Given today’s potential for living a wellness lifestyle, we should all be able to live a fully functioning life until we break down of old age at about 90 years.  Aging prematurely isn’t a disease per se.  However, if we age prematurely, then you can be sure there are disease states in the body.

Avoid pollutants

If you want to maintain youthful health through all of your years, you want to avoid pollutants.  That is easy to say, but very hard to do in today’s world.  It is so hard to do because businesses make money while creating pollutants.  Creating a “green” world costs businesses money.

Here are some pollutants that you need to avoid, if you can.

Air particles from man-made contaminants
Smog (low hanging smoke) fills the air of many cities.  The carbon monoxide from cars and trucks is a concern.  We now know that asbestos fragments from insulation can kill us.  Second-hand smoke is a killer.  Smoke from industrial furnaces can create acid rain.  Avoid them all and more when you can.

Fluoride in our water
Virtually all of our community water supplies contain fluoride.  Dentists recommend it because it reduces cavities in our teeth.  Environmentalists don’t because fluoride is a poison (designed to kill bugs in our water).  Europe doesn’t use it.  America does.  So, the case isn’t closed on this one.

Genetically modified grains
The case isn’t closed on this one either.  Seed producers continually modify their seeds to make them more resistant to insects, etc.  Europe has taken the stance that genetically modified grains are dangerous and won’t let them on their continent.  American regulators let them exist and many American farmers use them.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
Food processors found that they could make a sweetener from corn that tastes great and it’s cheaper than sugar.  So many soft drinks and processed foods contain HFCS.  Are they healthy for you?  While those who make them say yes, we are on the other side of the fence.  So why do we consume them?  Because our taste buds like them and no regulatory agency has banned them.

Lead
Years and years ago paint contained lead.  Therefore, old homes have lead paint.  When children chew on lead paint (that may crack off a window sill, etc.), they become sick.  By now we must all know the dangers of consuming lead.

Mercury
Coal fired industrial furnaces spew mercury (among other ashes) from their smokestacks.   The ashes come down on our oceans and are then consumed by sea plants and fish.  While fish are good for you if they don’t contain mercury, mercury filled fish aren’t.  Avoid large fish high on the food chain like shark, swordfish, and tuna.  Go for the tiniest fish you can find like sardines.

Poisonous plastics
You would think that baby bottles and other food and drink containers would be safe.  However, it took years for the plastics business to acknowledge that PCB’s, PVC’s, etc., are actually poisonous.  Until 2009 the inner coating of baby bottles were made of what turned out to be a poisonous substance.  All we can say is you have to be alert.

Processed grains
Mother Nature’s natural whole grains are great.  However, food processors found that we have a fondness for denatured (inner germ and outer coat removed) grain and turned it into “enriched flour.”  Enriched means they added back some inexpensive supplements.  Denatured and enriched grains are very short on or devoid of fiber, which makes them “bad carbs.”

Trans fatty acids
Historically, packaged foods were prepared with animal fat as a shelf life extender.  However, when word got out that animal fats (saturated fats) are cardiovascular risks, we cut down on those fats.  Food processors needed long shelf lives so what did they do?  They chemically altered vegetable oils into a fat that has the same long shelf life.  It’s called Trans Fats.  Are they good for you?  No.  Your body can’t handle this chemical alteration.

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