What Is Healthy Food: The Myths And FactsWhat is healthy food is often considered to be everything in your local health food store. Now, this would be the biggest myth there is. 
Health food stores buy their products. If the buyer is uneducated in the area of food additives, he could be sold anything. For example, I recently went into a health food store that had a sign over the ketchup promoting the ingredient HFCS instead of sugar. Oh dear! High Fructose Corn Syrup is a man made food additive. It is linked to obesity and diabetes. This is an ingredient that should be avoided and not used instead of sugar. Another example is aspartame. This chemical is permitted to be used in supplements. Just this one ingredient has 92 possible different side effects reported to the FDA. This additive is often found in children's vitamins. So, read the labels and avoid this ingredient. Another myth is that processed meals that balance the food groups are healthy. Oh, yes those prepared meals look so good. And they are easy too, you just need to heat and serve. But, processed food has chemicals. A good rule: if you can't say the ingredient, don't buy it. Then there is also the possibility that they contain genetically changed ingredients. Labeling is voluntary, so you can't know for sure. To give you an idea of the chances, it is estimated that 70% of processed food contains genetically engineered ingredients. Fresh meat is considered healthy. Yet, it can be loaded with
pesticides,
hormones
and antibiotics.
Your healthy food alternative in fresh meat is to buy organic or
natural.
Both of these methods don't have these additives.
Although organic is regulated,
if you find a trusted natural producer that works too. Well, not exactly... You see, the method of production is the ultimate defining factor here. Let me explain... Conventional farming practices use chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides. All these chemicals affect the soil. Nutrient depleted soil does not produce the healthiest of plants. On the other hand, organic produce is grown in nutrient rich soil. This produces nutrient rich plants. Synthetic chemicals aren't used, the crops are rotated and composting is employed. It is true, fresh produce is part of healthy eating. So, what is healthy food-is best answered by getting the most benefit from the food you eat. You do that by buying organic food whenever available. And when you can't get organic, take a sensible approach to making your selections.
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