I think this is going to be one of my favorite posts!! We tend not to read labels, regardless if it is for the nutrition content or if it is for the ingredients we are ingesting in our bodies. I am not going to concentrate so much on description of the label today, however I am going to focus on the ingredients commonly listed on a label under nutrition facts. Here are a few common ingredients you should watch out for and be aware of:
Carrageenan: This is a very common ingredient found in products such as almond milks, beers, toothpastes, soy milk, pet foods, shoe polish, diet sodas, etc. The Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives states that, "based on the information available, it is inadvisable to use carrageenan or processed eucheuma seaweed in infant formulas". This is extracted from red seaweed that have cancer causing agents.
Cochineal/Carmine:This is commonly found in anything red, such as strawberry, rose, beet, flavorings, colorings etc. You ready to know what it is? It is ground up BEETLES. Yes, bugs! It is common to be found in yogurt, ice cream, fruit juices, etc. It could be labeled as natural color or color added but not necesarily on the "ingredient list."
Gelatin: Most people know this ingredient also known as Jell-O. It is very common in anything with 'gel' such as yogurt, gummy bears, gummy worms, jellybeans, desserts, vitamin supplements, marshmallows. What is gelatin? It is the connective tissue on animals and humans for joints, muscles, etc. Kinda gross thinking we eat foods with animal parts that's not even a meat.
This is a very short list. I could go on for days with this list. For other ingredients you want to avoid, would be high fructose corn syrup, white refined flours, white sugar (bleached/use charred animal bones to grind), brown sugar (molasses mixed with white sugar), artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame, splenda, sweet n low, nutrasweet), hydrogenated ANYTHING (this is transfat, regardless if something says transfat free), trans fat (artificially made fats), MOST saturated fats (if it is in fruits/vegetables-they are actually GOOD saturated fats-like avocadoes/coconuts), anything that says it has anything artificial in the product, most gums (they have rubber-the same rubber used to make other products), BHT, any types of acid (phosphoric, citric, ascorbic).
This boils all the way down to KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS, READ YOUR LABELS, EDUCATE YOURSELF. Processed foods are full of junk that we are ingesting in our body. It could be linked to headaches, diabetes, cancer, stopped periods, impotence, hair loss, anemia, symptoms you have but yet have no explanation for. Never count out your diet as a factor to your health. Are you surprised by any of this? Are there ingredients you have always questioned but were to afraid to ask about?
Thank you for reading my 2nd post,
God Bless
Jennifer Butz