by plant4health | Jan 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
GMO is one of those acronyms everyone recognizes, but few people understand what it really means and why we should be concerned about eating them.
GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. An example regarding our food supply; GMO crops are those plants that scientists have changed their genetic makeup so they can withstand direct applications of herbicides and/or produce insecticides in order to control invasive weeds and insects that threaten certain crops.
Supporters for GMO crops claim that genetically engineered plants are the way of the future. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations the potential benefits of GMO plant foods are:
- Better resistance to pests
- Require the use of less pesticides
- More nutritious
- Higher crop yields
- Longer shelf life
- Cheaper to produce
On the surface it all sounds great, a win-win for agriculture, society and the environment. However, many concerns continue to surface. It can be difficult to find the facts when there have been so few scientific studies providing hard evidence proving its safety and widely conflicting opinions. As we await more studies to bring clarity, we must consider what little we know so far: (more…)
by plant4health | Jan 18, 2015 | Vegan
Important Facts: an estimated 74% of all packaged foods contain added sugars and sugar has 61 different names making it difficult to decipher on a food label.
In December 2014, after reviewing more than 8,000 scientific papers, a team of scientists at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) determined that the consumption of sugar causes disease. Their findings support the claim that American’s intake of sugar correlates to the rise in fatty-liver disease, the emergence of Type 2 diabetes as an epidemic in children and the dramatic increase in metabolic disorders.
This makes a lot of sense because: (more…)
by plant4health | Jan 18, 2015 | grocery shopping
Congratulations! You are on the path to a healthier lifestyle. But how do you eat healthy when all you have time for is quick convenience foods?
Avoid products like this with sugar and white flour…
Understanding the ingredients list on food labels of prepackaged foods is an important part of learning to make healthy choices. Some foods contain ingredients with complicated names that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab, not on your plate. To make matters even more confusing, the advertising of some products can be misleading, making you think their product is healthy when, in reality, it is laced with sugar, preservatives and/or trans fats.
Tools to deciphering the ingredient list: (more…)
