Industrialization's Toxic Transformation: 4 Food Faves Turned Harmful!

Dec 10

Hi everyone doing something a little different. Nourishing traditions research and why I subscribe to this diet etc…

If you think about it, these components make up a huge portion of foods we consume and are often problematic foods that many diets sughest cutting out all together! Each of these foods has played a role in healthy traditional diets and each has been completely transformed in our modern foodscape into a toxic version of its former glory. It may take a little afjustment and a lot of intentionality, but returning to the traditional nourishing version of these amazing foods is entierly possible and can compleetly transform your health! Do not be discouraged friends! Lets Dive in starting with….

White Flour

Wheat is commonly demonized in our modern food culture, and it isn't all unfounded, what bread has become is a far cry from the nourishing traditions of grains in the past. Dr. Price wrote a book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration where he showcases his findings, studying different people groups around the world and the link between the diets and the health of these people. Its an interesting read, I definitely recommend checking with your library or grabbing a copy for yourself, Ill link it at the end of this post! Dr. Price found that people groups who were consuming processed white flour showed noticeable signs of inflammation and disease compared to those who were consuming freshly milled, and properly prepared whole grains.

Modern day white flour comes from wheat that has been sprayed with carcinogenic chemicals, then has been completely stripped of all its god given nutrients, and if that wasn't enough flours then have toxic fortifiers and conditioners added to them! A notable one is Potassium bromate (KBrO3), which is used to “strengthen” the dough. In 1982, researchers in Japan published the first of a series of studies showing that potassium bromate causes cancer in the thyroids, kidneys and other body parts of rats and mice. And after this research, many countries such as the EU, Canada, Brazil, China and elsewhere outlawed its use. but in the USA it is added to just about any grain product with nary a thought!

If you want to enjoy truly nourishing grains it takes a little persistence but it is possible! I started grinding my own grains with a hand mill in 2020, and if that is something that interests you, I highly recommend it! the flavor can not be beat, the storage life of wheat berries is upwards of 20 years if stored properly which makes them an amazing pantry staple to prep, and the nutritional value is also the best it can be! If you don't want to commit to grinding your own grains yet I love azure Standards flour offerings! Azure is also where I source my whole grain berries for milling.

Fat

Traditional fats versus the modern nonsense… Seed oils rose to fame with the debut of Crisco in the early 1900s…. Once a by-product used in soap production, oils from soybeans, corn and rapeseed made their way into the kitchen thanks to the founders of Procter & Gamble and their latest product. There was a paid marketing campaign launched full force to endorse their new product and thus started the shift away from traditional fats, branding this new concoction as the healthy modern alternative. We now know this to be entirely untrue, seed oils are comprised of polyunsaturated fats, they can not be produced by natural separation as is the case with butter, coconut and olive oils. The seed oils require harsh chemical extraction and deodorization processes and by the time they get to the consumer they are rancid from the processing and simply siting on the shelf for so long. Most vegetable oils are also made from some of the worst gmo and pesticide heavy crops adding another layer of gross to an already unfortunate situation. They are also high in omega 6 and an unbalance of omega 6-3 is directly linked to inflammation which is the root of so many health issues!

Saturated fats are perfectly suited to human health, they provide the appropriate “stiffness” to our cell membranes and tissues where as liquid unsaturated oils and trans fat respectively lend to our cells becoming to floppy or too stiff.

Saturated fats do not clog arteries or cause heart disease.

Saturated fats play many important roles in the body chemistry. They strengthen the immune system and are involved in inter-cellular communication, which means they protect us against cancer. They help the receptors on our cell membranes work properly, including receptors for insulin, thereby protecting us against diabetes. Our lungs cannot function without saturated fats, which is why children given butter and full-fat milk have much less asthma than children given reduced-fat milk and margarine. Saturated fats are also involved in healthy kidney function and hormone production.

Saturated fats are required for the nervous system to function properly, and over half the fat in the brain is saturated. Saturated fats also help suppress inflammation. Finally, saturated animal fats carry the vital fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K2, which we we need in large amounts to be healthy.

Human beings have been consuming saturated fats from animals products, milk products and the tropical oils for thousands of years; it is the advent of modern processed vegetable oil that is associated with the epidemic of modern degenerative disease, not the consumption of saturated fats.

Lets return to real fats that actually support your health! Good quality saturated fats can help to regulate your hormones and immune function, support healthy brain function and so much more! I highly recommend checking out my video on making tallow, it is one of my favorite healthy fat sources! I also use a lot of coconut oil, lard, schmaltz, and butter!

For Cooking Use

Butter

Tallow and suet from beef and lamb

Lard from pigs

Chicken, goose and duck fat

Coconut, palm and palm kernel oils

EVOO

For Non Heated Uses

Extra virgin olive oil

Expeller-expressed sesame and peanut oils

Expeller-expressed flax oil (in small amounts)

For Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Fish liver oils such as cod liver oil (preferable to fish oils, which do not provide fat-soluble vitamins, can cause an overdose of unsaturated fatty acids and usually come from farmed fish.)

The following newfangled fats can cause cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, learning disabilities, growth problems and osteoporosis:

All hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils

Industrially processed liquid oils such as soy, corn, safflower, cottonseed and canola

Fats and oils (especially vegetable oils) heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying.

Dairy

It starts with the cow… The majority of commercial dairy cows don’t have the luxury of grazing on open fields. Instead they are kept in intense confinement,eating a diet comprised heavily of corn and soy, which receives 80 percent of all herbicides used in the US. When we think of pesticides we usually think of produce, but animal products can contain up to 14 times more pesticides than plants! And then there is the antibiotic use… Milk has been shown to contain trace amounts of up to 80 different antibiotics! And pasteurization…. This practice started in the 1800s as a temporary fix for unsanitary dairy production in urban areas during the industrial revolution but instead of cleaning up the production and returning to quality, dairies just rolled with pasteurization as a way to cover up the multitude of sins associated with this new industrial farm system. Blood, puss, bacteria, its all fine, we will just pasteurize it! Pasteurized milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 percent to 80 percent less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaks down fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. Homogenization is another unnatural addition to modern dairy that keeps the fat from separating and rising to the top, this has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Alternatively raw –full-fat, unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows–contains vital nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins A and D, calcium, vitamin B6, B12, and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, a fatty acid naturally occurring in grass-fed beef and milk that reduces body fat and protects against cancer). Real milk is a source of complete protein and is loaded with enzymes. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria that protects against pathogens and contributes to a healthy flora in the intestines. Bonus, culturingreal milk greatly enhances its probiotic and enzyme content, making it a therapeutic food for our digestive system and overall health. Raw Dairy is one of the best things we can be consuming! There is a website dedicated to helping people find raw milk near them and I will link that but I also urge you to get out there and find local home scale producers who can not sell dairy per say but may have extra milk to barter within your own community! Not everyone can own a dairy animal but many people who do have more milk than they need and want to share its goodness with their community so get on local fb farm groups and get out there and make friends with crazy cow and goat ladies!

Refined Sugar

One of the largest sources of calories in the Standard American Diet is sugar. Its presence is responsible for almost every major health issue imaginable. Sugar can cause a rise in insulin levels which release growth hormones, which depresses the immune system. Considering how much sugar is included in the Standard American Diet, is it any wonder so many are struggling with Auto Immune like symptoms? Do you guys want to hear a morbid statistic? In the U.S., the average consumption of sugar in the late 1800s and early 1900s was 5 pounds per person annually. In 2022/23, the average American consumed 150lbs, or 68kg of sugar! That is mind boggling! How did we get here?

How do you join the 1800’s statistics and lower your sugar intake? Bake, make your own nourishing sweets and treats, use sugar but do so sparingly and opt for options like Organic SUCNAT, coconut sugar, maple syrup, date sugar, and honey! The Nourishing traditions cook book has great recipes for nourishing “sweets” but with a little trial and error you can usually convert your favorite recipes into healthier versions. When trying to get away from the sugar trap I have found a total sugar reset to be immensely helpful! Take 2 weeks to completely detox from sweets, no fruit, honey, nothing! That seems to be the right amount of time for my taste buds to reset and then when I add back a small amount of sweet, it tastes so much more sweet! I try to do this sugar reset once or twice a year because I have a sweet tooth and can easily find myself going thru a Quart of honey a month in my teas! I get my “sugars” from Azure and I will link those below if you want to check them out!

Shopping Links:

Grain for milling your own flour (I love the hard white wheat for making my daily bread)

Buckets

Gamma Lids

Coconut Oil