Get the Skinny

In response to all the shit that we've discovered is in the everyday foods we eat, I decided about 4 months ago to take a test run as a vegan.  The idea was inspired, I hate to admit it, by the book "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  While it looks like a diet book, really it's a down-to-earth, blunt explanation of what actually is in the food we eat and how it affects our bodies.  I definitely suggest it to anyone who wants to know more about food and our bodies without all that scientific, medical jargon.  My vegan suggestion of the day!

On to gross shit that's in your food.  Today= Aspartame:

*If you drink and eat diet sodas, juice, energy drinks, bread, "diet" anything, you are ingesting some delicious Aspartame.  Aspartame is a sugar substitute that was rejected by the FDA (food and drug association) no less than 8 times! It was only passed when the lawyer who was working against Aspartame was bought out by the pro-Aspartame group.  Feeling outraged yet?  Well if not, then should be aware that when you consume Aspartame, it turns into Formaldehyde in your stomach.  EWW!  In case you didn't know, Formaldehyde is a chemical that is used to preserve nice things like dead animals and organs. Yum.

Some commonly used products that contain this delicious poison:

-Any Kind of Diet Soda

- Sugarless Red Bull

- Splenda

- Any sugar substitute or non-natural sweetener

- Dimetap Cold and Allergy chewable tablets

- Children's Tylenol 

- Junior Strength Tylenol

- Pediacare Cold-Allergy Tablets

- Pediacare Cough- Cold Tablets

- Pediacare Children's Cold Relief Tablets 

- Children's Chewable Co-Tylenol

Isn't it sick how many products aimed at kids have aspartame?

Just to stir things up a little more, www.aspartame.org describes how the human body reacts to Aspartame as this:

"Upon digestion, aspartame breaks down into three components (aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol), which are then absorbed into the blood and used in normal body processes. Neither aspartame nor its components accumulate in the body. These components are used in the body in the same ways as when they are derived from common foods.

Further, the amounts of these components from aspartame are small compared to the amounts from other food sources. For example, a serving of nonfat milk provides about 6 times more phenylalanine and 13 times more aspartic acid compared to an equivalent amount of diet beverage sweetened 100% with aspartame. Likewise, a serving of tomato juice provides about 6 times more methanol compared to an equivalent amount of diet beverage with aspartame."

The thing is, our body gets phenylalaline from mother's milk and certain kinds of protein, aspartic acid (aka an kind of amino acid that is not essential for mammals) from avocados, oats, and greens, and methanol (a simple form of alcohol) we shouldn't be ingesting.  The evil people working for Aspartame don't want you to know this.  Look it up. Become informed.  Know the difference between shit in food and delicious, beautiful food.

x Zoe, The Shit You Eat