Each journey is sparked by an initial idea or chain of events. I would like to take this blog in a different direction today, and share the events that led to my personal quest and interest in organic apparel. My journey toward a greener and more organic lifestyle began with a trip to the hospital.Since I was a teenager, I experienced some really painful and sometimes debilitating symptoms, including excruciating migraines, chest pains, heart flutters, stomach pains and muscular aches and pains. It would happen off and on and when it became unbearable, I would go to my doctor. And each time, after many uncomfortable tests, I was told there is nothing physically wrong with me. I felt like my family, friends and doctors looked at me and saw “hypochondriac” and that it was “all in my head”. I tried to stay positive about life and just tried to ignore the symptoms.
A few years ago, I had chest pains and a stifling heaviness and pressure in my chest. My doctor insisted that I go straight to the hospital. I was admitted, and while there, I had many tests, and again I was told that my heart was fine. That’s when I got curious. Something made me think about the Chinese food I had eaten for dinner the night before and also for lunch, right before the symptoms started. I kind of remembered something being said by a friend about something called msg….
I did some research and found a site about monosodium glutamate (msg). After reading some of the posts, I realized that the stories were just like mine. After years of living with the same symptoms I had, the posters cut msg out of their diet, and most of the symptoms went away. A light bulb went off in my head (fluorescent light of course!) and I immediately started reading all the information I could find on the subject. After much research, I started a quest to eliminate msg, aspartame, sulfites and caffeine from my diet. I started focusing on fresh real food, including meats, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. Little by little, one step at a time, I stopped eating fast food, most restaurant food, msg laden snack foods, soda pop, and frozen or canned processed foods. No more boxed or canned soups, store marinated meats, gravies or quick meal mixes. Guess what? My symptoms all went away, and I feel so much better now! Every once in awhile I will eat something by mistake and suffer the consequences. However, I now know that I am in control of how my body feels. When you fuel your body with fresh, pure, and organic foods as much as possible, you will reap the rewards with a new vitality. And a little inside info for you-when you cut out the msg, you develop your natural tasting abilities again, and truly enjoy natural flavors. The chemical taste of fast food and processed food is no longer pleasant.
The next logical step for me was to realize that our skin absorbs chemicals from everything we put on it: lotions, cosmetics, hair care, and also pesticides, chemicals and toxic dyes and inks used on our clothes. I started to look for organic cotton clothes for myself and my family, and that lead to our support of organic farming and organic apparel. I developed a new respect for the care of my own body, and also the earth that I was blessed with. That led me to make small, greener choices. We started Brand of the Free.net as a company that offered American made apparel, and then branched out to offer organic products because it was important to us to offer the best quality to our customers. I believe we can all make small changes to increase the quality of our lives and the world around us.
Hopefully my story will spark some curiosity and you will research what msg truly is, and how it affects you and your children. You will be amazed at how our food supply has been invaded. Please email me @ bmaluso@brandofthefree.net with any questions you may have, or leave a comment to share feedback and/or personal experiences.
MSG Info:
http://www.msgmyth.com/
http://www.msgtruth.org/
Brandofthefree.net Better Apparel for a Better World
www.twitter.com/blmaluso
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