The Fairy Nutritionist's Talk Toxicity

Now read on or you may never find out how potatoes can be dangerous weapons of mass destruction... There are countless toxins in our food – some occur naturally, some are contaminated for a variety of reasons, i.e. pest control. We cannot escape toxins in life, as they are omnipotent in this modern world. However we can help defend ourselves from overriding levels in our systems.

Fruit and vegetables usually contain some levels of toxic substances. These are produced to protect them from being eaten by greedy health conscious bugs. Did you know that an average Cox apple is sprayed by pesticides well over 10 times. This is why it is so important to wash your fresh fruit and vegetables. And we don’t mean a quick dribble from the tap, really scrub the skin and wash thoroughly!

Now let’s talk about the potato – a staple in everyone’s kitchen and a fallback meal when the fridge is bare. Potato contains toxins called glycol-alkaloids. These are those green, sprout features. And they can poison pretty quickly causing stomach pain, vomiting, difficulty in breathing and even death! Warning! If a potato tastes bitter, spit it out and always avoid green sprout-speckled spuds!

And another favourite: coffee. Yes it helps to keep you alert (temporarily) but the caffeine inside is actually used by the coffee plant as an insect repellent! Coffee is also known as an ‘anti-nutrient’ meaning that nutrients in the body are used up as it is processed, which by far outweigh any nutrients that it provides. This same ‘insect repellent’ is used in all cola drinks, tea and coco beans. And no, slathering yourself in Cadbury’s will not help repel flies on holiday, due to the additional bucket-load of sugar!

Also, chocolate is poisonous to dogs, so only treat your pooch with special chocolate designed specifically for our canine companions, which has the theobromine chemical removed which is neurotoxic to our loyal pups.

Now let’s talk bread... uncooked or slightly uncooked wheat flour can inhibit certain enzymes in your digestive system, leading to possible pancreatic damage, and found to cause pancreatic cancer in rats! Don’t worry, as long as your bread in properly cooked it isn’t a problem, but uncooked wheat has been found in bread and breakfast cereals on supermarket shelves! Eeek!

Now we do always harp on about the countless health benefits of eating plenty of oily fish however they can be dangerous... you can easily develop food poisoning from eating fish that has ‘gone off,’ and even storing them incorrectly. Keep your fresh mackerel, sardines and tuna in the fridge, as they spoil very quickly. Sprint home from that fish market! They naturally contain histadine which at high temperatures is converted to histamine – and large amounts of this amino acid can cause headaches, nausea, palpitations and GI upset – all typical symptoms of food poisoning by fish.

Right, onto the symbol of good health and purity: the apple. When an apple begins to rot and brown it produces a toxin named patulin. This naturally harmful chemical may detriment development of a foetus; affect the nervous system, immune system and GI tract and cause DNA damage. And it has been found in organic apple juice at levels above the safe limit.

So as if it isn’t hard enough with all these plants and animals trying to kill us and dominate the universe, man-made toxins are now steadily making an appearance into our fridges...

The most threatening of all is mercury... Increasing levels of mercury are seeping into our oceans through industrial pollution and our poor little fish are absorbing it steadily into their innocent little fins. The deadly metal accumulates in tissues of larger fish such as salmon and tuna because these fish eat smaller fish that contain mercury, which eat even smaller fish that contain mercury and so on... mercury poisoning is extremely unpleasant – causing damage to foetuses and irreversible brain, nerve, kidney and retina damage. This is why it is important to limit oily fish intake to at most 3 times a week and to protect and support the liver on an ongoing basis.

Oh and if you were thinking of ordering a cheeky Chinese takeaway tonight, steer clear of the radioactive red coloured dishes... This particular artificial colouring is known as para red which is used in printing and strictly forbidden for the use in food. However in 2005 it crept into dishes in mainstream Chinese and Indian takeaway and ready-meal foods sold in your supermarket... Yummy!

And as if our food isn’t potentially problematic enough, let’s have a think about the packaging! Just consider this fact... Even at room temperature the chemicals in plastic can leach into your food or water. So consider that water bottle sitting in a hot car on a long journey... Plastic contains xenoestrogens which mimic the action of oestrogen in the body, and feed symptoms of hormonal imbalance and oestrogen dominance, and even found to increase the risk of breast cancer. Avoid wrapping fatty foods like cheese and butter with cling film as fatty foods easily absorb chemicals in plastic.

After reading this you may feel like it is a better idea to eat nothing at all! Please don’t let us put you off your dinner, we only wrote this to raise awareness about certain foods. Wise up and eat up! Wholesome home prepared foods are always the way to go. Besides it’s been a while since any reported deaths by eating an apple or potato ;)

Rachel Henderson is a qualified nutritionist and founder and director of Food Fairy Nutrition Ltd. If you’re interested in benefiting from a unique and individually tailored online nutritional consultation service, or you’d simply like more information, please go ahead and click one of the links above!

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