Archive for June, 2008

For you fish eaters, the U.S. FDA stated in 2001 that fish with the highest mercury levels are tilefish, swordfish, mackerel, shark, white snapper, and tuna.  The lowest levels are found in salmon, flounder, sole, tilapia, and trout (though these fish are high in other toxins, in some waters).

If you’re eating fish-oil pills hoping to avoid heart disease, consider that you might be getting cancer-causing toxins in the bargain.  For instance, highly toxic PCBs have been found in Great Lakes fish.  Family Practice News reported in 1989 that you’d have to drink water from the Great Lakes for 100 years to get the same amount of PCBs in one serving of trout or salmon from those waters.  Similar findings link hydrocarbon pollution to fish in Puget Sound, Boston Harbor, and more.  New Orleans has extraordinarily high rates of cancer, where residents eat fish and shellfish daily. 

Farmed fish were thought to be safer, but recent data suggests other reasons to be concerned about the way fish bred in farms absorb toxins as well.

If you must eat fish, avoid those high in mercury.  A less risky way to obtain Omega fats is to eat flaxseed or flax oil, as well as a diet rich in a variety of greens and seeds/nuts.

How many bottles of half-used supplements are on your shelves?  Tell me.

I’ve got so many I bet it’s between 100 and 200.  I’ve been told for years and years to take this and that and the other thing.  I would try, but more often than not, I’d forget. 

Now I’m not trying to say that herbs and certain supplements can’t be helpful on occasion.  For instance, I do advocate for using digestive enzymes when you eat cooked foods, and a good probiotic if you’re not consuming cultured and fermented foods regularly.  When someone is sick, I find goldenseal to be excellent for killing viruses and bacteria, both.  Cascara sagrada is great for constipation.

But you rarely know how long to take supplements. A month? A year? Your whole life? Also, most people telling us to eat the pills are the same people who SELL the pills.  Ever heard the saying, “When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?”

What I’m saying is that even the most health conscious among us WAY overdo pill purchasing and then wonder why we can’t afford whole plant foods.  My lazy susan, my box of pills in the upstairs closet, and my cabinets are full of literally thousands of dollars of supplements.  I got sick of it a long time ago and pretty much just quit buying and eating them.

How about you?  How many bottles of half-used supplements do YOU have?