How to survive the madness of hormones and chemicals in food

Mad cow disease, animals fed animals, hormones and chemicals: all of this is frustrating for anyone trying to maintain a Halal and healthy diet for themselves and their families.

But don't give up! There are ways to get around the challenges faced in trying to eat right. Let's safeguard our food chain. Here are some ideas:

1. Ban Feeding Animals to Animals: Become a part of a Safe Food Movement

Please be a part of the movement by signing a petition to force our policy makers to safeguard human food supply. What is being done right now is not enough. And consumers need to put pressure on our leaders to improve the situation. 

2. Go natural or organic

Both organic and natural foods ensure that feed given to animals is exclusively vegetarian. They also ensure that no hormones are used in the animals. Of course, this means that they cost a little more than most of the meat on the market. But given the quality of the food, it's worth its price.

3. Consume other types of meat

Cows and beef given hormones and meat based proteins to fatten them up quickly. They are fattened up to have more meat that is sellable. Consider consuming more lamb and goat meat (mutton).

4. A perfect time to try a vegetarian diet

If the mad cow crisis has you thinking about giving up meat, now's the perfect time to incorporate more vegetarian foods into your meals, or to try a vegetarian diet. You'll be amazed at the variety of delicious foods now available and the multitude of health benefits.

5. Go cold turkey on the beef

If you want to be really radical, quit eating beef completely. That means not only avoiding beef you buy at the local Halal grocer, but also hamburger patties, hot dogs, salami, and bologna, for instance. Eat chicken and other sources of protein.

6. Learn more about what is in your food

Reading ingredient of what you eat is more important today then before. Allocate some time to this learning process. You may be surprised with what you learn. For example one chemical L-cysteine which is used by food industry is derived from human hair.

7. Learn how to cook yourself

Nowadays, you can find recipes that are really easy to prepare on the web that are Halal and healthy. While cooking your own food versus relying on prepackaged or processed food items may take a little more time, it is worth the effort. You'll be in control of what you and your family consume and you'll be protecting everyone from ingesting what's Haram (forbidden according to Islamic law) and harmful.

"Cow Portrait (5568076904)" by Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia - Cow PortraitUploaded by russavia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cow_Portrait_(5568076904).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Cow_Portrait_(5568076904).jpg