Last year I thought about having something that I hadn’t had since I was a kid: jelly (the big belly company which I’m not saying in case of anything 👀) beans. I remember in the grocery store they’d have these huge randomized containers with them that you could dispense, and I really liked the flavors. Since I haven’t had candy like it since, I decided to order the Sizzling Cinnamon flavor. The day it was to arrive, I was helping my dad put up 6 ft. cattle fencing, and since he doesn’t eat until dinner, we ended up working till 2 pm while I hadn’t brought anything. Sure enough, Amazon arrives and we’re working at the gate where they delivered. So, knowing that the jellybeans were in there, I tear it open and pretty much eat 1/4 of the bag. Usually I wouldn’t have so little self-control, but I hadn’t consumed pure sugar in a while, and I figured that I would feel full after a few like I do after eating SourBoys candy. However, I didn’t feel any need to stop, and so I kept going. Finally, we finish and I’m able to have lunch, not having any more of the candy until the next day.
Not realizing quite yet about Jellybeans lack of feeling “full”, in the evening before prepping dinner I get hungry and have a 1/4 of the bag more! Leaving the contents between 1/2 or 1/4 full. After which I realize that, I definitely had a lot, and only eat a few now and then for the next few days.
Perhaps you’re wondering, as was I, why continue eating so much without feeling full? This is because Jellybeans have no nutritional content, containing only sugar which is fast-burning energy, which left me feeling like having more whereas SourBoys actually are derived naturally and feel good to eat. However, there’s something else this specific flavor of jellybeans has: Red40, a food coloring that has a known carcinogen and can cause DNA damage and had been banned in Europe (all this taken from Oompaville’s great deep-dive… creator of sourboys btw). I had forgotten to look out for it because I don’t buy processed food or candy, so I didn’t realize until after.
A few days later…
While I’m hesitant sharing this, I feel it’s important as a case study done unintentionally to myself. After having had so many jellybeans in 2 days, when I had my menstrual-thingy-wingy, it was the worst I’ve ever had. At one point, when having painful cramps, my eyes started watering like crazy. It was the weirdest thing, and took up to 10 minutes before it stopped. This left me wondering, “What in the world could I have done?”
Turns out, while there isn’t a lot of evidence out there talking about it, menstrual blood is an avenue of toxin-dispelling. This article talks about the excretion of PFAS (microplastics) and while it’s a small bit, if it dispels PFAS’s then what else, I wonder? Certainly whatever dangers were in that Red40.
Now I’m just fine, energized and eating right, only consuming what I cook. While there’s always something to watch out for (like me not peeling potatoes for arsenic…), there’s big-ticket items that can’t be ignored.
Consider this. Obviously I had a tough time after having had so much Red40 intake, but what if I had only consumed little bits over time? Would I have noticed it? My theory is no, because I probably would’ve been gradually more tired without knowing the cause, for this reason:
Boiling Frog Syndrome
If you intake a little bit of poison every day, over time it’ll build-up, and you might gradually feel worse but not realize it, because of what’s called the boiling frog syndrome. There’s a discomfort, certainly, but we may think the cause is something else if the root cause isn’t apparent.
For example, if you’ve ever watched Alfred Hitchcock, there’s an episode where the maid wants to poison her employer (I think), and so she puts a lil’ arsenic into his coffee every morning. Over time, he feels a little less well, but doesn’t notice it. Now, I don’t really remember how it ends, but I believe the wife grew savyy about it- since it’s easier to notice changes in someone from the outside rather than if you were that person, and is able to stop it.
Note: Arsenic is an increasingly apparent element in food because of pesticides. This includes rice, which needs to be soaked and then rinsed multiple times, potato skins, coffee and beer. Well Water can also have traces because of the element having traces in the ground. However, it’s easier to test one’s Well for arsenic than your bottled water for microplastics.
Stopping future damage
Now that I’ve consumed Red40, probably stepped in a pesticide field or eaten pesticide-sprayed greens at some point, is there any way I can prevent cancer?
Yes! There are a lot of natural ways, including food that dispels toxin build-up and gets rid of any abnormal cells.
Exercise
There’s no better way than sweating out toxins. For this reason, I always take a cold shower after sweating so that my pores get closed up again (and I like cold showers :D).
Kombucha
While this is not medical advice, Kombucha has toxin-dispelling qualities. However, the storebought stuff doesn’t do it, only homemade. It’s actually possible for the natural bacteria in the air to make a SCOBY onto tea just sitting out. That’s what happened to grape juice I had in the fridge, except that it must’ve been the bacteria or yeast present in the grapes that turned it into kombucha. The stuff went from vinegar and now tastes like wine, what’d ya know? There’s your quick-n-dirty recipe for wine without 99% of the equipment marketed.
“Kombucha is also known as a powerful detoxifying agent, binding to the toxins present in the body and aiding in their expulsion.” - operafoods
Grapefruit
Little do people know that grapefruit is so powerful that you don’t want to have it during a cancer treatment, and that it can practically kill any cancer cells (however I saw an article that said something like it increases breast cancer? Strange contradiction)
“Antioxidants help reduce wear and tear on our cells and may even help prevent serious diseases such as cancer.” - hopkinsmedicine
Takeaway
While it’s easy to pick something up at the store and say, “I like it, I want it, I buy it,” it doesn’t mean the product is good for you. Often times, the less work that goes into a product means it’s healthier. For example, substituting Cocoa powder for Cacao powder (raw cocoa). Or Dark Roast coffee for Light Roast (will have to research on this) may significantly decrease the amount of heavy metal build-up, chemicals, among others. Most importantly, don’t wait until it’s too late to reflect on what might be secretly killing you.