What’s for Dinner? How About Some “Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone”?

While my main focus as a Chiropractor in San Diego is in chiropractic, I also seek to alert my patients in the basics of health, nutrition and an overall sense of well-being.

Cancer Causing Substance

If you’re wondering about that strange term in the title of this article, it’s just a simple little food additive. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is fed to cows to improve their milk supply. This genetically- engineered hormone, which appears in the milk found on the grocery shelf, triggers a powerful growth hormone called Insulin- like Growth Factor ONE (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a known cancer-promoting substance in humans.

This simple additive is only one of thousands of food additives that are routinely “dumped” into the processed foods that Americans feast on daily. In the name of speed and convenience, most of the dinners that appear on our tables are in the form of processed foods. Ninety-percent to be exact. Processed foods refers to food that has been packaged, preserved, frozen, heated, dehydrated, and “chemicalized” until the food value has been leached and the “flavor” has to be added back in to make it appealing. Otherwise, we’d never touch the stuff.

Craving a Fix

Processed foods are high in salt, sugar, spices, and seasonings which work to fool the taste buds. We have become a generation that craves salt and sugar, and are willing to eat most anything to get that “fix.” Even a dead “Twinkie” will do. The taste addiction is appeased, but the body has received little or no nutritive value. This is known as “dead calories.”

Since the creation of man, there has never been a change in the basic make-up of the human cells. They are still composed of perfectly balanced quantities of water and organic substances and they still require the same levels of nutrition and healthy calorie intake as they have since the beginning. However, while our human cells have remained the same, what we are offering them as a life source has changed dramatically.

All About the Profit Margin

Food manufacturers have no qualms about adding high levels of fat, sugar and salt into their products. Why? Low cost. The additives and chemicals work to transform cheap, raw materials into brightly-colored products, full of powerful flavor (it’s the aroma and flavor that people love – and crave) and with long shelf life thrown in for good measure. Those who are in the food business are not seeking out the “best” food products, but rather the cheapest raw materials. They are then “manufactured” (as if food needs to be manufactured) as quickly as possible to be sold for the highest profit margin possible. Great business; but little quality.

Not only are we eating foods that are extremely low in nutritional value, these same foods are loaded with chemicals which introduce massive amounts of toxins into the blood system. This then becomes the vicious cycle that is so apparent in our “sick” society. First the body becomes sickly as a result of a low immune system (due to lack of nutrition), which then makes it more susceptible to diseases caused by the high levels of toxicity (which has been introduced by eating too much processed foods). The food industry makes big bucks selling chemical substances that add zero value to life.

Is it any wonder we are inundated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, digestive problems, colon problems, high blood pressure, and allergies just to name a few.

Cell Chemistry Disrupted

The problem with processed foods does not end there. It is much more than dead calories and ingesting toxins. The thousands of chemically-synthesized substances that we “eat” on a daily basis, disrupt the bio-chemistry of the billions of living cells that make up the body. This suggests cell mutations, the extent of which may not be known until a few more generations into the future.

If this all sounds hopeless and dismal, it’s not meant to be. The first key to good health is awareness. Contrary to popular belief, optimum health is not simply freedom from disease. Optimum health means high energy levels, the ability to sleep soundly, and to have an overall sense of well-being. It’s the difference between surviving and thriving. The more you become aware of what good health is all about, the more you will be motivated to do what it takes to attain it.

Slowly Eliminate and Replace

The awareness of the inherent dangers of processed foods can be the first step in your journey toward a healthier lifestyle. Few people (especially Americans) can go “cold turkey” when it comes to the highly-flavored, brightly-colored, extremely-convenient processed foods. My advice is to use a little planning and forethought as you slowly eliminate such products and replace them with foods that are as close to how God created them as possible.

It takes about the same amount of time to steam fresh vegetables as it does to heat up a pre-packaged pizza. And it takes no time at all to grab an apple or raw nuts rather than grabbing a sugary donut.

If you make the choice to eliminate most of the processed foods from your diet and your kitchen, take the journey in small steps. Your “taste addiction” will not disappear overnight. But eventually, a donut will not tempt you in the least. Your body will no longer crave a bag of salty chips, or a cold can of soda pop.

Because our bodies are designed to be highly resilient, you will find that your body will quickly begin to correct itself. Soon you will be experiencing more of the joys of optimum health! I’m in your corner applauding you!