The foods we eat.

I've blogged in the past about baby food and baby led weaning, but I haven't talked about how our older children eat, and more importantly how we at as a family.

In the past few years, I've started to make changes to the foods we buy. After watching Food Inc. I believe that we "make a vote" in what we buy at grocery stores. If we buy from non-local, large chains, then we are telling society that this is okay to buy their crap, processed, chemical filled foods. While we lived in Maine, we bought local milk, fruits, veggies and eggs whenever possible, and try to buy the important organic items such as the ones on the dirty dozen list. And I think to this day, we do a pretty good job. I hate spending more money on the healthy, organic food, but it is something I feel strongly about. I try to buy all organic chicken, and some organic beef, but it gets expensive, trying to do it all. I buy all organic milk, but I still think that this isn't good enough. I waiver from going to raw milk, but have mixed emotions on this as well. Maybe when we get back to Maine. At least our kids aren't huge milk lovers, one 14oz milk cup per day, and the rest is water.

One additive I am really scared about is SOY and the unknowns of soy. It scares me and soy is in everything. And I mean everything. Even organic foods. Every time I think I am buying something healthy for my kids to snack on, I look, and there it is. Friggin' soy. Some people may think "BUT. I thought Soy was HEALTHY???" and I know people who eat a lot of Soy. Hell, I think I probably do without even thinking about it. You may ask "why is soy unhealthy?" or "is soy healthy?" and I knew things like how it mimics estrogen (phytoestrogens) within our bodies causing all sorts of issues and potential for causing early onset puberty, etc....but one factoid I learned today from Wellness Mama was this:

These phytoestrogens are so strong that a baby consuming only soy formula is consuming the equivalent hormones of 4 birth control pills a day!


WHATTTTTTTTT?!? UM, REALLY?! Is this true!?! I sure hope it is not.

 First off, I can breath a sigh of relief. All of my children have been breastfed two years and beyond, no formula, and certainly no soy formula. Secondly, that is just a scary factoid, fairly disturbing, don't ya think? I have only been on the pill a few times in my life and in my personal opinion, I just don't want to take a pill that manipulates what my body should do, and I would certainly not want my children to go near anything that is equivalent to ingesting birth control pills at all, especially infants and small children. 


If you click on the Wellness Mama link, it will bring you to the Is Soy Healthy? link. If you are anything like me, you will leave shaking your head asking yourself what can be done about soy in our food. Yeah. I completely follow the belief: everything in moderation, but soy being in almost everything (besides meat, fruits & veggies) we consume is not moderation. My kids want snacks, and I want snacks, and how do I avoid this nasty ingredient? I thought we were eating a healthy bread without any sugars or other unnecessary ingredients, but when I looked at the ingredients yesterday, there it was. Again. Freakin' SOY. In bread? Really?

Because this information seemed so.....crazy, I googled it and did some information. Yes, there is a lot of information out there that says the same thing, but there is also information that says the non-committal we are not sure YET. And some of these websites are probably right, pure soy is most likely harmless, but what about all the other types of soy?

I wish I had answers. I try to do the best I can. Breastfeed. Cloth Diaper. Buy Organic foods. Buy whole foods. And splurge on the occasional junk food that totally makes me feel like shit after I eat it. But, every time I turn around, there is something that that gives me shivers down my spine.

I am scared for my kids. I am scared for my girls - I don't want them to have early onset puberty. I want my kids to be healthy, and learn to enjoy healthy foods. Lead a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy exercise and all positive things in life that make us feel good. So where do I go from here? At least that's what I ask myself. How far do I go? Where do I stop? Do I take information like this serious?

Do you ever feel like every time you turn around there is new evidence about how dangerous something is? This whole info on soy is not new, there has been studies dating back to decades ago, but what about on things like soaps and lotions and detergents? While we are not ingesting them, they are being absorbed into our bodies? So, do I take it another step further? I don't know, probably to a point, yes...my husband thinks I am insane to a point, and maybe I am. We cloth diaper our kids for a lot of reasons and one of the several reasons is chemicals.

There is something to be said to those who grow their foods, make their own soaps and detergents and have chickens and cows. I wish I had more answers. I really do. But, I don't.