self-ownership

…The word “natural” is one of the most abused words in the marketing orbit. After all, looking at the definition above, wouldn’t packaged rattlesnake poison qualify as “natural?” The Big Food, corporate state conglomerates are mighty good at maneuvering within FDA guidelines and intentionally misrepresenting their products while banking on the ignorance of consumers. In the end, however, I blame the consumers who refuse to take accountability for the acquisition of simple knowledge on food matters and thus doom themselves to perpetual ignorance and self-imposed serfdom.

http://karendecoster.com/the-fda-doesnt-regulate-the-word-natural.html

I actually had a brief conversation about this the other day. I went on a trip to present my senior project and my faculty sponsor (who knows I’m primal/paleo) said she had some snacks on the way if I needed them. According to her, “They’re Kashi and it’s all natural so I knew you’d be happy with them.”

But really, what does that even mean? If I grind up a bunch of rocks and mix it with fruit, it’s technically all natural. But does that mean you should eat it? No. Eating right is more than eating “natural”.

There’s no doubt in my mind that a Paleo diet is what we’ve evolved to eat. That’s hard to argue with. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to be healthy while eating foods that are not considered “Paleo”, regardless of what the Paleo zealots will tell you. Some of the foods the Paleo diet excludes are more harmful than others, and of course there’s a significant amount of individual variation.

I think the evidence is crystal clear that wheat, sugar/high-fructose corn syrup and industrial seed oils are toxic to the body and contribute to virtually all modern, degenerative diseases – from diabetes and obesity to heart disease and autoimmunity. There’s also substantial evidence that soy, in its processed form (i.e. soy milk, soy protein isolate, etc.) is an endocrine disruptor and anti-nutrient and is best avoided….

(via primal-libertarian)

(via laliberty)