The Femme Files

Four Foods We Should Avoid… Starting Now

Being born into an Italian family I grew up eating anything that came out of my Nonno’s garden.

We made tomato sauce from squishing tomatoes and boiling old beer bottles, my family would buy a whole dead pig from a farm in the middle of Western Australia and cut all the meat off it to make our own sausages, we grew our own herbs and bought local produce as often as we could.

These good habits have been passed down from generation to generation.

No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides were used in the making of me and we all hope this is the case for all of us.

The question we all ask ourselves is “What foods should we avoid?” so our skin stays youthful, our insides run like clock-work and our children are free from harsh chemicals.

Here is a look at a variety of foods through the eyes of people who spend their lives uncovering the secrets we all hope to have knowledge of.

And this is my summary of it broken down for us non-scientists to understand.

1. An Endocrinologist will not eat: Canned tomatoes.

Problem: Tomatoes are stored on shelves for years in tin cans which are lined with resin. Resin contains bisphenol-A which is a synthetic oestrogen that is linked to problems such as heart disease, diabetes and, the shocking one, obesity.

Solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles or just use fresh organic tomatoes for sauces.

2. A farmer will not eat: Corn-fed beef.

Problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their cattle corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. Although this means meat has become cheaper it also means less nutrients for us in the end.

Solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at butchers and at various grocery stores. It is usually labelled because it demands a premium and although you might pay a little more for it, you and your family will benefit in the end.

3. A toxicologist will not eat: Microwave popcorn.

Problem: Where do we start-it smells delicious and it tastes like buttered angels but we all know it isn’t good without me going into the science of it.

Not only are the chemicals which are used in the lining of the bag linked to infertility in humans, according to recent studies through an American University, they also stick around in the body for years and do nothing good for your cholesterol levels.

Solution: Pop natural kernels the good-ol’ fashion way. For flavouring please do not hesitate to add real butter or a pinch of icing sugar.

4. A produce partner will not eat: Non-organic potatoes.

Problem: Root vegetables absorb all the bad stuff! All of the herbicides, pesticides and fungicides that go into the soil end up in your body.

It isn’t good enough to just wash the vegetable before cooking it because the chemicals are added during the growing season, through harvest and before they are taken to grocery stores.

Solution: I don’t need to say this again but buy organic. It might be a little bit more expensive but for peace of mind I think it is worth the extra couple of dollars.

Louise Jeckells.

Staying clear of anything that ends in ‘icide’.