Free From Harm

In today’s world of soaring profits for the food industry, the stakes are extremely high. The rise of the soy products market threatens the traditional meat and dairy markets by providing the health conscious consumer with a brilliant solution: a product that is high in protein and other nutrients yet very low in fat and devoid of cholesterol. What’s more, it is “cruelty-free” and has a modest environmental footprint relative to meat and dairy products. … READ ON

There is just one essential nutrient that was believed to be absent in the plant kingdom: Vitamin B12. But recent studies are confirming that B12 is present to varying degrees in raw mushrooms, according to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. At the Centre for Plant and Food Science in Sydney, Australia, researchers concluded that B12 was present to varying degrees in the same form as found in foods traditionally known to be high in B12 such as beef, beef liver, salmon, egg, and milk. It is believed that a healthy bacteria forming on the surface of the mushroom caps results in a higher concentration of B12. The bacteria is believed to be present in the soil which would explain why it is most present on the surface of unwashed mushroom caps. … READ ON

In 1976, when I was 10-year-old, my father died of cancer at age 49 after struggling for two years with the illness. It was a slow and painful process and yet one that was completely preventable. He was a heavy smoker. Even back then the dangers of smoking were well documented. What was not widely known or understood at that time was that there is another major source of carcinogens concentrated in the animal fats that factor heavily in the American diet. Today numerous studies are pointing to a fundamentally important discovery: cancer thrives in the fat tissue of animals and humans. The chemical pesticides, some of which have been banned for decades, are associated with increased cancer risk as well as a host of other health concerns, such as hormone disruption.
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According to the nutrition website nutritiondata.com, beef sirloin has six grams of protein per ounce while blanched almonds also have six grams of protein per ounce also. Almonds also contain six percent of the RDA for iron, while beef sirloin contains just two percent. Almonds have a high level of healthy fats while beef has a high level of unhealthy, saturated fats. … READ ON

Ever felt like you couldn’t give up cheese? Ever think it might actually be a drug? The surprising news is that as far back as the 1980′s researchers have known that cheese contains trace amounts of morphine. In 1981, Eli Hazum and his colleagues at Wellcome Research Laboratories reported traces of the chemical morphine, a highly addictive opiate. It turns out that morphine is found in cow milk and human milk, purportedly to ensure offspring will bond very strongly with their mothers and get all the nutrients they need to grow. … READ ON

Free from Harm founder and editor, Robert Grillo, recounts his personal journey with food and reflects on the last two years since the freefromharm.org web site launch. In this time Free from Harm has published over 75 artciles and attracted over 25,000 unique visitors. What is the inmpact of our food choices? How can we use this as a powerful tool to help all social justice causes? … READ ON