Few years ago, first time I heard about herbal soaps and shampoos, It made me feel good and I always tried to choose herbal cosmetics, But one question which came to my mind is why it came first in cosmetics? what about the food we eat.
I could quickly get an answer with my logical mind that, if we use chemicals on our body, our body will be harmed, So when we were using shampoos filled with chemicals for washing our hair , hair used to get damaged which is visible and soon people could realize the harm these chemicals do to our body, because the harm is visible. But still it took more than 15 years (first hair wash shampoo launched in India in 1990’s and herbal products got their recognition after 2005) to realize that herbal cosmetic products are good for our body,
So if you think herbal products are required for external use on body – Don’t you think what we feed inside needs to be free of chemicals ?
Do you know how the vegetables and fruits we eat are produced ?
Did you ever think how are the vegetables and fruits we eat daily are produced? Know a days you you would have seen many television commercials about fertilizers & pesticides, this indicates Now farmers are using them a lot.
In today’s agriculture it has become impossible to produce vegetables without use of fertilizers , pesticides and harmones. Are you surprised ? why all these have to be used , Come let us see !!
- Fertilizers
- pesticides
- Harmones
- Preservatives
Fertilizer: Fertilizers are simply plant nutrients applied to agricultural fields to supplement required elements found naturally in the soil.
Why should we use fertilizers? : Once crops are harvested for human consumption, the natural supply of nutrients in the soil must be “re-filled”. This is why farmers add nutrients to their soils in the form of fertilizers.
- So it is essential to add fertilizers , But are all Fertilizers safe?
- It is safe to use organic fertilizers but nowadays synthetic fertilizers are used because they are easy to use, fast response and are readily available, but how these harm us ?
1. Synthetic fertilizers kill beneficial micro organisms in the soil.
2. Consumption of Plants produced by using Synthetic fertilizers, convert to toxic nitrites in the intestines.
3. Synthetic fertilizers damage the natural makeup of soil in the long term.
4. Plants that grow in overly fertilized soil are deficient in iron, zinc, carotene, vitamin C, copper and protein.
It is always preferable to avoid synthetic fertilizers and use Organic Fertilizers
Pesticide: Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, or controlling any pest.
Why should we use Pesticides? : To protect crop from Insects we need to kill insects and bugs, but pesticides used now a days are very harmful. 50 years ago these pesticides were rarely seen because the soil used to be more fertile and full of plant nutrients, so the Immunity of crop is really good so the plant was able to fight with pests by itself.
Later on when the soil started getting polluted the plants by themselves were not able to fight pests and need of pesticides arised, but pesticide companies were misleading farmers to use high amounts of pesticides and as a result pests have developed resistance. So now large doses are required and this pesticides are sticking to the vegetables we eat.
Consumption of food produced using Pesticides can leave adverse effects on the nervous system. Some harmful pesticides can cause several hazardous diseases like cancer, liver, kidney, and lung damage.
Certain pesticides can also cause loss of weight and appetite, irritability, insomnia, behavioral disorders and dermatological problems
As of now it is not possible to produce vegetable without using pesticides but they can be produced safely using organic pesticides.
Harmones: chemicals to increase production.
Are Harmones necessary ? No They are not at all necessary, they are just injected to increase the production.
When you visit the vegetable market, Did you ever see Brinjal, Pumpkin, Watermelon and Cucumber which are very big in size? That very big sized vegetables may have been injected with a harmone called Oxytocin.
BIG SIZE
when you see vegetables in Market which look abnormally bigger, you should doubt if they are produced using injections.
NORMAL SIZE
It is safe to buy vegetables which are normal in size, Because they might have been produced normally
Oxytocin is a growth hormone which is used in Dairy industry, especially to cows and Buffaloes to give more milk. Vegetables produced with the help of this hormone do not appear different they look the same and you cannot differentiate them from normally produced ones.
BUT VEGETABLES PRODUCED USING THIS HORMONE INJECTION WILL EFFECT OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM IN THE LONG RUN.
Preservatives / Ripening agents: Chemicals like calcium carbide / ethephon and oxytocin are reportedly being used in fruit and vegetable mandis / farms for artificial ripening of fruits and for increasing the size of fruits and vegetables respectively. FSSAI bans use of such Ripening agents.
Problem of preservatives is very big, You might be already knowing about the fact that Fishes come from coastal cities to non coastal cities, I am surprised to see fishes coming from 1000 kms away. how can they be fresh, it takes more than 5 days to reach , After inquiring with some of the fish vendors it was understood that a preservative called Formalin is used to preserve fish for more time.
One more problem which is very common is none of the fruits are allowed to get ripen on the trees now,, Because if they get ripen on the tree the fruits are getting rotten before they even reach the market, So no customer will be interested to buy Rotten fruits,, But Customers are eating something more dangerous than rotten fruits,
All the fruits are now loaded with fertilizers, pesticides, ripening agents and preservatives instead of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, anti oxidants and phytonutrients.
The Maggie issue
We were all eating Maggie Noodles till that day when Suddenly Government banned Maggie saying lead content in maggie is 7 times more than it is supposed to be.
we all woke up with a shock, and stopped eating Maggie since more than a Year, And even today we are not able to accept Maggie easily.
WHAT ABOUT VEGETABLES AND FRUITS?
Are the tests done on them too?
Most violated foods are raw or minimally processed, including seafood, vegetables, fruits, spices, dairy products, meats and grains. More than a third of food frauds take place due to “excessive or illegal pesticides”
Bananas we eat now a days are ripened artificially.
You might be surprised why the Bananas we eat now a days do not taste sweet ! The reason is they are ripened artificially using calcium carbide.
One more thing which is important is fruits which are not allowed to ripen on the plant lack in nutrients. this is one example.
I also heard vegetables are dipped in color water to give them a pleasant appearance.
So what is the Solution ?
Now could you understand the primary reason why we are getting sick though we eat more nutritious food?
The reason for all these diseases is along with food we are eating lot of chemicals which are used in the form of fertilizers, pesticides and harmones
So only way to save ourselves is to eat organic ! But is it possible to find out if the vegetables we buy from Organic vendors are really organic?
Then what is the Solution ?
Should we grow our own vegetables !!
Its time to think about what are we really eating ?
we are paying a lot of attention to mobile recharge plans, reading discount labels at big bazaar to understand which is more valuable for our wallet !
But we are not giving enough time for our health, we all have the right to eat pure food, What should we do?
Tell your opinions !