Ever wonder what all those chemicals in your food are? Many of those scientific-sounding names are actually preservatives. You know, those food additives to ensure that tasty (and generally non-nutritious) food does not spoil on the shelf.

Is food meant to spoil fast? Sure it is -- but in the world of processed and packaged foods loaded with taste enhancers and other chemicals, shelf life is the top concern -- not inclusion of healthy ingredients. Well, most of the time anyway.

Preservatives like formaldehyde are known by many to be carcinogens and cancer-causing agents in large-enough doses. My advice? Take about four or five of those processed foods from the pantry and type in each individual ingredient into your favorite search engine and begin researching what each one is. Ever see items like Sodium Nitrite? BHT? Blue Lake 4? Sodium Benzoate? Some are preservatives and others are not -- but knowing what you're putting in your body every day is an empowering thing. If you've ever suffered from cancer, it's an imperative thing.

Are we living in a toxic environment? The experts at Canyon Ranch ask us to consider these facts:

• The EPA estimates that 4.7 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the environment annually.
• It's likely that 25 percent of the U.S. population suffers from some level of heavy metal poisoning.
• Fourteen pounds of food colorings, additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, and flavorings are consumed per person each year.

Toxic? Maybe. At minimum, though, we are living in a world filled with chemicals, pesticides, additives, preservatives, antibiotic and hormone residues, and heavy metals. Whether consumed, inhaled, or absorbed, our bodies soak this stuff up. In order to reduce the load, and the toll it takes it takes on our health, there's something we can do. We can eat clean. Here's how:

Keeping cancer and other diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and more might be as simple as the choice we make in keeping toxins out of our bodies and stress out of our minds. Think about all of the money poured into medicines, which are chemicals, that only treat certain symptoms. And most of the time create other side effects that we have to take more medicines for that in turn create more side effects, and on and on. You see where I am going.

What if only a part of the millions and millions of dollars poured into research on medicines, was put to use in educating the public on the right choices of foods and nutrition to put into our bodies to keep them healthy and to learn how to relax and quit putting so many demands on ourselves. What if more funding went into organic farming instead of mass, quick produced, with fertilizers and steroids for faster turn around on the products. Personally I have had so many chemicals blasted into my body from chemo and radiation, and medicines for this and medicines for that, I am about to think that all of that is only hurting my body more. Are we brain washed to believe that we have to have a pill for everything?

My community does not have a health food store that sells fresh organic produce or meats. And the local grocery stores carry very limited amounts of those items. I did take it upon myself to talk to one of the produce managers who did start ordering some other variety of organic vegetables which I thought was nice. And it seemed to catch on with some other customers too. Maybe the trend in that store will be to start ordering more organic products.

I will be posting a series of blogs on personal research that I am doing and trying out, just because I am sick and tired, literally, of fighting cancer that reoccurs and using medicines that are ripping my body apart leaving my immune system even more at risk for infection and disease.

But the one thing that I want to emphasize in this blog right now, is to STOP EATING processed and canned foods. It may be quicker to heat up a can of food or something already processed and pre-made for us, but it is not healthier. Eating fresh organic vegetables and home made prepared foods without chemical preservatives and other additives is the way to go to start getting some of those toxins out of our bodies. If you can't find fresh in something, because seasons play a big part in our fresh vegetable selections, purchase frozen. Also purchase dried beans or other dried items and cook them instead of buying canned ones. They are healthier than canned. Eating raw vegetables or slightly steamed vegetables is more healthy because the vitamins and nutrients do not cook out of the food.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Bare Escentuals, a company that offers a makeup line of products made from 100 percent pure bareMinerals -- free of preservatives, talc, oil, fragrance and other skin irritants -- will be featuring a limited edition Pink Passion Rose Radiance Collection.

According to Bare Escentuals, all profits from the three-piece collection -- i.d. bareMinerals Rose Radiance All-Over Face Color, i.d. Rose Radiance Lip Gloss and the i.d. Heavenly Face Brush -- are going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

In an effort to celebrate mothers, daughters, girlfriends and women everywhere as they embrace life, renew hope and fulfill their dreams Bare Escentuals encourages all women to Think Pink this October.

According to the company website, Bare Escentuals began thirty years ago to create a feather-light makeup as a solution to the heavy look and feel of traditional foundations. While beneficial for most women, the makeup line is especially designed for women with skin sensitivities, allergies, scars, blemishes, rosacea, wrinkles and pigmentation. Bare Escentuals CEO Leslie Blodgett uses real women with real skin problems to be the company's beauty spokesmodels.

Bare Escentuals Pink Passion Rose Radiance Collection will be available during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month from Sephora locations nationwide. To learn more about the makeup products offered and the special Pink Passion Rose Radiance Collection, visit Bare Escentuals.