Natural and Non-GMO Products I Love

In case you haven't heard, October is Non-GMO month. It's time that we bring more awareness to the problems of GMOs in our food and personal care products. Let me give you a little history of our own family's touch with GMOs. My husband works in route sales with a major snack foods corporation. We have always supported that company by buying their brand of snacks and goodies - after all, they do supply my husband's paychecks. The problem with those snacks is that most of them are made using GMOs - like corn, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, beet sugar, and the list goes on. Top all of that off with GMOs in other food products, even some of our favorite gluten-free goodies, and you have a recipe for a health disaster.

Almost two years ago, my then 14 year old son came down with a very dangerous auto-immune disease called Henoch-Schonlein Purpura. This disease attacks the body by inflammation centering mostly in the upper intestines and kidneys. It also mainly attacks children under the age of 14, but people even in their 60's have been known to get it. It is also considered to be rare, but, like other auto-immune diseases, is on the rise.

Our son's kidney took a big hit. We spent the first year dealing with this disease at a large children's hospital because none of the smaller hospitals would deal with it because of its severity. The kidneys are still damaged. Almost two years later, they are still leaking blood daily. He sees a nephrologist every 3 months in a large city downstate, 3 1/2 hours from our home. He used to have to go monthly. This is a daily fight and we don't really know what is just down the road. Our son has had 5 CT scans and several MRIs in the last two years (the last one a month ago when he had to have an emergency appendectomy). What is all of that radiation going to do? We can only hope and pray that cancer, another auto-immune disease, does not later develop.  

We, along with our son's doctors, spent a lot of time trying to pinpoint the trigger that caused this disease to flare as it did. The concurrence is now the vast amount of chemicals and bio-engineering in our food supply. I have always gardened, but now I focus on more than simply growing some of our own food. I try to buy organic or food that the labels clearly state are Non-GMO verified. Whatever we can do to protect ourselves is worth the extra trouble or cost. If I told you the medical expenses we have accumulated over the past two years, you would be shocked. Spending more on organic food is not that expensive when compared to 17 hospital visits in less than a year's time. I kid you not.

So.....with that background, I'd like to tell you of a few products that I have found to be useful and wholesome.

  Bee Friendly Skin Care sent me a coupon to try their skin care cream. This cream is mainly bee's wax and extra-virgin olive oil. I have been using it on my psoriasis and have had good results. I also use it on my body and my face. Wonderful stuff.

Muir Glen Organic tomatoes might be something you already know about. Did you know that they are enrolled in the Non-GMO Project? Yes! We had a horrible year growing tomatoes, so when I find Muir Glen on sale, I gobble them up. Something that struck me the last time I opened a can: They do not use BPA, a dangerous chemical, in the linings of their cans. Double yes!

Meijer Naturals are Non-GMO. They are slightly higher than their regular Meijer brand items, but the extra cost is worth it!

Frito-Lay's Simply Blue Corn Tostitos are gluten-free, organic, and Non-GMO. I love them!

There are lots of other healthier options out there; you simply have to look for them. Buy organic when you can and avoid GMOs as much as you can. Use the Non-GMO Verified shopping site.