Are You in Love with Your Burger?

Burgers. They taste so good. But then again, they were designed that way. Are you a victim of burger slavery? Can you go a day or a week without eating at your favorite fast food joint? How about those chips, cookies or caffeinated designer drinks? Perhaps your ego is arguing in your defense, “I love my burgers and junk food, they’re not that bad. Besides, food is the only vice I have.”

Would your junk food habits change if the addictive taste and commercial advertising were gone? What if you knew what was really in the “food” you’re eating. Would it matter?

I’m not here to persuade you to change your eating habits. But I am hoping you’ll hear this loud enough to drown out your ego’s constant demands and cravings. Come to your senses, and keep reading. There are some things you may not know. Are you ready? Keep listening, here it comes.

Let’s look at one of America’s favorite foods:

Hamburgers

Ideally, most of us picture a happy cow frolicking in a pasture. Living out its life as a blissfully ignorant beast here to be served up as hamburgers, steaks, etc. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The delicious part maybe, but their short lives are anything but serene and blissful.

Hamburger meat, the dregs of beef, once relegated to dog food and tallow manufacture by the beef processing industry, is now in your burger. Not just your burger, kids get it in public schools, its sold in grocery stores and served at fine restaurants.

What makes your burger so bad?

Ammonia- This toxic chemical is used to wash off the e.coli. No, water doesn’t rinse it off, it’s in the meat too. It's listed as a chemical that causes burns and is harmful if swallowed. (!) No, I'll pass on the ammonia thank you. I just found out it's in A LOT of processed foods. Another reason to eat real food. You know, the stuff our bodies were designed to eat.

Pink Slime- Sludge like ingredient made up of ground-up beef “trimmings” and ammonium hydroxide, which gives hamburger its pink hue. This stuff got a lot of bad press a while back. Seems people have a short memory.

Antibiotics- Cows raised in CAFOs are given antibiotics to make them gain weight whether they are sick or not. For you visual types, you can get the picture right here at Mercola M.D. Meat eating is the number one reason antibiotics aren’t working and many are dying every day. Dangerous bacteria are resistant because every time you eat a burger (non-organic) you are eating the antibiotic too (and there's LOTS in meat). This US government website has a nifty infograph that shows how what you eat (meat) becomes you and creates antibiotic resistance. Meat eating is also the number one cause of global warming. Not cars, as most people think.

Growth Hormones- These don’t do your body any favors. And no, you’re not going to get buffed up. Cancer, premature puberty (if you're a child), infertility maybe, but not bigger muscles.

Looks like you’re getting more than you bargained for in that “cheap burger.” And that’s not the half of it. Here’s the Real Cost of Cheap Food.

Next time you crave a burger think about what it really is. Is the taste sensation worth harming your body? Will your ego win out against your common sense? Want to know why you crave burgers, and other junk foods? It isn’t by accident and surely not because you instinctively know it’s the best thing to do. Here it is. The million-dollar scheme, and guess what? You’re funding it!

Since 2003, Meatrix has educated over 30 million consumers about the problems caused by factory farms. Since then, interest in sustainable food has grown - but so have the number of factory farms.

Want to eat a “real burger?" Consider these options: locally grown organic, pasture-raised beef, your local co-op, or purchase organic hamburger at your local market. If you’re in the U.S., check out www.eatwellguide.org for a list of farms in your area.

And remember, you eat what you eat, ate.

Kilr Kravings: The good, the bad, the inconceivable…