to work more and eat less with. Eat less whole foods and eat more of these quick meals and fast way of getting dinner on the table. For real talk, mama used to work a full time job and had a meal on the table.
21:52 - Damaris (Host)
Her second job was the house.
21:54 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, her second job was the house. You said what I said. I don't know how she did it, but we had a whole meal Every day.
22:03 - Damaris (Host)
Every day Now we had cereal, which was in the morning, which was a processed food, but again, if we're talking about that's like one out of my three other meals, one of my three meals is okay, compared to other people who had processed food regularly.
22:20
And again, when we had McDonald's fast food, that was a treat. That wasn't something to be like oh well, I don't have time and it's cheaper. No, it was a luxury and thank God, because that meant we didn't have it. Often Now they trying to sell you fast food burgers for a dollar and y'all like, yeah, let's do it.
22:37 - Nachi (Host)
The dollar made you feel like this.
22:39 - Damaris (Host)
It doesn't make sense, I don't want nothing. That.
22:41 - Nachi (Host)
I can't get a dollar for.
22:44 - Damaris (Host)
How y'all made this. What's really in this Right?
22:47 - Nachi (Host)
right.
22:47 - Damaris (Host)
Listen. When I'm reading the labels on these things, I go by my rule of thumb. My litmus test is if I cannot pronounce the ingredients and recognize what they are, I'm not going to buy it. And again, this is not to be like oh, it's never. Never eats a processed food in her life. No, I love Coke. This is why I don't buy it. I love a good Coke, but I don't buy it, so I don't drink it. I don't see it. I drink it when I go to my cousin's house because they stay with that in their house.
23:23
Yes and they know I'll have like one and a half glasses. One and a half glasses because guess what that mighty says, and feel good afterwards.
23:33 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, yeah and I know this, so and I think that's something people need to start being More aware of just how your body feels after and I know now because you may be consuming a lot of it you just don't know the difference. Yes, you stop consuming it, yes, a little bit, and then go back. You'll start to see the difference, that, oh shit, what's going on with me? You know, it was a funny. I remember in my days when I'm I used to do the farmers market selling my soaps, and my car was acting funky, right, because the asset on and apparently my the battery, what you got was rusty. And and this lovely older gentleman that was also vendor, he was like, oh, you need help. And I'm like, yeah, he looked at my you, you look that you know. Opened my hood and started looking and say, oh, look, your batteries rusted. He was like let me go to my truck, where's his truck? Pulled out a coke bottle, y'all a coke bottle came, poured it over the battery.
24:47
Nice and clean Car started up just fine. He was like, oh, just keep yourself. He was like always keep, keep yourself a bottle. I'm poking your car for this reason. I was just like. I think that was the first time that I realized, like my stomach. I'm like, oh, my goodness, and yes, like you, I love myself some cook, but I don't. I don't buy you. Like I don't buy it at home, like I mean by it if, if, yes, people come over to you know, mix a drink, right, but um, on the reg, I don't buy. Because of that reason, because, yes, I will go through it, because it's a debt thing. I mean.
25:40 - Damaris (Host)
The bottom line is, if you're buying processed foods, you should be able to pronounce the ingredients, and I guess Absolutely like an example of that, I buy the rauze spaghetti sauce, rauze spaghetti sauce yes not even organic.
25:53 - Nachi (Host)
But no, it's not, but it's not organic.
25:56 - Damaris (Host)
Well, when I look at the seven ingredients they have, it's a clean product.
26:00
It is a clean product. It is literally, but and and I also fucks with them because the tomatoes they use are from Italy I'm like I trust Europeans because, guess what? They ban certain pesticides. They there are things that they do not use, that we in the US of a use and are okay with, with poisoning our citizens with. So I trust when they say they're using Italian tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and like sugar and something else, and not like not high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup, just sugar and Something else. And I'm like, bet I'm gonna use this. I Can read, I can understand every ingredient you've used and I prefer, and the fact that it is an organic. Okay, well, at least you're telling me you're getting your vegetables from Italy, which I trust. There they have a more stringent limit and Requirements for the types of pesticides used on their crops, so yeah, yeah, and that also goes to show you that we do have products here.
27:14 - Nachi (Host)
you know, although there are certain ingredients that are banned in in other countries but Are approved here in this, in the USA, there's still stuff that you can buy. You just have to take that, just take that extra step of Reading the label and deciding Okay, i'ma buy Rails other than you know and is it rails? You know me.
27:52 - Damaris (Host)
Me too.
27:55 - Nachi (Host)
Yes, I do too. I buy. I buy their sauces all the time, but you know, ragu was a major thing, like that was what we always purchased before and that has a bunch of stuff up in there.
28:10 - Damaris (Host)
Yeah, so it's just a matter of like just taking a moment in Reading those, those ingredients and and making a choice right, like People don't realize what processed foods can be with, and I want to throw out some examples, like the spaghetti sauce you buy, right I? Just that's a perfect example of a processed food. It is multiple ingredients used, already prepackaged, pre-made for you. That's been processed, all right, we're talking about crackers bread. Yeah, yeah things that you have in. What is it?
28:49 - Nachi (Host)
salad dressing Mayo ketchup.
28:53 - Damaris (Host)
So, like the ketchup that we buy, is this organic ketchup. Again, like seven, eight ingredients, all are all organic ingredients. It's like organic tomatoes, organic white, you know vinegar organic, you know whatever sugars being used, but it's again all ingredients I understand, I'm willing to consume, and it's organic right because if you again you look at Hinds or something like that, it'll literally give you Dies in there.
29:26 - Nachi (Host)
There are no dies in the organic even their organ, even it, even in their organic Yep products still see how colors like yes, yes. So you have to be, don't get consumed, don't get caught up with. Oh, it says organic, let me just buy it.
29:44 - Damaris (Host)
No.
29:45 - Nachi (Host)
Ingredients and then look at other products. With that you know Same product and look at their labels and see what ingredients are on there and just like, like pasta is a really good one.
29:57 - Damaris (Host)
Mm-hmm, should be two is really one, or I think it's just one one at the one I have. Yeah, just the week, the week.
30:05 - Nachi (Host)
That's it. Yeah look at pull one of those pasta Packages and you will see about a good 10 ingredients in yes, no, the spagetti is organic and it's just one ingredient.
30:19 - Damaris (Host)
Yes, one ingredient the flour that was being used.
30:23 - Nachi (Host)
The taste isn't different.
30:24 - Damaris (Host)
It's still spaghetti, like you so then I want you don't. Why are you putting all these additives and preservatives, like why? And these colors too, when some of these things already naturally have the color that I expected to have, like that ketchup that I get it literally, is still red. It might be even a darker red. Then the red of those others that I won't even say anymore. I Like just go go into your cabinet.
30:55 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, no, seriously check. And when you go your next to grocery shopping trip, look, just look at those products. Look at the top shelf, because usually the better products on the top shelf, so always look up there and compare it to the other ones. Yeah it's out there.
31:15 - Damaris (Host)
You just have to really yeah you, it takes time and you know you have to do it and and oh, this all leads to like, when we're talking about process foods, what these? There are two things that in my research for this particular episode that I kept coming across, especially two major ingredients that continue to pose a threat to the health of people in this country, around the world, but in this country in particular, because of all the ingredients we allow and are approved by the government that cares for us so much. Because all three letter agencies are four letter words.
32:06
Okay but you keep trusting them, anyway. Yeah, so the one was sugar, right, and I read this fantastic article is actually from I'm going to bring it over here. It is from 2016 and it was an article ran in the New York Times called how the sugar industry shifted blame to fat.
32:34
Now, sugar is one of those things that are in everything we eat, everything processed, and this is again why I shy away from as many process who's as possible and try to make as much as I can on my own, because sugar is embedded everywhere. And then it's like you have to be mindful of the types of sugar, right, because there's regular, regular sugar, but then there's also the different corn syrups, fructose syrup and then high fructose corn syrup, which they call it, you know, hfc. Yeah, the reason why these syrups are so bad is especially the high fructose corn syrup is because, to your point, they spike your sugar, and which means like, of course you know, like, then your insulin is all working, and so having a spike in sugar isn't good for you. And then there is, then it gets, makes you feel hungry right away too.
33:33
So, you will just have eaten and when you come down from whatever high that spike or whatever, you're now hungry again. So what? What do you end up doing? You end up overeating, right, because you didn't really eat anything that was really nutrient dense. You ate something that was full of sugar and then now leaves you feeling hungry, but guess what? You still consume stuff. So that gets, you know, built into your body because you also can't digest everything that you've taken in with all these chemicals.
34:07
But this sugar industry article was really interesting to me because it really revealed how they, how certain industries and in particular this sugar industry, had influence over, ultimately over the the. The story behind sugar isn't bad, it's really fat. And then so trying to shift the blame from sugar that you know the blame of like, oh, sugar could be causing all of these other chronic illnesses. So the way they went about doing that was paying for research. So they paid in this. This was in the sixties, yeah, it was in the sixties. They paid some scientists this is the sugar industry association. At the time. They paid scientists to write a review that was highly favorable to the sugar industry, to and, you know, shift the blame again to fat and then have it published in the new industry and then the New England Journal of Medicine. So what does that do? That lends it credibility, right?
35:26
And so, and by doing that, what I read here was that the a lot of today's dietary recommendations when it comes to the role of nutrition and heart disease and all that good stuff, have largely been shaped by the sugar industry. I was like, wow. And this is because, again, because the sugar association paid three Harvard scientists the equivalent of what today would be $50,000 to publish a review in 1967 of research on sugar, fat and heart disease. So you then have the person who was paid by the sugar industry, which was D Mark Hegsted. He went on to become the head of the of nutrition at the United States Department of Agriculture.
36:23
That's something where we're in 1977, he helped draft the forerunner to the federal government's dietary guidelines, and then the other scientists. Who is Dr Frederick J stare? He became the chairman of Harvard's nutrition department. So when we say that, you know, corporations are buying like they literally, for the last 5060 years, shaped how, how the federal government has said oh, this is what is a healthy, nutritious diet.
37:05 - Nachi (Host)
And this is what they market to the American population.
37:09 - Damaris (Host)
Yes, yes, we're saying consume a lot of grains, breads, carbs, really, versus like more meats, fruits, vegetables, okay.
37:27 - Nachi (Host)
Right, right.
37:31 - Damaris (Host)
And it was real because I remember growing up I've always enjoyed meat. That kind of protein, animal protein for me has always been very good and I feel good and it makes me feel fuller longer and I just body wise, I felt good. I never felt really great when I ate cakes and stuff and that's why I just don't really eat desserts like that. Like I'll have a sorbet but that's it. Like I'm not really into that, I prefer fruit and stuff like that.
38:00 - Nachi (Host)
And I remember this I love me some sweets, you know, and that's just like I used to fight you. I know you would save a piece of cake Like why are you saving them?
38:08 - Damaris (Host)
I take a bite of that slice of cake for a whole week.
38:11 - Nachi (Host)
She used to get about damn nervous with it.
38:14 - Damaris (Host)
You're like it's got to go bad, and then sometimes it would go still, and then I end up throwing half of it away. I'm like I don't need more than a bite. It was enough.
38:22 - Nachi (Host)
Then give it to someone else who won't eat it.
38:24 - Damaris (Host)
No, I wanted that bite, I mean, and it was mine, you had your slice. Okay, thank you, whatever, but oh, the fat, you know. Oh yeah, A friend of mine used to be like I don't know how you're so skinny when you eat, like you know, all of these fatty meats and stuff, and I was just like, because it was like the association of like fat was bad, you know, animal fat was bad for you, right.
38:50
When in fact, it's all that bread and stuff, you know, all those simple carbs that break down into just sugars in your body. That's the real culprit. I'm like am I eating a steak every day? No, absolutely not. I eat chicken. I eat other lean meats that. I also eat fish, but do I enjoy a ribeye? Yes, all day, with butter.
39:12 - Nachi (Host)
Yes, and it's also, too, even the type of meat that you eat. I remember, oh my gosh, when I used to drive to the office there and there was around the same time, I would see this huge ass truck. I'm not going to say the name, but they used to pack up their damn chicken. It was so disgusting, like just number one. I feel bad for the chickens Because they're like, why are they all packed up like this? And it's mad, cold out and you right Going down the highway like 80 miles per hour and it's all open, so it's not even like it's closed in, like you see these packed of chicken. And it was disgusting and when I saw that set.
40:00
I don't think I'll ever buy that product ever, because it's gross. But I guarantee you they're not. They're not the only ones out there?
40:09 - Damaris (Host)
Oh, they're absolutely not.
40:11 - Nachi (Host)
I just happen to see it, but it's, we also have to.
40:16 - Damaris (Host)
Yeah, yeah, and just you consume again. I tried to solely buy organic meats, and we do like. 95% of our meats are organic, but it also doesn't mean that the animal is treated any better Sometimes it's treated the same as just that they're fed different foods. So organic foods and this is why they're labeled organic. You can't always get everything you know free range farm you know, unfortunately.
40:43 - Nachi (Host)
But I was saying that to say I forgot where I was without you just talking about how, even eating meats, it didn't affect you in any kind of way, and people just assume that. Well, they misunderstood. How how could you be so thin and eating these fatty meats? But you eat more than just a good old steak right, and it's not often.
41:11
And you know, and it's just it's, it's a combination, it's a balance of the different, you know, types of meat. You have your poultry, fish and all of that. So, yeah, it's just it's. It's a balance of knowing where your food is coming from. So again while we have our supermarkets. I mean, I'm a big proponent on shopping at your local farmers market, yes. Or finding out local or nearby farmers that provide these type of foods, because you will probably have better quality.
42:08 - Damaris (Host)
Yes.
42:09 - Nachi (Host)
Produce and meats from these farmers than you would at your grocery store.
42:17 - Damaris (Host)
Absolutely.
42:19 - Nachi (Host)
So, and I know some of us live in city, trust me, y'all got farmers markets too, and I have nearby farmers. You just have to, you know support the list out there. Yeah, there's a list out there and we need to support them because yeah, there's a website that I'm definitely going to find out.
42:40 - Damaris (Host)
I put that in the show notes for New York City in particular because it's it is it's exhausting.
42:47 - Nachi (Host)
Yeah, I have a couple of websites that.
42:50 - Damaris (Host)
Yeah, we can. We can, we put up.
42:53 - Nachi (Host)
I think one is local harvest and I can't think of think of it off hand, the other one. But the other one also gives you a list of the different farmers and ranchers right near you.
43:08 - Damaris (Host)
No, no, that's awesome, you know. Speaking back to ingredients again, though, the Sugar already we know it's embedded in everything, especially if you are eating a lot of processed foods. You need to be super mindful of that, because the reality is, if we look at how the the leading causes of death for Americans in the last six years, the top diseases that were suffering, it is different than it was the 60 years prior to the major changes in the last six years. So something is in. It's about what we're consuming. As a nation, like for a developed country, as they would say we we lead in obesity. And now you, you know, now you see things where it's like obesity is healthy. Okay, no, no, what you don't want me to do is to understand why it's such a, why such an epidemic right now for this country, and as long as I'm not paying attention to what the root causes, then it's like yeah, I let me live with this let me live with this lifestyle.
44:31
No, it's. It's what you're eating, and eating properly is not about losing weight or gaining weight. Eating properly is about maintaining good health, that's it, that's it.
44:47
You know and and it's being honest with yourself, because health is wealth. This applies to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being. Do not believe otherwise. Good physical health is not about your weight. It is about how you take care of yourself at the cellular level, and it starts with paying attention to what you consume. It starts with reading the labels. Follow your intuition. There's a lot of noise out there, but our message is consistent Stop getting distracted by the smoke and mirrors To not the noise, and focus on your purpose in life, what brings you joy in life. We're meant to be joyful, so live that truth and vibrate higher. That said, don't forget to subscribe to our channel and follow us on Instagram, tiktok and Twitter at I'mnotyellingunderscore. Thank you so much for listening and we look forward to talking next time. Bye.
Part 2:
00:00 - Damaris (Host)
In this episode, we continue our discussion on big food. We get into the science and genesis of seed oils ingredients allowed in our food in the US but banned in other countries and offer simple steps you can take to move away from these ingredients. Welcome to another episode of I'm Not Yelle, I'm Dominican podcast, hosted by Not Cheyenne Damaris. The other thing that is embedded in everything that we consume are seed oils. Oh, seed oils Seed oils, also known as vegetable oils right? So pretty much we're talking about canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, the regular mixed vegetable oil. We read about grape seed, safflower, sunflower, rice bran and peanut oils. Right, they don't include olive oil and avocado oil. Those are actually good oils. Those are the ones you should be using to replace your high heat oils the seed oils though. So they go through a very high process, they're highly processed, and they're also processed with a lot of synthetic chemical extraction methods, which, again, when you think about synthetic chemicals being used to create this oil, it's just like do you really want something that has been essentially bleached and deodorized to be in everything you eat? And so I came across this other article. Fantastic, the name of the article is great. It's called Seed Oils and Bad Signs. The root of our national sickness is a seed. We got to share these articles too. This article is fantastic. It was by this woman named Carmo Richardson. She goes into. It's a long article but it's really deep and she definitely has done her research.
02:11
But the things that have stood out to me, I'll say this the early how seed oils came about is the most interesting thing. It was first initially used to. It was experimented. They were experimenting with seed oil to potentially use as fuel for compression ignition engines. So seed oils were used for engines. They were testing it out. There was even a vehicle before petroleum became the standard. What's up with all this stuff used for cars? There were engines that used peanut oil, right, and then it was like, okay, petroleum took over, that was what we're using, yeah. So then they found a new use for it as cooking oil. They I guess they modified it some more and made this seed oil that originally was meant to be used as fuel for compression ignition engines as cooking oil, and how that took off, in particular for Canola.
03:30
I find Canola to be so interesting because it was like I remember like 20 years ago it was like move away from corn oil and vegetable oil because they're really high in trans fat, and Canola oil is the healthier oil. It's not static, which is all true, but they were, but the fact that that's the oil that our family uses faithfully, yeah, but given how it is actually produced and the synthetic chemicals used for it and where it comes from, you probably don't want to use Canola oil Not probably you don't. So I'll get into what exactly I learned about the Canola oil in particular. Let me get this. I have my notes here, do Marisa and her notes, so she comes prepared all the time. I know You're going to love this. The Canola oil, you know.
04:28
And then Canola oil stands for is an acronym. What Can you hear that? Yeah, no, wait, hold up. What's the? What's the stand for? Please tell me. Oh, my gosh, canadian oil, low acid.
04:49
So basically, what Canola oil is is referring to a genetically modified version of rapeseed oil, and rapeseed oil was once used to lubricate steam engines due to its ability to cling to metal when wet, and so. But in the fifties, the US Food and Drug Administration actually felt like they banned rapeseed from the food chain because of an acid that it has which causes fat to accumulate in the human heart, and so this rapeseed was banned. And so then, what happened? In 1978, some folks at the University of Manitoba, they genetically modified a version of a rapeseed that removed whatever this acid that accumulates all this fat around the heart. And by the mid-eighties, the oil that was produced is Canola oil and is widespread use, so it stands for Canadian oil, low acid. So yeah, so basically, this oil that is used and is embedded in tons, like you'll see it, as the third, fourth, fifth, sixth ingredients.
06:19
And Canola is not the only one. Again, there are other seed oils, all those seed slash that's oil is bad for you. But when you see Canola embedded in all of that stuff and then you have to think, okay, it's embedded in all that stuff, and I just told you that how we got Canola oil was through genetically modifying that other Right. So you are consuming yet again. If you Canola oil is genetically modified, there's no such thing as an organic Canola oil, but you don't want to know what the gag is. This is why.
06:57
So my let me provide my background for work. I'm a digital strategist, so I was responsible for creating digital experiences for various companies and creating, you know, what a website experience could be, what an app experience could be, et cetera. So I'm, as I'm doing research about Canola oil and in this article I read that it stands for this and it really comes from a derivative of, like you know, rape seed. I was like, let me just do a Google search about what is Canola, where does Canola oil come from? And, like the first page was the first three fourths of the page, it's like it comes from the Canola plant, canola oil, canola plant that's like a Nola seeds. But wait, you start to think like, oh, that must be true, right, because all like the first 10, you know, like the first three fourths of the search page shows this.
08:02
But when I start to look at who are, what articles are popping up, it's like Manitoba, canola Growers, growerscom, the Canola Council of Canada, us Canola Association. So they're all the ones that are telling you Canola is a crop with plants from three to five feet tall that produce pods, with which seeds are harvested and create Canola oil. Yeah, because it was genetically modified from rape seed. That was also. That was that had an acid that accumulated fat around our hearts. And then, and as you scroll farther down the page, guess what? There's an article from the Denver Post that says no such thing as Canola plant. So get to the article that I found. You know that speaks to the bad science, you know, and seed oils. So that, to me, is just mind blowing.
09:01
I was like so when people can do their research, you better go to the third, third, second, third page of those of the search results. Yeah, because they're paying to be on the top searches, because here's what happens. You can also use your discernment when you're looking at the source, because here's basically what happened, why I even brought up what my background is. What those associations that I just mentioned to you do is that they optimize their web experiences, their digital experiences, to have all the right keywords. They also pay for placement in search engine listings and they also organically fill their website with the right words, the right questions and so that they come up top on the search engine. They look like experts because either a lot of people also link to them, they link out. It's a whole strategy of how you can increase the visibility on your pages on search engines. I mean, there's a whole industry. There are search engine marketers, specific roles specifically built for that.
10:09
So we're talking about these major associations run by Canada, us and industry groups. They have the deep pockets, so they're going to tell you there's a canola plant. There's no such thing as a fucking canola plant. Let me go buy one, grow my own canola. Yeah Well, it's genetically modified. Whatever they may be calling that is genetically modified. And I just told you genetically modified. You just have someone spicing and dicing something, some part of a DNA, to change the natural structure that your body doesn't even know how to.
10:46
Yeah, I said that's so. We're putting a lot of unnatural things and our very natural bodies, and so what do you think your body's gonna do? There are things you don't even digest. But guess what you do? You don't. It doesn't. It may not necessarily leave your body. It gets stored in your fat, it gets stored in organs, it gets. So none of that is good. Just thinking logically, does you know? That's the Vulcan in me. Right, like the math, ain't math and and so I don't have a desire to want to put that in my body Is what I'm getting at. But that's crazy, right? No, that is. Oh, we get squished like that. The article is so deep.
11:26
I was like good lord, and you know, and it is exhausting because I know people who, probably listening right now, they're like I can't eat shit, I can't enjoy nothing. But you can, though, trust, yeah, it just means that you have to me like I get it, but, yes, and I'm not get it because it's like damn, I just want to live. Why are we? Every time I'm turning around, I feel like I'm being tacked, you know, and it's just like that's when you kind of have to just take a step back and Make choices that you feel are right for you and your family. Yes, right. So For me, for example, you know, I love, like I said, I love sweets. That's, you know, that's my, that's my go-to. I'm not a you know how people favor salty. Yeah, I'm a savory more, yes, I love, I love sweets. So Some of the things that I choose for myself is instead of buying I Regular sugar, I buy monk fruit, exactly, which is.
12:43
It's a good sweetener. It's it actually Similar, very similar, and it doesn't spike your glycemic. It doesn't, which is what it doesn't avoid. You want to avoid spiking your glycemic? Right, I use maple syrup. Maple syrup is not only good for your pancakes. You can use it to sweeten. Yeah, whatever you want. I mean, I use it to sweeten my, my coffee. So that's, that's what I use as a sweetener if I don't want to use because you, because I'm just highly processed.
13:15
Again, yes, how do you already process sugar, something that's already not too sweet? Well, they figured it out. Don't buy white sugar. Exactly, exactly, and even now, when I'm trying to buy, like on my kids and they're like, oh, I want a cake, or or I want cookies, I actually make those From scratch. So I don't do it often because I don't like baking, but I enjoy it when I, you know, like when I do end up Making the cake, it's like it's a good, it's a good family Activity. You know I'll do it with the kids, so we'll do some. You know we'll bake a cake, but again, I'm using clean ingredients, right, and Sometimes, like my, my daughter, she wanted I made her birthday cake this last. Well, I usually make her birthday cake because she rather me bake her cake, then buying it from the store, which I have no problem, yeah, I'm doing, yeah, so I, I this year I didn't have the time, but I went to hopefuls and they do have a cake mix. That was pretty clean and I was Okay, because when you go to, like the other supermarkets they don't have. They have like your main yeah, products and Um, and I've tried there Like they'll have, like almond flour. Yeah, cakes and sometimes it doesn't, depending on the brand, just right, but hopefuls did have a good, good brand and it was an easy cake boom.
15:07
Just an added. You know, extra ingredients like eggs and milk, and we had our cake and I use my monk fruit as as the sugar, mm-hmm, and use that and although, again, you want to have balance in what you eat, but I enjoyed this cake and I felt good about it that I didn't eat all this extra thing. You know ingredients that I knew was going to affect me in some way and so I. So those are things that I've like changed, you know, like just okay, since I like sweet stuff, I'm gonna use better quality Sweeteners. So, using my monk fruit or maple syrup or honey, those are the sweeteners that I typically.
16:01
I Rarely ever buy sugar. Yeah, I Can recall the last time I think round sugar only because some of the baking recipes require it. But yes, and I've tried, yes, and I'm trying to remove that. Figure out. Yeah. Yeah, I'm good sugar either. No, it's not so, it's just trying to figure that out. So, like, what does that mean? Because I'm sure they really just Brown sugar is really molasses in the white sugar. So, okay, can I just buy the molasses and mix it? Yeah, I could do that, but I think also they, um, it's just, you know, it's out there, and sometimes it's just like, okay, well, maybe I just need to make my own thing. Right, that's it. That's it.
16:53
And I know, I know, you know people give me like, look, you know what? Let me tell you, you do, you do. It's your mom. Let him know. No, no, you do. And this is person that I follow. So we usually have pizza night on Fridays, right, and before I used to just purchase pizza every Friday, like I'm just going to buy a game, I'm not going to make it, or you know, and this gentleman that I follow, he's always talking about feeding yourself, living a good cellular life, you know, like just being able to eat foods that's going to do well for you.
17:39
And then he did a live one day and he was just like talking, he was making pizza and he was just like you moms out there who have pizza night. I was like, oh, he's talking to me, ok, yes, like this is an important thing. I perked up, right, he was just like this is real easy. It doesn't have to be perfect because people think, oh, you got to make the dough and you got to let the dough sit for hours. He was like, nope, just mix these ingredients, leave the dough on the side while you get your other stuff ready. You don't have to wait two, three or overnight to have your dough ready to make the pizza. Yes, if you have the time, great, sure. But if you, like me, the pizza is still gonna do, it's gonna still taste great and it's gonna do what it do.
18:24
Right, so, and literally, it did not take time. I mean, took some flour water, mix it up, season it up, you know, flavored it up, used some spices and had used my ryo sauce. That's the sauce I use, use, and I don't buy shredded cheese, because when you buy the shredded cheese, it has extra ingredients because they don't want it to cake up. Get your shredder and a block of cheese. Yes, right, get your block of cheese, shred that. Have your kids do the shredding.
19:00
You know what I'm saying? Like, get them involved. It's okay, like my kids, even the little ones can get involved, like the little ones, when they were younger and we would do things in the kitchen. They were involved, they loved it. They loved it, they enjoyed it. Yes, yes, and this is what contribute to this household. Stop playing Exactly. How are you contributing? Come on, exactly. And it really did not take a whole lot of time. It was simple. Look at that. The kids loved it. They actually prefer it rather than any other type of people. Look at that. Wow, I mean, it's really simple. So trust me when I say I get it, I get it, and our buying fast food declined dramatically.
19:48
I love it. It's a once in a blue moon, and, but before, yeah, it was constant, because I was tired, I was exhausted. I'm gonna do something, drive and get something quick and they'll just eat it up. But I could do, I could have quick things in my home that I could just quickly whip up, and it's also on those days that I'm not feeling. You know, when I'm too tired, I just don't feel like doing. Or, you know, doubling up my recipe whenever I do cook, which is something that I do now. It's just like I double it up so that you could put it in the freezer or have some extra and or I can remix it right, remix it later in the week when I am I know I'm gonna be busy, so it's doing things like that. So it is definitely doable.
20:35
I know it may seem like it's not, but, trust me, like I was there, like I remember the days when I was just I'm too tired, I'm just gonna go to McDonald's, I'm gonna go to Chick-fil-A or I'm gonna go right. No, and that literally was like a downward spiral for us. Yeah, and I and in the last year and a half, I really had to make a change because I was having certain things happen, like you know, heart palpitations don't know where it was coming from Saw a cardiologist. They couldn't find anything, right, don't know what that is. You know it's just all that is scary and honestly, you know it's.
21:16
We have to really look at what we're eating and and we have to be accountable for what we do, right, like, at the end of the day, it is a choice and and you're also helpful, it is also helpful, right, and it's also like now, now you know better, so now that you know, so you do better, so you have to do better. And if you don't, then you choose not to do better, that's all right. But I'm just telling you, you, that's your choice, though, and be accountable for that. Right, right, exactly. And it's just not to say to be perfect, because, trust me, I'm not perfect Sometimes. Yeah, I still drink Coke, I will. You don't want to. It's moderation, you know what I mean. It's just okay, I don't OD, right right, and trust me, when I go to your house, I will eat whatever you make. I'm not going to be like, ooh, I don't eat that, I'll eat it, exactly, I'll eat it. I'm not even where your chicken came from. All right, is that organic?
22:11
It's funny that I'm going to my cousin's house like, whatever you cook him, because he's a chef, I'm like I'm eating it. So I'm like, is that organic? I'm not Y'all need to bless y'all meats, because, especially the meats, because you don't know how these animals were raised, how they were slaughtered and the energy that's in the meat. And I know again, I'm already buying organic but at the same time, like I don't know what conditions they were in, and what I'd like to do is just infuse my meat, as I'm preparing it, with good intentions, you know, high vibrations, good energy, and I thank yes, and I thank the animal, for their sacrifice and for the nourishment they're about to bestow onto me and my family. So I show appreciation, so I'm like, whatever thing you went through, that trauma has been removed from that meat. Amen, amen.
23:09
It's a lot of information and we're still not done, because one of the things as we talk about these ingredients and we've talked about preservatives, there are straight up things, food dyes and all kinds of things that are used in US food that are not banned but are banned from other countries, and it's again mind-blowing that these chemicals and these added ingredients are approved for use for Americans to consume. And so then I sit back and I think, like the Vulcan that I am and for you people that are young, you're like what's a Vulcan? Google it. I think about oh my God, wait a minute. So why did those European countries or other Asian countries like Japan, why are they banning these particular ingredients? And then I have to think and logically, and not even think. I mean you just read right In Europe, for example, it's a public healthcare system, so the people collectively pay into this healthcare with tax money, but they don't have to buy it privately, unlike in the US where it's privatized.
24:39
Either you get it through your employer or you have to buy it independently. There is the public. Options are only for extreme when you're older than a certain age or when you earn below a certain income. So there's a whole lot of people in between that have to get it privately, through their employer or on their own. So guess what that does? Right, there's an incentive for Europe to ensure that their population remain healthy, because they end up carrying the burden. If I don't know, visits to hospital increases and other chronic conditions are also increasing their population, which will put a burden on their health system. It's not necessarily that these governments are altruistic, it's just about the bottom line and that's what people need to recognize. But at least that bottom line happens to be in the best interest of people, because they're not consuming dyes, other synthetic chemicals that can cause adverse health, underlying health conditions Like look into it.
25:54
And our health is a business. Yes, in this country, health care is a business. You are a number, you are a stat, you are either in the red or in the black, and so there's no incentive for this country to necessarily feed us good things, because there's a business to have you maintain a certain unhealthy diet. It benefits a lot of different companies. In addition to big food, there's big pharma. That's another episode of Y'all. Want Me to Get Into it? I remember telling my financial advisor when I was moving my 401k from my previous employer. I was like I don't want these kinds of companies in my portfolio and that included big pharma, because I know what they are. You're building your wealth off of the backs of these people who are dying pretty much. Yeah, I mean, you're the largest legal drug cartel. Okay, next, that's for another episode, because Y'all, that's for another episode. Don't get the marriage started.
27:23
But going back to that, like, for example and I'm going to read a couple of ingredients for some US food products that are different here than they are abroad, just so people can understand what I'm talking about. So, mcdonald's fries in the US. Here are the ingredients Potatoes, vegetable oil and vegetable oils. Use canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor. Then they use dextrose, some acid, pyphosphate, whatever, salt, right, and then fried again in a vegetable oil blend with citric acid and dimethyl polycycloacate. That's why their fries are so good. Yeah, I guess you can still get these good fries in the UK. But here are the ingredients Potatoes, vegetable oil. The vegetable oil they include our sunflower and rapeseed Potatoes. Fried and non-hydrogenated vegetable oil. Non-hydrogenated, we use hydrogenated soybean oil. Salt is added after cooking. That's it, okay.
28:42
Yeah, let's move on to the Quaker Instant Oatmeal Packets. Just speaking on ingredients, not saying anything else about these brands. Us version Okay, prepare yourselves. Whole grain rolled oats. Sugar creaming agent, which includes maltodextrin, sunflower oil and palm oils. Whey, sodium chastainate.
29:05
Flavored and colored fruit pieces. Flavored and colored fruit pieces. Why did you have to color my fruit pieces, flavored and colored, right, and flavor it Like? Don't they have their own flavor? Is there a special flavor that we're going to go with? Okay, right, so with parentheses. Dehydrated apples treated with sodium sulfide. Artificial strawberry flavor. Citric acid, red number 40, close parentheses. Salt, guar gum, artificial flavor I just saw artificial flavor like three times listed. Okay, fine Girl. Citric acid, niacinamide, I don't know. Vitamin A, palamins I'm a sauer mower Right, right. So reduced iron, pyredoxine in hydrochloride, riboflavin, thymine, monythritic, holy acid. Okay, digest all that.
30:04
Now we're going to the Quaker version, the UK version Oats. So simple, this one is summer berries. Ingredients Quaker whole grain rolled oats. Sugar. Freeze dried raspberry pieces. Freeze dried strawberry pieces. Natural flavoring Period. That's it. That's it. Yeah, nothing else. Oh, my God, do you want me to do Mountain Dew? I don't drink Mountain Dew. I don't even know Sam people who drink Mountain Dew. I don't either. I feel like Mountain Dew is crack, licker, crack. Okay, we're going to go to the next one. Oh, okay, my favorite Hines tomato ketchup, the US version.
30:40
Tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, because apparently high fructose corn syrup wasn't enough. It wasn't enough. Salt, spice, onion powder and natural flavoring what's natural flavoring? But it's there.
30:58
Okay, now for the UK version Tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, spice and herb extracts and spice. That's it. Wow, that's all you need. What do you mean? You don't need high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup? No, did we watch some documentary about the high fructose corn syrup? I remember Nothing. You mentioned something.
31:29
No, for me, when I remember when I first came across that particular ingredient and to avoid it at all costs was an Oprah episode, like in early 2000s, like nothing. You can feel how you want to feel about Oprah, but there were gems that she dropped and it was up to you to pick up what she was putting down. Yes, yes, for real. But I know I picked up. That was one of the things was hydrogenated corn syrup and avoided at all costs and it was hard. I feel like we were watching something that More recently, a few years ago, I got to think about it because, yeah, it came up.
32:07
I mean, we already knew about the corn syrup, but it was just like why they were using that and it was just very addicting. Right, it's addictive. And then it's like also, it spikes your blood sugar and on top of that, which makes your other organs work harder, because you now like introducing insulin, you know, to balance out your blood and it's just not good for you. Look at why it's not like this. There's a whole, you know reason why you don't want constantly to be spiking your blood sugar. But I'm going to leave it with girl Doritos because, okay, this will be the last one.
32:48
I read off US version. We got corn vegetable oil and in the vegetable oil, corn, canola and or sunflower oil, melted or dextrinated yes, salt, tomato power, corn starch, lactose way skin, milk, corn syrup, solids, whatever that is, onion powder, sugar, garlic powder, monosodium glutamate, which is MSG, cheddar cheese, which includes milk, cheese, cultures, salt, enzymes, then dextrose, malic acid, buttermilk, natural and artificial flavors, sodium acetate, artificial color number red 40, blue one, yellow number five. Sodium castanate, spice, citric acid, disodium I know, cinnate and disodium guanelate. Okay, right, the UK version. Ingredients corn vegetable oils used, sunflower and rave seed. Cool original flavor I don't know what that is. Salt, glucose syrup, sugar, potassium chloride, cheese powder, flavor enhancers, monosodium, glutamate, disodium five, ribonucleotide acidity regulators, malic acid, sodium acetate, citric acid, color, anato, milk proteins and spice. So they remove the color. Yes, because that is banned in Europe and, in particular, a lot of UK versions. But yeah, yeah, and a lot of our food products have these color coloring in them. Yes, and we need to be mindful because that they've been associated. Yeah, like they've had some studies and I don't have it in front of me and I didn't go into deep with it, so you guys will have to look it up, but there have been some associations with I think it's red 40 or yellow number five. All those guys with you know learnings, disabilities that kids are having now, just like some of the behavioral problems or challenges, however you want to view it. So it's a thing.
34:57
And when I think about anato, right, like I don't even buy sason packets or any of that, especially known with the, with the anato for the color to. You know, make your rice yellow. We purchased a big bag of organic anato seeds. I still have some of that. I cook that in the avocado oil and I make my food coloring to make my rice yellow. And they too, I grind mine as well.
35:24
And when you even look at those sason packets what I did I just now look at oh, what do you use in addition to all your synthetic ingredients and preservatives? Oh, you use turmeric, cumin, all those seasonings. I just put it. Now you can cook it. Yes, I don't bother like one. I don't need one and done, because again, I'm paying the price for convenience by putting my health and jeopardy because I just want to sell some packet. That's easier than me having to pick 10, you know five seasoning ingredients. Guess what? I'll do that.
35:56
And he's at every day. Yeah, for me and my family it's a choice. I don't have to wipe down more bottles. You know, to make sure that I don't. I don't pass on salmonella, but it is what it is. I decontaminate all that stuff then, fine, yeah, that's a few more minutes.
36:18
Like mommy says to me you don't know what I'm saying, I'm never going to die, she says you don't know what I'm saying. Okay, thank you, thank you, she's like, girl, you're going to live a long life, I mean, and what we need to consider to and why, if you want to think about, like, why is this allowed, why is this such a big? Um, how is this allowed in this country and not in other places? I mean, really, it's about the money, it's about these industry groups, it's about lobbyists. So, like I just told you, the sugar companies. They have a sugar association and that association was the one that put out that research, you know, in the set in the sixties, because, guess what, they had an agenda, right, they they're like we have to.
37:08
The narrative was becoming that sugar was also a culprit, in addition to, you know, animal fats or whatever, or just fats, not animal fats, but just bad fats, right? Um, so yeah, it's like, but they're like that means sugar industry is going to take a hit economically, like you know. Just just think about it. So the same applies to all these lobbying groups that make sure and put pressure on Congress and pay your representatives, pay for their campaigns. So, guess what you owe me? Fuck you pay me, right, like Joak, as she said, fuck you, pay me.
37:49
This is the relationship of lobbyist big corporations and your representative in Congress and in the White House. Why do you think they endorse certain things? It's not because they love you or they loved your vote. Like, let's just be real about it. Vote all day, by all means, do what you have to do, but understand why things are like. This Regulation is pushed forward by our representatives, but if that regulation is being influenced by lobbyists, then is it in your best interest? Likely not, likely not.
38:30
So you have these companies like Monsanto, all these agricultural chemical companies, which Monsanto, they rebranded. They were acquired by Bayer, so don't sleep. Yeah, they not only create pesticides, they also genetically modify seeds to be able to withstand their pesticides. So they're poisoned. So they genetically modify food so that way it could. They won't be killed by the pesticide chemicals that they put on your food as free on your crops. So I know, I know, no, it's not. And this is why you have to do your homework, you have to do your research, and it just starts with doing something as simple as reading the label.
39:17
Can you do you understand that ingredient if you don't feel comfortable consuming it, or look it up, but don't do it because you feel like you don't have a choice, because you absolutely have a choice when using, when doing your research, use discernment, keep digging, ask the questions. Don't be fooled by the society that will have you think oh, if you ask questions because you don't want to stay in your place, you're demonized. Yeah, that you are an idiot and would actually know. You're just exercising critical thinking. No one should have to think for you. I'm not telling you how to think, I'm just presenting you information. You do with it what you will Keep eating Doritos, I'm okay, but you know you ingesting yellow number five? Oh, okay, I'm fine. Right, right, right, right. I know when I drink Coke what's happening. I accept that for that moment, right, right. And then I move forward Because the thing is, it's economics, it's detoxing the next day.
40:18
Yeah, it's economics. And in this country people may be like why is hydrogenated not a high fructose corn syrup and everything? And corn syrup and everything? Because you know what corn is for you, as we have two major cash crops soybean and corn. Corn is used in a lot of things. The majority of corn, like something like high 90s is genetically modified. So when you have your high fructose corn syrup, all that, that is all using genetically modified corn and having these two major cash crops is bad for the environment as well, because you don't have time to turn, you're not using different crops to replenish the soil, but if we're the number one and number two exporter for these two products, then there's money to be had. That's 40% of our cash, I mean of our crops, so they won't stop.
41:23
Basically, so, guys, don't? I mean I want to give folks homework Nachi, but before we get into that, is there anything you want to add to this? No, I think you hit on everything. I just we just need to really advocate for ourselves, right? It's not about like, oh well, thinking that you can't do anything about it, this is what we have. No, you can't do something about it. And, just like Damaris had said, it's just making that one step, just taking that step forward to ensuring that you're eating less of these modified, genetically modified products, some of these processed products. Again, I get it. It's there. We want things to be easy and convenient for us, but there's always a better way of doing it. Trust me, I know I've been doing it. Like I said, in the last year and a half I've been working on eating cleaner. I've just made the small changes.
42:39
So, like being sweets are. My biggest weakness is changing that, the type of sugar or sweetener that I use, or the big goods. You make it yourself and you know what you think when you get to put it in Right versus purchasing, versus purchasing the ready-made products in the supermarket. I could just do it myself and sometimes it's easy. Like cookies is very easy to do, right, it's not a heavy lift and I always have the ingredients Right. And even ice cream, like Gable and I did ice cream the other day, fairly simple, we're just with two ingredients. I love it. Yes, yes, two ingredients through an freezer and we were good the next day. We were like, oh, this is good.
43:25
Your mother ended up eating most of it. Yeah, of course she did. When she likes something, she goes in, but you know it's just like it's figuring out okay, what is it that I'm eating most of and what's an alternative? Right, what can I do differently? And that's really really it, really what you can do to just do better for you and your family, because it's obvious that they are not working for our benefit. You have to vote for yourself and you're in your own family, so it's just taking that initiative and just knowing that there is a better way of doing something and it is not as hard as you may think it is. It's quite easy. I'm a good example of that. I'm not one, because Demera's been talking about this for years. This is not new. Let him know. This is not new for Demera.
44:31
Demera's been talking about this for years and she would just. You know, she's always in our ears and we'd look at her like, okay, demera, calm down. One of my cousins ooh, his wife is tired of me. I love her shout out you know who you are, I love you. You'd be like, stop, no, we don't want to know why we shouldn't use canola oil, exactly. I'm like well, I'm gonna say, anyway, because I have to share the wealth and it's you. Do what you want with the information. That's one thing about Demera. If she knows something and it's for your benefit, whether you like it or not, she's going to share it with you. So you take that information and do with it as you will. I'm her sister and look like I said, it's been a year and a half. I've known her forever, from the womb.
45:26
Okay, so just letting y'all know she's been talking about this for years, and I'm just catching on, you know, like, okay, maybe she is onto something, and it's true, because, again, just from personal experience, personal health issues that I've dealt with, and then realizing the connection to all of that and even seeing providers that are willing to work with you, because I think that's the other piece to it Like a lot of us deal with illnesses and ailments and we go to our doctors thinking that they're going to be there to help us and a lot of the times they're just like writing a prescription and like here you go and it's really something else, it's something deeper that's deeply rooted in us that we need to battle and it's not, you know, and instead of like giving us a band aid to cover the symptoms because that's really what these prescriptions are doing it's addressing symptoms, it's giving us something that's going to address those symptoms and what it ends up doing is it creates other problems in the long run. Right, but and then I'll give like a quick example, because this is in this off topic, but just to kind of just show you the connection I was having really severe pain, uh, the soul of my feet, and it was just painful. It was hard to walk, very hard to walk, went up a diet yes, he's like. You know, they did all sorts of things, had me spending like 300 dollars on some freaking souls to put in my shoes. The skin didn't work, he still did not work. He's like, you know, like money because I got a right, because he couldn't. He couldn't really pinpoint what the problem was. You know right, he's just like oh, you know, this sometimes happens and I see that you have, like some a spur here and I'm like, but he, the only solution he gave me was purchasing these Souls to help alleviate the pain. But really, give me, I, I Went to go see because I was having that issue and then I I mentioned earlier about my palpitations Went to go see a naturopathic doctor.
47:47
I love her to that. She's like our family doctor. Yes, we have a. Yes, and we have a naturopathic family doctor got, we protect her at all costs. Yeah, maybe we'll have on the show, maybe.
47:58
Yeah, she is a wonderful woman and and Speaking to her and like letting her know what my issues were, what was I dealing with? Mm-hmm, she was like, okay, let's get to the bottom of it. Like, what's really going on? Hey, that's just a symptom of something else that your body is acting out on Right, and it's usually based on lack of certain nutrients that we are not Getting, like our body is blocking because of the type of foods that we eat. So when we eat, certain things is just not, our body is not recognizing it. So we lack certain nutrients and minerals and vitas. We eat a lot of synthetics, that from process foods. Yes, that Creates inflammation throughout our body and we don't even know we can. We don't even see the connection to all of that and I swear to you, after seeing her, I no longer.
48:50
She gave me a set of Instructions and and supplements and minerals that I needed to take for a certain period of time and, I kid you not, my feet started feeling better within two weeks, within two weeks, and I was dealing with this pain for a month. That's crazy, and the podiatrist could not help me, could not give me a real Reason as to why that was an issue. And and and our naturopathic doctor, she's also about nutrition. She will tell you she has a master's in nutrition. So she's, yes, that yes. So she would tell you avoid x, y and z. That's not good for you. Avoid this. That is what we all need.
49:38
So, even if you don't, if, even if you don't have a naturopathic doctor, or or you or you're comfortable with your doctor, just make sure that your doctor also includes nutrition in your discussion, that they look at all these different Um Areas of your life that may be contributing to your illness. Yeah, because it's just not about like, oh, let me just give you a prescription and that's it. No, we'll see you next year. No, we need to get beyond that mindset of like, oh, a one-shot panacea and it'll solve everything in my life. It'll solve my illness, it'll know, because there's more to it than that. That is just a symptom. The that's that illness is a symptom of a root issue. Address the root cause.
50:27
Yes, yeah, so, again, it just goes back to the food that we eat, because the food that we're eating is providing us with the bulk of the nutrients. Yes, so it's in. So, again, and even with that, you know we still don't take in as much as we should. No, um, because, and then we also deal with environmental yes, so, again, it's just like, let's just do our part, taking that one step, because we're it. We're not gonna be perfect, we're not gonna get everything a hundred percent correct. But if you do, if you understand how Food is connected to a lot of what we deal with, I Feel like you, you're gonna. Your eyes are gonna open, yeah, I and you're gonna have a better understanding and you're gonna be more conscious in the type of foods you eat and and also understand.
51:27
Okay, yes, I'm not perfect. Yep, we're gonna go out to dinner and I know that they're gonna use canola oil. Yes, I'm the canola plant. Okay, okay, at the restaurant, because why is cheaper? I Get that.
51:43
So, knowing that, right, guess what? I'm not gonna eat out every time, not gonna kill you, and no, it's not, it's not. But if what you do every day is going to kill you, if you do that every day, yes, yes, it's kind of using that 80 20 rule 80% of your food should be, you know, whole and you know a real food, right? So, again, it's just finding that balance for yourself and what's realistic for your family and just knowing that when you are dealing with these issues, these health issues, that Maybe is what you're eating, maybe it's your environment.
52:29
You know it's more than just, oh, whatever it is that they're diagnosing you with, right, giving you a prescription to deal with that symptom. Yeah, because you're gonna live with that issue. Yes, forever. Yes, and it's because they just masking it right and then they're adding more problems Because we decide how me, the side of X, go to drugs. Calm, put you, put your prescription in, you're gonna see all the side effects. All I need to read everything you put on your body, Mm-hmm. And I have a real conversation with you because they know we also have short attention spans, oh, yes, and it's also really lengthy because it is really like, because there is a lot that that is a side effect. So you should want to know that. Fyi, that's a sidebar too.
53:18
There's a lot of things from this conversation like, honestly, we scratch the surface on a lot of different things, and when we were creating the outline for this particular episode, it was trying to create an order that would make sense for how you're consuming this information. But again, there's a lot of these topics that we discuss here go so deep and I'm happy to go deep on any one of them that people find of interest and please email us, let us know how you feel about that. We'll do some polls here and there, but this is what's been important to me in my life and what I share with my family and friends and, like I said at the beginning of this, of this episode, like I'm passionate about this because it's my life, it's how I feel good, and so, while I know this has been a lot of information, I do want people to feel like Don't get overwhelmed here. Here's how you can get started right. Like you already mentioned, nunchi, you're a single mom with two kids. You know what it's like, you know, you know what it is to be time constraint. I have my various time constraints. You know, as a Wife, head of my household to you know, co-head of my household, there's, there's things I have to be concerned about and what I'm focused on doing, but I would ask folks to start with Tracking what you eat for one week, just Seven days.
54:47
Track what you eat from the time you wake up To the time you go to sleep, even put in the times, because understanding what time you're eating, all those things are variables that can affect your outcome. How you feel that's Homework, number one. I want to say homework. That's just what you should do. Number one, to kind of get a sense of what it is You're consuming the most. And then, number two, every time you eat something, after 30, 40 minutes, scan your body, see how you feel. That is how, when I say, scan your body top Head to toe. Scan everything in your body to see how you feel, what reactions you may be having to what you just consume.
55:34
And if it's something that, now I'll kind of add something, because I think if someone's been eating something for a very long time, it's hard for them to see if it's had an effect on them. So I would probably suggest that, if it's something that you eat constantly, eliminating that for a week or two and then seeing, and then when you resume it, seeing how that actually Affected your body and how you felt about it, because I feel like sometimes we so, because we've been eating certain things for a very long time we're clouded, right, like, right. Yeah, this is how I always feel. You know, cuz that's Actually, I always have this little pain. I won't even get into that. Yes, every morning, that is not a normal feeling. Wake up with a summer's ache every morning? No, it's not, that's, that's a private joke between us. Sorry, yeah, yeah.
56:38
So yeah, I would say do that if it's something that you're constantly like, if you notice, yeah, you know, after you do your diary for a week, like, oh right, that's a good point, I eat a lot of potatoes or a lot of pasta. Let me stop eating this and, yeah, switch it around back to me and see how I feel after not eating it. Because I think that's when you'll start to see like, oh, you know, it does make me feel kind of, you know, groggy or or makes me feel bloated, or, you know, you'll start to see how it really Affects you. Right, and one by one, you can then start. It'll then start to inform those food items that you will swap out for More cleaner versions, organic versions, versions you make on your own so that you don't buy the processed versions in the grocery store. So I think those are Two main things to consider doing tracking what you eat and then test eliminating certain foods to understand how it makes you feel, followed by scanning when you eat and make that a regular habit of scanning your body when you eat something, just so you also understand how your body reacts to certain ingredients. But I Understand some of you may feel very overwhelmed by this information. But here's the good news While the US food industry is a predator, the good news is that it is not an apex predator.
58:13
You are. You control what goes in your body. Don't believe otherwise. Everything in this life is a choice. So, as we always say, there's a lot of noise out there, but our message is consistent Stop getting distracted by the smoke and mirrors, to not the noise, and focus on your purpose in life, what brings you joy in life. We're meant to be joyful, so live the truth and vibrate higher. So, that said, don't forget to subscribe to our channel and follow us on Instagram, tiktok and Twitter at I'm not yelling underscore. Thank you so much for listening and we look forward to talking next time.