Have you ever eaten processed food and thought, “I can’t stop eating this!” only to feel terrible later? It used to happen to me quite often. The food industry has created over 10,000 chemicals that they use (and try to hide) in most of the food today.  These ingredients fall under the label GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), but these chemicals have never been tested for human safety. The food industry has come to love these, because they can use low quality ingredients, flavor it up with cheap artificial ingredients, and sell it at a competitive price. These fake flavors trick our brains into believing we are eating something nutritious and often leave us wanting more and more.

The creation of artificial flavors started in about the 1850s. According to Flavorman, “The term artificial flavor or artificial flavoring means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat fish poultry eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof.” In simple terms, this isn’t food.

According to Dr. Mercola, “Artificial flavors encourage obesity as they entice you to eat food you normally would not want to eat, and eat more than you normally would.” There has been a lot of research done into the negative health effects that these ingredients have caused, but these often get ignored since there is a lot of money to be made in the food and drug industry. Books have been written and lives have been changed thanks to brave people willing to speak out against these man-made fake ingredients, but there are still too many people suffering unnecessarily. We are an overfed and undernourished society.

I agree with Dr. Mercola’s statement, “Using flavored chemicals, you can now produce food that have virtually no nutritional value, yet the great taste and aroma fool consumers into thinking they are eating something wholesome.” I will confess that when we were eliminating foods containing these chemicals it was really hard! Not only are these foods convenient, they are highly addictive! Unless you are buying basic ingredients and making your own food, you are consuming these. They are in almost everything including some processed organic foods.

One of the ways that I protect my family is by taking single, organic spices and seasonings and making tasty blends to flavor the clean, nutrient dense foods that resemble the old processed foods that we used to enjoy. I store these spices in pints or ½ pint sized glass jars with reusable white lids. I like to grow as much of my own as I can, and then I buy organic seasonings from reputable companies I trust. Organic seasonings are grown more sustainably (which tends to make them higher in vitamins and minerals), not sprayed with chemicals, and not irradiated.

Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, decrease modern distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle, and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. I share these weekly posts to answer so many questions that I have received over the years. It took us many years to get where we are today. If you are wondering how we got to a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet and lifestyle, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place.Week one was How We Got Our Salt Better, week 2 was The Power of Water and we learned about removing toxins from our water in week 3, week 4 was Get Your Sleep Better, 5, 6, and 7 were How We Got Our Fats Better, we got our eggs better, we talked about how we got our meats better, and this week I’m sharing how we got our seasonings better. Join us next week for How We Got Our . . . Better.   

Do you have a homemade seasoning blend that you love. Please feel free to share in the comments below!