Holistic Shopping

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posted on

July 30, 2024

Before I rediscovered real food, I developed a sophisticated and time-consuming method of shopping. I used to read labels. I would look for ingredients that I had in my own kitchen, avoiding food with ingredients that I wouldn’t use when I cooked at home. Artificial colors or flavors, chemical preservatives, industrial oils, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, pectin, carrageenan, soy flour, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, cellulose (AKA wood pulp).

I could go on, but you get the idea. I learned that there are ingredients that don’t need to be listed on the label, like MSG. Sometimes even organic products with the words, “no MSG” on the label actually contain MSG!

So how useful is that label anyway?

There are about 50 different names for sugar, and one or more of them could be on a label that I was so careful to read. Often sugar is present but not recognized because not everyone knows all the many aliases under which it is listed.

Over the years, more and more messages appeared on labels such as “twice the vitamin C”, or “half the fat”. And how many different kinds of bread are there now? Whole wheat, oat bran, low sodium, gluten-free, 9-grain, 12-grain, honey wheat, vegan — each with a unique ingredients list.

Processed foods have been taken apart, isolated, rearranged, and squeezed into funky shapes, but let’s face it. Once taken apart, food just can’t be put back together again. I call it Humpty-Dumpty food.

Nutrients and enzymes are destroyed by heat and pressure during processing. Some vitamins and minerals may be added back but, once processed, they're often still missing, enzymes, co-factors, and bioactive compounds that make it possible to be absorbed and assimilated.

On meat labels, I had to watch out for hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, and nitrites. I had to look for100% grass-fed beef and pastured chicken. I was surprised to learn that “cage-free” and “free-range” chickens were raised in houses.

All of this investigating required a lot of squinting due to the diminutive font on many of the labels. I call this method of shopping “reductionist shopping”.

I thought there had to be a more holistic approach to finding real food in its original, unprocessed state.

To be a holistic shopper, I first employed the strategy of shopping the perimeter and avoiding the center aisles where the Humpty-Dumpty food is.

This worked for a while, and I found a reprieve from label mania.

As I learned more about organic and other certification programs, I was no longer comfortable with the standards. This made me aware that I was still a couple of steps removed from the source of my food — the people who raised it.

Have you ever tried to go to the original source of eggs or ground beef from the supermarket? Some places won’t let you through the door. I decided to source food from farms (like Polyface) where I was welcome to visit, look around, and ask questions.

With this type of holistic shopping, I can eliminate the ingredients I want to avoid without reading a single label. There are some exceptions but, for the most part, all I need to know from the label is which farm produced the food. Now I trust Polyface Farm labels. Holistic shopping. How convenient.

Join me, won't you? Shop Polyface.

Susan

Why Choose Fermented Foods?

My grandparents on my father’s side used to make sauerkraut in wooden barrels in the basement. My mother’s side made cheese and salami. I could smell these concoctions throughout the entire house. Fermenting is part of your national heritage, no matter your family’s country of origin. Alongside nourishing grass-fed/grass-finished pastured meats like Polyface raises, every person should include real fermented foods into their diet. This method of food preservation goes back farther than most realize, reconnecting us with ancient traditions, long before the refrigerator-freezer was invented. Every culture consumed something fermented every day. Here are the reasons why I like fermented foods. Fermentation preserves food without using high pressure, high heat, or chemicals, so it both conserves and increases them. The nutritional value of fermented foods lies mostly in the pro-biotic bacteria that are present, and byproducts of their digestion. The bacteria’s digestive “waste” is a collection of vitamins, enzymes, and co-factors needed for every system of the body. These include: Vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and K2 Superoxide dismutase (SOD, an antioxidant) GTF chromium (assists sugar metabolism) Glutathione (a potent detoxifier) Phospholipids (cell membrane building blocks) Digestive enzymes Beta 1,2 glucans (present in shiitake mushrooms; modulates immune system) Fermentation neutralizes or eliminates these: Phytic acid (present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Enzyme inhibitors (also present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Nitrites Prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) Oxalic acid (binds minerals) Nitrosamines (known carcinogen) Glucosides Probiotics and enzymes in whey neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, allowing your digestion to access the nutrients in the food. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are delicate molecules with very complex structure and shape. The structure of the enzyme gives it its function. Without structure and form, the enzyme will not do its job of catalyzing biochemical reactions. Without enzymes, biochemical reactions would cease. Enzymes are denatured (unraveled or broken down) by high pressure, high heat, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and electrical disturbances. Once denatured, they lose their form and shape, therefore they lose their function. Unlike canning and commercial processing, fermenting occurs at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive. Temperatures above 117 degrees Fahrenheit denature enzymes and kill probiotic bacteria. If you wonder what 117 degrees feels like, it’s the temperature at which you cannot touch an object with your bare hands and hold it for a few seconds. If it’s hot, but you can still touch and hold it in your hand and not pull away, it’s under 117 degrees. This innate protection mechanism (i.e., reflex) prevents your own protein (i.e., skin on your finger) from being denatured. It’s also a good indicator of when your food is hot enough to kill probiotics and denature enzymes. For best results, fermented foods must be eaten raw, never hot or cooked. Fermented foods are safe and protective against pathogens. USDA scientist Roger McFeeters, who oversees a fermentation laboratory, says, “The lactobacilli can number a billion per gram of tissue at the height of fermentation. The bad bacteria can't compete." According to McFeeters, lacto-fermentation has caused no known food-borne illness. "As far as we know, it's been going on for thousands of years. It's perfectly safe.” The sauerkraut that my grandparents made had a layer of raw pork chops embedded in the salted cabbage. When the sauerkraut was done, you could safely eat the pork chops raw! They were pre-digested by the bacteria, and “cooked" by the organic acids in the kraut. Probiotics prevented pathogens from establishing. None of us ever got food poisoning. My grandmother lived to be 100. Fermented foods have anti-carcinogenic properties. They normalize blood pressure and heart rate, help to break down fat in the liver, and maintain healthy systemic pH. And they are quite tasty. In the supermarket, look for fermented foods in the refrigerated section, not on the shelf with canned foods. Shelf-stable canned foods were subjected to high temperatures. The probiotics and enzymes have been denatured. Look for “live cultures” or “live probiotics” on the label. Eat something lacto-fermented every day, like your ancestors did. Just a tablespoon or two of sauerkraut or an ounce or two of cheese is enough to have the desired effect. Choose a salad dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar, or a tablespoon of a fermented condiment such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Try a fermented beverage, like kombucha, beet kvass, or ginger ale. (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has some great recipes for all of these.) The original condiments were digestive aids. They’re easy to make. Try it. May you be deeply nourished! Susan

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Holistic Shopping

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