You ill what you eat

I once observed my nephew conduct an observation study on a burger from a very popular fast food chain (starts with an M, ends with an s). In his study, he purchased the popular beef burger and kept it in his fridge for about three months.

I was quite disturbed every time I went to see how this test was going. I can’t give exact details as to when it started deteriorating, but I can assure you that even after one month the beef patty and buns still looked fresh! It was crazy, almost as if the burger had been prepared that very day.

I’m not sure if McDowell’s is still open these days (wink wink). But I wonder what kind of long-term effects of this food on us are, and especially our children, if we don’t fully know what we’re putting in your mouth?

One very touchy subject that is rarely discussed openly is how anxiety attacks (panic attacks for some) are caused. Most sufferers prefer to remain away from the public eye during these episodes and to deal with it on their own. Today, we are seeing more and more youth suffering from anxiety attacks. It’s a very startling concern.

Somehow, in my eyes, there is a connection to the chemicals we unknowingly ingest and their effect on mental growth.

Of course, there can be many reasons why the younger generation is suffering more than we did or do. Some factors could be from the caffeinated “energy” drinks they consume. Another could be the stress of their home environment, or the games they play that steal many hours of sleep when they play into the early morning. Drugs? They can also trigger mental-health episodes.

One theory that I have is that all the growth hormones injected into cattle are doing us harm. As we all know, most ranchers use growth hormones for their cattle that are raised for their meat, this could be a cause for concern for sure. Dairy cattle don’t get these injections.

Meanwhile, the canned foods we eat are shot through with preservatives. Did you know that if you feed your growing child foods containing preservatives that it can be a leading factor in behavioural changes that include hyperactive behaviour? These things I didn’t know! Today, we try to monitor what we feed our children.

Some popular restaurants now advertise “calorie counts”, “grain fed” and now “organic” signs to show that their food is as natural as possible. We should care much more for what we order at restaurants, especially as parents. We can help our children grow stronger physically, but just as importantly look after their mental growth. We’re not perfect, but we could start somewhere. Eliminate one “bad” food at a time.

We can continue to ignore the growing numbers in mental health. Or, we might ask ourselves, “Well, how could we avoid or prevent such diseases at a young age?” The answer is to promote healthy cafeterias for all of our schools and workplaces. Eliminate the canned foods during the grocery shopping. There are many places that we can look at and I’m sure you’re already thinking of something in your cupboard you could throw out at this very moment.