Dr. Oz tackled a difficult issue today and he is to be applauded for taking on some of the nefarious practices in our agricultural industry, especially the chicken industry. This impacts your health in many ways that you would never have considered and never imagined…

The experts on the Dr. Oz show discussed the relative impact on the human immune system that unnecessary antibiotics used in the chicken industry has upon the body. The antibiotics that the farmers have been giving these chickens for decades has now led to many resistant strains of bacteria that no longer respond to traditional antibiotics. This isn’t only about the chickens and cattle being given drugs to prevent disease, it has grown into an international risk factor for facing epidemics and pandemics in the future. Drugs that worked just a few years ago are now useless against these super-bugs that are now adapting to the constant presence of antibiotics in our food supply.

The hormone issue is far from over and Dr. Oz didn’t dig deeply enough to fully inform his audience about the impact that hormones in our agricultural industry still create in subtle and uncommonly known ways. It was irresponsible and unfortunate that Dr. Oz gave the impression that hormones are no longer a threat. The industry has just become sneakier and more nefarious in the way they introduce growth hormones into their breeding stock. Did you know that there are some who inject hormones into the eggs, so they can get around the regulatory guidelines and laws? This is unethical and you wouldn’t ever know that this practice happens unless there were people who care about your ultimate health watching the sneaky companies in this industry find a way around the law to prevent hormones from entering the chickens. If they inject growth hormones into the egg, then that isn’t exactly breaking the law, but it is contaminating the chicken that hatches from that egg. And then you’ve all seen the ad about plumping… There are still so many problems with commercial growers of chickens and the ways they try to beat the system that is designed to protect consumers.

The bottom line is that you still need to be exceedingly careful about selecting the chicken and the other meats that you consume. You can learn when ‘free-range is truly free-range, or if it’s just a marketing gimmick employed by a sleazy grower. Free-range chicken and eggs are better, but only if the hens really do spend time outdoors pecking at insects and doing what chickens do in the dirt, instead of being cooped up in hen houses under horrific populations of feathers. You can see the documentaries about this practice. You simply must do your own due diligence and buy your birds from reputable growers and sources. It’s important that you not only read the labels on the packages of butchered chicken, but that you follow the trail to check out the farming practices of the people behind the packaging. Are they really using sustainable agricultural methods? That’s the key here. Don’t blindly trust anyone, including a gal on TV that tried to let some people off the hook.

Organic whole foods are of the utmost importance in your diet for genuine health and wellness. Free-range chicken, turkey, beef, and other animal sources of meat need to be researched and carefully selected to ensure that you are getting the best money can buy! The industry slithers and you have to take full responsibility for yourself by eating only what you would feed the king. You are the royalty, so buy the best!

It matters that the prions that cause Mad Cow disease are not in the beef that you eat, it matters that the hormones and antibiotics are not in the chicken or eggs that you consume, it matters that chemicals and pathogens don’t enter your body by blindly trusting an untrustworthy industry; so take the necessary precautions to keep yourselves safe and healthy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.