Nutritional Nasties

After my husband Joe had his first massive heart attack, I became very concerned about nutrition. In fact, I went so far as to take courses in vegetarianism in order to help us both become more healthy. One of the most important things I learned to do is read the labels on food packages.  Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what they put in the food we eat.

Make a point of reading not only the chart with the ratios of calories, and fats, etc. but

look underneath and see what the ingredients are. 

The first ingredient is always in the largest quantity.

 

In searching for pictures of nutrition labels, I could not find samples that show the ingredients.  So I took some photos of my own.  Notice that the ingredients may be found at the bottom of the chart or possibly somewhere on the side.

 

My samples are a fudge brownie mix and canned applesauce.

These are institution-sized containers from the High Country Senior Center’s kitchen.

·         Notice the applesauce is nothing but apples, water, and apple juice from concentrate.  Most applesauce you find in the grocery store is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

·         The brownie mix contains Sugar, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, cocoa (processed with alkali) eggs, salt, artificial flavor, sodium bicarbonate

With all the chemicals and compounds used today, one needs to be especially careful.  Are you aware that there are hunmdreds of additives that can be legally put in your food?

I am convinced that one of the reasons our children today have colds they can’t shake and deadly allergies to certain foods is a consequences of the additives.

Why are additives put in our foods?

• Manufactures have a vested interest in getting the FDA to allow their product into our diet.
• Their lobbyists spend millions of dollars per year to get bills passed allowing these products.
• Some additives are thickening agents.
• Their purpose is to produce a product that uses less of the more expensive natural ingredient.  There is more concern about increasing a profit margin than in genuine concern for our health.
• Cheap is good - chemicals are cheaper than real food. 
• Some items we eat don’t even have food in them. They are nothing but an amalgamation of chemicals.  At least FDA requires that you cannot use the name of a food in a product unless it is in there somewhere.  For example, if you go to Wendy’s and buy a “Frosty”, you are not buying a chocolate MILK shake.  The word MILK is not in the name because there is no dairy or milk in it.  Nothing but chemicals.
• Some additives are addictive.
• High fructose corn syrup, for example is extremely addictive.  It is put in nearly every canned food on the shelf.  Literally every children’s cereal on the market is heavily laced with high fructose corn syrup. The manufacturers have addicted us to its sweetness, yet more harm caused by high fructose corn syrup than white sugar. Why is it that we need high fructose corn syrup in canned corn, nearly every canned fruit, nearly every beverage, and a high percentage of vegetables on the shelves?  It isn’t because they are healthy for us, but because when we become addicted to the product, we will continue to buy more.
• Some additives supposedly ‘improve’ the food in some way. 
• For example, anti caking agents are added to flour, sugar and salt. Why? Because it keeps those foods from clumping up in humid weather. One wonders if the convenience of pre-sifted flour is worth the potential risk to our health.

Take a look at Carageenan:

• In order to make it go farther, Carrageenan is an extract from red seaweed usually added to cottage cheese and yogurt.  You are paying for a gelling agent which reduces the amount of milk a manufacturer needs to put in the product. It is called a ‘natural’ food because it is made from seaweed. Why do we need red seaweed in our dairy products?

For starters, here is a link to a list of food additives.

There are some 300 additives here. Skim over the list and become familiar with most of them and why they are used. I made a printout (23 pages) and keep it with my shopping book.

 

http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/food-additives

 

Sometimes it becomes a matter of juggling one’s toxins and trying to find the lesser of the evils foisted upon us by the food industry.

Over time I will be sharing with you information about foods I’ve noticed can harm us more than help us.

You are invited to point out Nutritional Nasties you have found.