With the increasing cost of foodstuffs, random recalls of so many products, and all the bad news about what's coming out of China, people are becoming more and more concerned with what's in their food.
For someone just learning about eating natural, a trip to the grocery can be overwhelming. Flip over any given canned good, or processed product and read the label. Ouch! What is all that stuff?
Food is expensive, and prices aren't getting any better. What's the harm in that 2 for $3.00 chip special, or those canned soups on sale for 79 cents each? Only your life! It's totally worth your health to buy whole foods and make dinner from scratch. Done carefully, your grocery bill can still stay with in the range of your budget. Sure eating more natural takes a little more time, but isn't the health of your family and the good example that will be set for your children surely be worth it?
Following is an article I copied from Natural News. It lists some common ingredients found on food labels and what they are all about. Next trip to the store, see how many things you recognize on the labels of the things you buy.
I taught my daughter, years ago when we 'went natural' about a lot of these things. I turned her loose in the cereal isle, and told her, find any cereal without these thing in it, and I will buy it for you. The first trip took well over 3 hours. WOW! What an exersize in patience, she was only 6 or 7.
Food is expensive, and prices aren't getting any better. What's the harm in that 2 for $3.00 chip special, or those canned soups on sale for 79 cents each? Only your life! It's totally worth your health to buy whole foods and make dinner from scratch. Done carefully, your grocery bill can still stay with in the range of your budget. Sure eating more natural takes a little more time, but isn't the health of your family and the good example that will be set for your children surely be worth it?
Following is an article I copied from Natural News. It lists some common ingredients found on food labels and what they are all about. Next trip to the store, see how many things you recognize on the labels of the things you buy.
I taught my daughter, years ago when we 'went natural' about a lot of these things. I turned her loose in the cereal isle, and told her, find any cereal without these thing in it, and I will buy it for you. The first trip took well over 3 hours. WOW! What an exersize in patience, she was only 6 or 7.
What's Really in Your Food?
If you want to stay healthy and out of the hospital,read ingredients labelsand make sure you avoid all these ingredients:
Acrylamides- Toxic, cancer-causing chemicals formed in foods whencarbohydratesare exposed to high heat (baking, frying, grilling). They're present in everything from bread crusts to snack chips, and because they aren't intentional ingredients, acrylamides do NOT have to be listed on labels.
Aspartame- Chemical sweetener that causes neurological disorders, seizures, blurred vision and migraine headaches. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030918_a...)
Autolyzed Proteins- Highly processed form of protein containingfree glutamateand used to mimic the taste-enhancer chemical MSG.
BPA (Bisphenol-A)- A hormone mimicking chemical found in nearly all food packaging plastics. Active in justparts per billion, BPA promotes cancer, infertility and hormone disorders. It also "feminizes" males, promoting male breast growth and hormone disruption (http://www.naturalnews.com/032860_B...).
Casein- Milk proteins. Hilariously, this is widely used in "soy cheese" products that claim to be alternatives to cow's milk. Nearly all of them are made with cow's milk proteins.
Corn Syrup- Just another name for High Fructose Corn Syrup (see below). Frequently used ininfant formulaproducts (http://www.naturalnews.com/029863_S...).
Food Colors- FD&C Red #40, for example, is linked to behavioral disorders in children. Nearly all artificial food colors are derived frompetroleum, and many are contaminated withaluminum.
Genetically Modified Ingredients- Not currently listed on the label because the GMO industry (Monsanto and DuPont) absolutely does not want people to know which foods contain GMOs. Nearly all conventionally grown corn, soy and cotton are GMOs. They're linked to severe infertility problems and may even cause the bacteria in your body to produce and release apesticidein your own gut. If you're not eating organic corn, you're definitely eating GMO corn. (http://www.naturalnews.com/026426_G...) Learn more atwww.ResponsibleTechnology.orgor watch myGMO music video(hilarious) atwww.NaturalNews.com/NoGMO
High Fructose Corn Syrup- A highly processed liquid sugar extracted with the chemical solventglutaraldehydeand frequently contaminated with mercury (http://www.naturalnews.com/032948_h...). It's also linked to diabetes, obesity and mood disorders. Used in thousands of grocery items, including things you wouldn't suspect like pizza sauce and salad dressings.
Homogenized Milk- The fats in the milk are artificially modified to change them into smaller molecules that stayin suspensionin the milk liquid (so the milk fat doesn't separate) (http://www.naturalnews.com/022967_m...). While it makes milk look better on the shelf, it's also blamed for promoting heart disease and may contribute to milk allergies.Raw milkis healthier, which is why the government had outlawed it (http://www.naturalnews.com/029322_r...).
Hydrochloride- When you seeanythinghydrochloride, such as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride or Thiamin Hydrochloride, those arechemical forms of B vitaminsthat companies add to their products to be able to claim higher RDA values of vitamins. But these are synthetic, chemical forms of vitamins, not real vitamins from foods or plants. Nutritionally, they are near-useless and may actually be bad for you. Also watch out forniacinamideandcyanocobalamin(synthetic vitamin B-12). (http://www.naturalnews.com/032766_c...)
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein- A highly processed form of (usually) soy protein that's processed to bring out the free glutamate (MSG). Use as a taste enhancer.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils- Oils that are modified using a chemical catalyst to make them stable at room temperature. This createstrans fatty acidsand greatly increases the risk of blocked arteries (http://www.naturalnews.com/027445_f...). It also promotes what I call "sludge blood," which is thick, viscous blood that's hard to pump. This is usually diagnosed by doctors as "high blood pressure" and (stupidly) treated with blood-thinning medications that are technically the same chemicals asrat poison(warfarin) (http://www.naturalnews.com/023149_d...).
Phosphoric Acid- The acid used in sodas to dissolve the carbon dioxide and add to the overall fizzy-ness of the soda. Phosphoric acid will eat steel nails. It's also used by stone masons to etch rocks. The military uses it to clean the rust off battleships. In absolutely destroys tooth enamel (http://www.naturalnews.com/021774.html). Search Google Images for "Mountain Dew Mouth" to see photos of teeth rotted out by phosphoric acid:http://www.google.com/search?q=moun...
Propylene Glycol- A liquid used in the automotive industry to winterize RVs. It's also used to make thefake blueberriesyou see in blueberry muffins, bagels and breads. (Combined with artificial colors and corn syrup.) See shocking "Fake Blueberries" video at:http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=7...
Sodium (Salt)- The processed white salt lacking in trace minerals. In the holistic nutrition industry, we call it "death salt" because it promotes disease and death. Real salt, on the other hand, such as "dirty" sea salt or pink Himalayan salt, is loaded with the trace minerals that prevent disease, such as selenium (cancer), chromium (diabetes) and zinc (infectious disease). Much like with bread and sugar,white saltis terrible for your health. And don't be fooled by claims of "sea salt" in grocery stores. All salt came from the sea if you go far back enough in geologic time, so they can slap the "sea salt" claim on ANY salt!
Sodium Nitrite- A cancer-causing red coloring chemical added to bacon, hot dogs, sausage, beef jerky, ham, lunch meats, pepperoni and nearly all processed meats. Strongly linked to brain tumors, pancreatic cancers and colon cancers (http://www.naturalnews.com/007024.html). The USDA once tried to ban it from the food supply but was out-maneuvered by the meat industry, which now dominates USDA regulations. Sodium nitrite is a complete poison used to make meats look fresh. Countless children die of cancer each year from sodium nitrite-induced cancers.
Soy Protein- The No. 1 protein source used in "protein bars," including many bars widely consumed by bodybuilders. Soy protein is the "junk protein" of the food industry. It's made from genetically modified soybeans (often grown in China) and then subjected tohexane, a chemical solvent (http://www.naturalnews.com/026303_s...) that can literally explode.
Sucralose- An artificial chemical sweetener sold asSplenda. The sucralose molecule contains achlorineatom (http://www.naturalnews.com/027491_a...). Researchers have repeatedly found that artificial sweetenersmake people fatby actually promoting weight gain (http://www.naturalnews.com/024543_h...).
Sugar- The bleached, nutritionally-deficient byproduct of cane processing. During sugar cane processing, nearly all the minerals and vitamins end up in theblackstrap molassesthat's usually fed to farm animals. (Blackstrap molasses is actually the "good" part of sugar cane juice.) Molasses is often fed to farm animals because every rancher knows that farm animals need good nutrition to stay alive. Amazingly, conventional doctors don't yet realize this about humans, and they continue to claim that eating sugar is perfectly fine for you. Sugar promotes diabetes, obesity, mood disorders and nutritional deficiencies.
Textured Vegetable Protein- Usually made ofsoy proteinwhich is extracted from genetically modified soybeans and then processed usinghexane, an explosive chemical solvent (see Soy Protein, above). Widely used in vegetarian foods such as "veggie burgers" (most of which also contain MSG or Yeast Extract, by the way).
Yeast Extract- Hidden form of MSG that containsfree glutamateand is used in many "natural" food products to claim "No MSG!" Yeast extract contains up to 14% free glutamate. You'll find it in thousands of grocery store products, from soups to snack chips. I even once spotted it used on fresh meat!
Food label tricks Here's a trick food companies frequently used to pack more sugar into their products without making sugar look like the first ingredient:
Ingredient labels, you see, must list the most prominent ingredients first, and some consumers might freak out of they saw a box of cereal that said, "Sugar, whole grain wheat, corn" and so on. Instead, the company uses 3 or 4 different forms of sugar to distribute them farther down the label, like this:
"Whole grain wheat, sugar, corn syrup, corn syrup solids..."
This way, the first ingredients looks like "whole grain wheat" when, in reality, the cereal might beover fifty percent sugars!
How to buy honest food• Shop are your local farmer's market, food co-op or CSA.
• In the USA, look for the USDA Organic label on foods. This is a legitimate claim to being certified organic. It's one of the few programs run by the USDA that actually has integrity.
• Read the ingredients labels! If you see names of chemicals you can't pronounce, don't buy it.
• Buy more unprocessed food ingredients and make your own meals rather than buying ready-to-eat, processed foods, which are almost universally formulated with disease-promoting ingredients.
• GROW some of your own food! The best food you can ever eat is food from your own garden.
Learn more:http://www.NaturalNews.com/033162_food_ingredients_chemicals.html#ixzz1TVU0k9aY
