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Need To Know

Protein and Meal Replacement Bars: Are They Acually Healthy?

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barscollage

Instagram has really opened my eyes to just how many people love their bars. I can’t go a day without seeing numerous people posting pictures of their bar of choice, and quite honestly it makes me want to scream. Somehow food manufacturers have duped a portion of the “health food” community into consuming these less then ideal products, all while believing they are doing something really good for their body. Right now, I’m going to set the record straight about these products, and why you might want to rethink consuming them.

The Protein Problem


First, I should mention Americans love over consuming protein. While it is essential to our bodies, and helps people loose fat and gain muscle, it isn’t a replacement for eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I feel people are so protein focused, they forget that not every source of protein is created equal. A good portion of protein and meal replacement bars are made from soy protein isolate, a highly refined soy byproduct that is likely GMO and has been stripped of any good health benefits. Essentially they take everything good about soy away and leave you with just the protein, hence the name soy protein isolate. This doesn’t sound so bad, however nothing that is highly processed is a good thing. It is like comparing an organic grass-fed strip steak to a McDonald’s hamburger. There is a huge difference in how our body’s process these two vastly different products. If you are choosing to go the protein bar route, eliminate any bars using this unhealthy protein.

The Sugar Problem

I have no idea why, but consumers have decided everything should be dessert-like, including their protein and meal replacement bars. Think of it this way, if your bar wasn’t loaded with sugar and called “cookie dough” would you be as inclined to purchase it? What if it was called broccoli casserole? And more importantly, why is your snack or meal dessert based? This is one of the biggest problems with these products, the amount of added sugars in them. Companies have started going the organic route, but even evaporated cane juice and organic sugars are added sugars. Sure, they aren’t as bad as their refined counterparts but added sugar is still sugar that doesn’t need to be there. There are ways to get protein without added 3-4 teaspoons of sugar on top of it, which is exactly what we do when we consume these products.

The “Fake Stuff” Problem

Not only do these products contain a ton of added sugars, some of them contain FAKE sugars. You see, diet companies don’t want to add calories to these bars because they have to give you the illusion you are consuming something healthy. For this reason they use sucralose (aka fake sugar)  instead of real sugar to make your bar dessert-like without adding calories. On top of the sucralose,  they have to add fake flavors to make your highly refined soy treat taste like something. Soy and whey don’t typically taste like cookie dough or brownies so this illusion has to come from somewhere, and unfortunately most of the time we don’t even know what they use to  flavor these products because the flavorings are listed as “natural” flavors or “artificial” flavors. Not only do they have to artificially flavor your bar, they also have to color it. I’ve seen artificial food dyes and caramel coloring in a majority of these bars. Again, its all an illusion.

The Problems With These Popular Brands

To make this really simple here is a quick cheat sheet of brands with a  list of questionable ingredients

1. Muscle Milk– Contains soy protein isolate as well as a few other forms of soy. Likely GMO, also has mono and diglycerides which is a potential hidden source of trans fats.

2. Special K Protein Bars- This is one of the worst offenders! Contains trans fats listed as the first ingredient, controversial preservative polysorbate 60, preservative TBHQ, another form of trans fat, highly refined cottonseed and  canola oils, a ton of soy byproducts, and lastly refined sugars. Do yourself a favor and stay away from any of the garbage Special K makes!

3. Nature’s Valley Protein Bars– Contains soy protein isolate, highly refined canola oil, soy lecithin, and “natural flavors”. Also likely GMO.

4. Quest Protein Bars- While these aren’t quite as bad as the others, they still contain sucralose aka fake sugars which should be avoided at all costs. They also contain “natural flavors”.

5. Think Thin Bars- I might hate these the most because they are putting the word thin on their package. They contain soy protein isolate, malitol (fake sugars), and “Natural Flavors”.

6. Clif Energy Bars- While Clif’s ingredient list is HUGE, they do use some organic ingredients. However, the FIRST ingredient in their white chocolate macadamia nut bar is SUGAR! There is also one ingredient they are using that is NOT organic, and that is the soy protein isolate. GMO much Clif? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Do not fool yourself into this illusion, these bars are nothing more then a dessert.

7. Clif Builder’s Bars- Same thing as their energy bars, one of the only non-organic ingredients is soy protein isolate. They are also using “natural flavors” and a ton of sugar.

8. Powerbar– Uses soy protein isolate, malitol (fake sugars), highly refined canola oil, and “natural flavors”. Also likely GMO.

9. MET- Rx Big 100 Meal Replacement Bar- Not using soy protein isolate, however they are using high fructose corn syrup, regular corn syrup, “natural flavors”, a few other forms of sugar, and highly refined and likely GMO canola oil.

10. Simply Protein Bar- soy protein isolate

11. Luna Bar– soy protein isolate, “natural flavors”, loaded with added sugars

12. Pro-Bar Meal- this bar claims to be the “real food” answer to meal replacement bars. While it does have some good ingredients, the FIRST ingredient is added sugars! One bar contains 17 grams of sugar, that’s over 4 teaspoons a bar!!

13. Slim Fat Meal Replacement Bar- This one rates up there with the Special K Bar. I don’t know what isn’t in this thing! It contains soy protein isolate, sulfites, corn syrup, “natural and artificial flavors”, caramel color, real sugar, fake sugar, and tons of really long unknown ingredients. RUN AWAY FROM THIS!!!!

14. Skinny Girl Protein Bars- I have to say, I’ve been wanting to rip this product apart for a long time. Bethanny loved to promote “health” stuff all over her show, but it was obvious she had no idea what she was talking about. I did like her show, but when it came to the food portion she was just lost. Funny because she chooses to put the word “skinny” on a product that is horrible for you. Remember, you might be skinny on the outside, but are you healthy on the inside? This product contains soy protein isolate, soy, “natural flavors” and is likely GMO.

15. Kind Bars- The only thing I can find here is the soy lecithin is likely GMO. They specifically label another ingredient as Non-GMO but do not say their soy lecithin is Non-GMO, which can only mean one thing… its GMO. These do have added sugar but the main source of added sugar is honey which is less refined then some others.

Alternatives

Here’s the thing… we need to stop relying on processed bars and start relying on real food to meet our nutritional goals. With the exception of maybe the Kind Bars, I would not rate any of these as real food, or  “healthy” options. Meals aren’t supposed to be refined soy disguised as a dessert, but somehow this is where our food supply has lead us. If you’ve regularly been consuming these products I would recommend replacing them with other protein rich options. Here are a few protein rich ideas:

  • Raw nuts and seeds
  • Plain Greek Yogurt with raw honey
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Beans, bean dips (hummus, white bean dip)
  • Shredded Chicken (Roast a whole chicken, pull the meat, and store in refrigerator for quick use)
  • Nut Butters
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli
  • Milk

Choose one of these options and add fresh fruits and veggies for a healthy meal or snack that isn’t just an illusion!

 

 

 

The Ultimate Guide To Avoiding Genetically Modified Foods

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notogmo


As a consumer I am very conscious of purchasing foods that are NOT genetically modified. There are many factors that contribute to my family’s decision to not consume these foods and here is a link to The Non-GMO Project explaining what GMO foods are, facts and myths about them, and a ton of other great information. I could go over all of it, but I’d like this post to focus on how to avoid them, not why I avoid them.  Here are the steps my family took in removing GMO’s from our household:

1. Know the Source

To cut GMO’s from your household first you have to know which foods are genetically modified. Here is a list of the biggest GMO crops in The United States:

  • Corn

  • Soy

  • Cottonseed

  • Alfalfa

  • Papaya

  • Canola

  • Sugar Beets

  • Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash

  • Dairy treated with rBst

The list looks small, but if you go through your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and read ingredient lists you will start to realize these 8 crops are in almost ALL packaged foods. Even foods that appear to be “healthy” still can contain GMO ingredients. If you are serious about avoiding GMO’s it is very important to cook from scratch or find verified products (will discuss that later).

2. Know Hidden Sources

It is easy to read the words “soybean oil” and know a product contains GMO ingredients. However, there are other food ingredients and additives that are labeled using different names that can be hidden sources of GMO’s. The best thing to do is look over this list, make a mental note, and start reading packages. Thanks to the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, here is a list of ingredients to look out for:
Aspartame (also called AminoSweet®,    NutraSweet®, Equal Spoonful®, Canderel®,  BeneVia®, E951)
baking powder
canola oil (rapeseed oil)
caramel color
cellulose
citric acid
cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
colorose
condensed milk
confectioners sugar
corn flour
corn masa
corn meal
corn oil
corn sugar
corn syrup
cornstarch
cottonseed oil
cyclodextrin
cystein
dextrin
dextrose
diacetyl
diglyceride
erythritol
Equal
food starch
fructose (any form)
glucose
glutamate
glutamic acid
glycerides
glycerin
glycerol
glycerol monooleate
glycine
hemicellulose
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
hydrogenated starch
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
inositol
inverse syrup
inversol
invert sugar
isoflavones
lactic acid
lecithin
leucine		 lysine
malitol
malt
malt syrup
malt extract
maltodextrin
maltose
mannitol
methylcellulose
milk powder
milo starch
modified food starch
modified starch
mono and diglycerides
monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Nutrasweet
oleic acid
Phenylalanine
phytic acid
protein isolate
shoyu
sorbitol
soy flour
soy isolates
soy lecithin
soy milk
soy oil
soy protein
soy protein isolate
soy sauce
starch
stearic acid
sugar (unless specified as cane sugar)
tamari
tempeh
teriyaki marinades
textured vegetable protein
threonine
tocopherols (vitamin E)
tofu
trehalose
triglyceride
vegetable fat
vegetable oil
vitamin B12
vitamin E
whey
whey powder
xanthan gum

 

3. Buy Organic (Especially Meats and Dairy)

When you buy organic, you have the piece of mind of knowing there are no GMO ingredients in your food. This one really goes beyond packaged foods because if you haven’t realized yet, you are what you eat! If you are consuming animal products derived from animals consuming GMO’s, then you essentially are eating GMO’s. I know there are a ton of people who proclaim “Organic foods are the same as Non-Organic” and “It is all just a trick” and so on, but one thing they can’t argue against is scientific research. The fact is organic grass fed butter is higher in “healthy fats”, contains Vitamin k12, and contains more Omega-3 Fatty Acids then its counterpart. Don’t believe me? Check this out! Also, when you buy organic dairy you know the cows weren’t given any Monsanto engineered growth hormones.

Speaking of Growth Hormones…

I stay away from non-organic milk especially because I don’t agree with the way the animals are treated. As a mother who has nursed a baby (I know cows and humans are different but still) I can say it is NOT comfortable to have boobs full of milk. Most of these cows are given hormones to over-produce and then given anti-biotic to fight off the mastitis that comes with over-producing. Call me crazy but I’ve been there, and it is a terrible thing to suffer through. If that was all my life consisted of, it would be a painful, sad existence.

4. Look for Non-GMO Verified Products

nongmoverified

If you go through my pantry you will see this label on rice, cereals, lentils, beans, and many other products. I love this label, and even seek it more then the USDA Organic label. Thanks to the Non-GMO project companies who are not using GMO’s can verify their products. This is super important since the government refuses to make it mandatory for companies to label GMO ingredients. If you’d like to check out the verification process here is a link to how companies get verified.

5. Know the Companies Fighting to Keep Us in The Dark

This one is huge for me. Did you know that the companies who own most of the grocery store shelves (there are only a handful of them!) also spend millions of dollars a year to keep us in the dark? If they are a big name brand, they are probably on the list. I don’t support any of these companies essentially because when I buy their products I am putting my own money toward something I don’t agree with. If we stop giving these companies our money, they won’t have the funds to keep us in the dark. Believe me, we are a long way away from that ever happening simply because they have been confusing people about GMO foods from the start. If you can’t convince them, confuse them! And that’s exactly what they try to do! Here is the list of the companies who have previously fought GMO labeling (From Inspiration Green):

  • Monsanto

  • Dupont

  • PepsiCo Inc.

  • Coca-Cola

  • Nestle USA

  • General Mills

  • Bayer CropScience

  • Dow AgroSciences

  • BASF Plant Science

  • ConAgra Foods

  • Campbell’s Soup Co.

  • Hershey Company

  • Kellogg Co.

  • Land O’ Lakes

  • Cargill & Co.

  • Bimbo Bakeries (Sara Lee, BallPark)

  • Del Monte

  • Ocean Spray Cranberries

  • Hormel Foods

  • Kraft Foods

  • Heintz

  • Godiva

  • Mars

  • Sunny Delight

  • BumbleBee

  • Morton Salt

  • McCain

  • Rich’s

  • Wrigley

  • Smithfield

  • Goya

  • Welch’s

  • Abbott Nutrition (Similac Formula)

  • J.M. Smucker Co.

  • Unilever

  • And Many More!

There are also several other companies owned by these big names that you should check out on Inspiration Green (organic and natural food companies specifically).

6. Get The GMO Checker Apps

There are several apps available now that scan barcodes and can identify if the food has GMO’s in it. The one I have doesn’t always know, but they will e-mail you the results once they investigate it. I love this because it means all of these companies fighting against GMO labeling are eating all of their money now because people who really want to know can! When you begin investigating GMO ingredients you probably won’t even need the app but just incase I am unsure, or want to double check it is a great tool.

 

If you liked this information, Please SHARE IT! Nothing will ever change about our food supply until we as consumers take control!

Why Morningstar Burgers Are A Health Hazard

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What’s the Deal With Morningstar?

morningstar When I started reading ingredient labels I began thinking about the Morningstar Black Bean Burgers everyone hailed as the “healthier” alternative to beef. I had a sneaky suspicion they probably had some pretty bad ingredients in them, specifically GMO soy. Well, I was right! Here is a review of the ingredients:


WATER, COOKED BLACK BEANS (BLACK BEANS, WATER), COOKED BROWN RICE (WATER, BROWN RICE), ONION, WHOLE KERNEL CORN, CORN OIL, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, EGG WHITES, DICED TOMATOES, BULGUR WHEAT, GREEN CHILES, CALCIUM CASEINATE, CORNSTARCH, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF ONION POWDER, SPICES, TOMATO JUICE, YEAST EXTRACT, TOMATO POWDER, DEXTROSE, SALT, GARLIC POWDER, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (CORN GLUTEN, WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN), SOY SAUCE (SOYBEANS, WHEAT, SALT), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, PAPRIKA, JALAPENO PEPPER, CITRIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM, DISODIUM INOSINATE, THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, LACTIC ACID.

What these Ingredients Mean

  • Whole kernel corn- GMO
  • Brown Rice- Possible GMO
  • Corn Oil- Highly refined GMO oil
  • Soy protein concentrate- GMO
  • Cornstarch- GMO
  • Yeast Extract- Another form of Monosodium Glutamate of MSG (the Chinese food additive)
  • Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein- Another form of MSG
  • Natural and Artificial Flavors- Unknown ingredients
  • Disodium Inosinate- Another form of MSG
  • Caramel color- Potential carcinogen

Well looks like Morningstar loves their GMO’s and MSG’s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a product with 3 forms of MSG in it! Yes, rice and beans are bland but 3 forms of MSG? That’s what I call over-kill. If you thought these were a healthier alternative to beef, it is time to think again. These things are a GMO bomb, with a ton of MSG and potential carcinogens. There is NOTHING healthy about these. I don’t care if you are saving fat grams, I will take the fat over the GMO’s and everything else any day. We stay far, far away from GMO soy because I refuse to allow my family to be used as lab rats. GMO soy in particular has been repeatedly linked to sterility, infant mortality, and birth defects. If any of the experiments they have done so far are true, things are looking very scary for our future. I will NOT support companies using GMO ingredients, and Morningstar is no exception. If you’d like to know more about GMO’s here is a really helpful article from NationofChange.org.

If you like these and want to make your own instead, try my Spicy Black Eyed Pea Burgers.

The Scary Direction The Health of our Children Is going in

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drugs-01 I’m sure you have heard… obesity is an epidemic. We have all heard that phrase at one time or another because it is pretty common knowledge that Americans are overweight.  We have seen the commercials about “getting active” and watched Michelle Obama frolic on the White House lawn with a group of kids. We have watched the NFL “Play 60” campaign spots of athletes and kids playing football together. I would call this the very glamorous side of the obesity epidemic because the kids I know aren’t doing Yoga with Michelle or playing football with Peyton. They are regular kids in middle class families who have practically been force fed highly processed food since the day they were born. Their little bodies have been pumped with genetically modified soy, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, trans fat, refined sugar and flour all disguised as food.  Their parents haven’t even noticed what they are actually eating. Why? Because they don’t read ingredient labels.

Here are some very alarming facts about obesity in America from the American Heart Association’s website that every parent should know:

  • Around 23.9 million children in America are overweight or obese
  • 1 in 3 children or teens are overweight or obese, a rate that has tripled in the past 30 years
  • Obesity in children is causing health problems previously unseen in children including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and elevated blood cholesterol levels
  • Being overweight at a young age is linked to earlier death rates in adulthood
  • Overweight children are likely to have low self-esteem, negative body image issues, and depression
  • The current generation of children is the first in two centuries expected to NOT outlive their parents… yes it is being predicted our children will NOT outlive us
  • In our own lifetime 1 in 3 Americans will have type 2 diabetes
  • Obesity will soon surpass smoking as the #1 killer of Americans

I look at these facts and know that I want more for my children. You can classify me as “weird” and even tell me how great your health is even though you have been eating highly processed foods for your entire life. You can reminisce about all the crappy food you ate as a child, but the fact is food has drastically changed since the 1990’s. When we were kids HFCS wasn’t in nearly all drinks marketed to children and sugar beets weren’t genetically modified. So yes, things have changed! Nothing will convince me that consuming these foods is good for anyone.

I discussed the glamorization of the “getting active” campaigns that have been making headlines lately, and while I think these are a step in the right direction, they are missing the biggest issue. Michelle Obama is exercising in one commercial and talking about being “healthy” at Subway in another. There is NOTHING healthy about Subway. Yes, it is low calorie but when you replace calories with chemicals and synthetic ingredients you do not have a product that our bodies are capable of processing. These foods might not look like they are hurting our children now but smokers don’t drop dead within minutes of their first puff either.

So what should these public figures be promoting if they were doing this the right way? Part of the underlying issue in the obesity epidemic are the ingredients that are being put into processed foods (yes exercise and screen time are factors as well). Reading ingredients and defining what they are would help parents make educated decisions about what ingredients they are actually feeding their children. If you asked a group of parents to identify the ingredient MSG in a product they probably couldn’t do it. Why? Simply because the ingredient list doesn’t spell out MSG it is read as Monosodium Glutamate. However, you my not realize that the ingredients yeast extract and autolyzed yeast are also MSG. These are sources of the chemical that excite our brain cells so much that we crave the product. Of course companies are putting these ingredients in foods, its a sure fire way to keep you coming back and giving them money. The foods that contain ingredients like this are filled with sodium, highly processed grains, added sugars and NO NUTRIENTS! Yet we are still feeding them to our children and not questioning why we have chosen these options over fresh, natural foods. I don’t know any parent who would allow their child to swallow a pill that contained unknown ingredients, but a large majority of parents allow their children to swallow unknown ingredients in foods everyday.

I didn’t create this blog to use scare tactics however these statistics are very scary. They are the reflection of a society who has been trained to read fat content and calories instead of reading ingredients. They are the reflection of a generation who were pushed into consuming fake sugars and synthetic fats instead of using self control and moderation. Companies can’t sell more products if they promote moderation so instead they replace REAL ingredients with FAKE ingredients so they can call themselves “healthy” and “low-fat”. They are counting on consumers to march into the supermarket like little ants and buy their products without questioning how these ingredients are affecting their children’s bodies. The only one who can change what your child’s health looks like in 10 or 20 years is you. The government isn’t making necessary changes, and while they are trying a little bit with the new nutritional content panels they are still missing the biggest and most important factor…. the ingredient list.

If you have begun to think about the food your family is consuming I have written up a list of the Top 10 Ingredients to Start Avoiding Immediately. Cutting processed foods is a journey about education and realization. There are so many factors that contribute to the food supply in America and it can be very confusing to weed out bad food and replace it with good.  Eliminating these ingredients is a great place to start!

 

 

 

Top 10 Ingredients to Start Avoiding Today

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Untitled When I started reading ingredient labels there were some food additives and preservatives I decided to remove from my household immediately. If your looking to eat an unprocessed diet, cutting these ingredients is a great place to start. With many major health issues on the rise I truly believe some of our issues are coming directly from these ingredients. If we don’t let our children smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol then why are we allowing them to eat foods that are slowly killing them?

1. Trans Fat aka Partially Hydrogenated Oils: I made this the first one because this ingredient is a huge red flag! The most common form of hydrogenated oils in packaged foods is partially hydrogenated soybean oil. This dangerous man made substance wreaks havoc on your body because it increases bad cholesterol levels (or LDL). This could result in high blood pressure, stroke, or heart attack. The FDA has recognized that trans fats are dangerous and may be working on phasing them out of our food supply. However,these dangerous oils are still in a TON of packaged foods (believe me I read labels on everything, even products I do not consume myself). If I see companies using these dangerous oils I know I will never be giving them another dollar of my money because ultimately they are putting profit over the health of their consumers. I’ve commonly seen hydrogenated oils in hot chocolate mixes, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, flavored pretzels, “diet” bars, “diet” frozen meals, margarine, and other butter alternatives.


2. Soybean Oil/Refined Soy Products: Cutting any products that contain soy will help immensely to weed out low quality and highly refined foods because soy is in almost all processed and packaged foods. While whole soybeans are nutritionally dense, the type of soy that is in processed foods is so refined it is nowhere near nutritional. It is a cheap alternative to natural, nutrient dense ingredients.Most soy in packaged foods is also genetically modified and that is a whole new ball game, as we have no idea how these foods are going to affect people in years to come. If animals testing is any predictor the future is looking pretty bad! I know GMO crops are controversial but we do stay as far away from them as possible. Refined soybean oil is known to cause inflammation and disruptions to estrogen levels which can lead to an array of potential health issues including heart disease, reproductive problems, and cancer. Soybean oil is in too many products to list but if you are shopping the isles of your supermarket you are likely consuming mass amounts of highly refined soy. Be very careful to check ingredient lists because even products claiming to use olive oil usually have more soybean oil in them then anything else.  Snack foods, chips, peanut butter, almost all salad dressings, bread, ice cream, frozen pizza, tomato sauce, cereal,  and boxed meals all contain highly refined soybean oil and I’m just scratching the surface. If I pick up any product at the grocery store that contains soybean oil I put it down and WALK AWAY! (and never come back!!!)

3. Artificial Sweeteners: This includes aspartame, saccharine, and mannitol (popular brand names Splenda and Equal). I have bad news for you people… you really can’t have your cake and eat it too! If you want something sweet you way better off indulging a little with a natural sweetener and cutting the fake sugars. I truly believe the companies who manufacture these harmful, man made sweeteners have changed the way we think about foods. Brain tumors, diabetes, lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, dizziness, headaches, nausea, mental confusion, and seizures have all been linked to consuming fake sugars. Reading ingredients and learning to spot labeling that indicates added fake sugars is key to cutting these out of your diet. If you see the words “no sugar add” or “light” the product likely contains some type of added fake sugar. If you read the word “Sucralose” in the ingredient list this is aspartame. I have noticed a lot of yogurts that contain them (especially the 100 calorie cups), as well as a lot of frozen popsicles and light ice creams. Diet sodas and tea also all contain fake sugars. 

4. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): Another reason to read every single ingredient list… HFCS! It can be found in the most misleading and unsuspecting ways. All “regular” ketchup contains HFCS and tons of kids drinks marketed as “all natural” and “wholesome” (Capri Sun) also contain HFCS. Yogurts, packaged snacks, most sodas, ice creams, the list seriously goes on and on.

Let’s cut to the chase here though… what makes HFCS an ingredient to start avoiding immediately? Well the corn industry wants us to think that HFCS is “natural” and just the same as regular sugar. Sugar is sugar, right? Wrong! Here’s how Dr. Mark Hyman (author of Eat Your Medicine) breaks it down:

HFCS and cane sugar are NOT biochemically identical or processed the same way by the body. High fructose corn syrup is an industrial food product and far from “natural” or a naturally occurring substance. It is extracted from corn stalks through a process so secret that Archer Daniels Midland and Carghill would not allow the investigative journalist Michael Pollan to observe it for his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The sugars are extracted through a chemical enzymatic process resulting in a chemically and biologically novel compound called HFCS. Some basic biochemistry will help you understand this. Regular cane sugar (sucrose) is made of two-sugar molecules bound tightly together– glucose and fructose in equal amounts.The enzymes in your digestive tract must break down the sucrose into glucose and fructose, which are then absorbed into the body. HFCS also consists of glucose and fructose, not in a 50-50 ratio, but a 55-45 fructose to glucose ratio in an unbound form. Fructose is sweeter than glucose. And HFCS is cheaper than sugar because of the government farm bill corn subsidies. Products with HFCS are sweeter and cheaper than products made with cane sugar. This allowed for the average soda size to balloon from 8 ounces to 20 ounces with little financial costs to manufacturers but great human costs of increased obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease.

Now back to biochemistry. Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called “fat liver” which affects 70 million people.

To see more about HFCS from Dr. Mark Hyman click here.

5. Artificial Food Colorings:  Food colorings really stick out in this list for me because I have seen first hand in my own children the effects of this stuff. I actually hadn’t noticed it before this specific day but after consuming birthday cake with artificial food colorings in the icing I saw a huge change in my son’s behavior. He went from sitting down and eating to hopping around and screaming. He literally was just making noises, he couldn’t even form a sentence. I could almost see his brain in mass confusion. We have been programed to write it off as sugar but what comes with sugar more often then not are artificial food colorings. After cutting unprocessed foods from our lives I was able to see this difference in his behavior and actually pin point the dyes. Although studies on these colorings are not definitive I don’t need any study to tell me something I have already seen with my own eyes. What is also really important to remember here is these colorings do nothing other then make the products look more appealing to consumers.

Hyper-activity unfortunately is the least of concern among the other potential health hazards these colorings may bring. Kidney and adrenal tumors, thyroid cancer, and chromosomal deterioration are all potentially linked to  food colorings. I don’t know anybody who would willingly consume anything with those potential effects but for some reason we tend not to question food colorings or only link them to hyper-activity in children. Another great reason to cut processed foods!

6. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): Another ingredient that you will find in the most unsuspecting places! I can’t tell you how many times I have picked up a package and read the ingredients only to be shocked that it contained MSG. I’ve found it in Gazebo Room Salad Dressing, Blackened Seasoning, many canned soups, premade stocks, bullion cubes, and many other products. As someone who likes to make soups at home I know for sure I have not found any type of boxed stock that does not contain some form of MSG. Although many of them claim they are MSG free, there are also other ingredients that are almost the exact same thing as MSG. Other names I commonly see are autolyzed yeast and yeast extract. These potent flavor enhancers over-excite your brain cells and can lead to headaches, migraine headaches, depression, fatigue, disorientation, and obesity. What I also hate about MSG and other similar ingredients is that these are the type of additives that have people coming back for more. One packaged food I stopped feeding my children that contains autolyzed yeast is Goldfish Crackers. Yes, those seemingly harmless little fish are actually telling your child’s brain they should eat more. Shame on Pepperidge Farm for adding an ingredient like this to a product they know is consumed mostly by young children! Bottom line, you really have to read packaging because this is one of those ingredients they try to hide.

7. Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite: Even people who know next to nothing about food ingredients can tell you Nitrates cause cancer. You will find Nitrates in almost all lunchmeat, hotdogs (another product pushed on children), and bacon. They use this stuff to preserve meats in place of regular salt. If you are used to eating a sandwich with lunchmeat or you are packing these types of meats in your children’s lunch you should start looking for alternatives. Although eating a piece of bacon or two once in a while probably won’t hurt you, most people who consume these product are doing so on more of a regular basis. Lunchmeat and hotdogs are so highly processed they have no place in our diets to begin with!

8. BHT and BHA: Just to prove a point with how widespread BHT is I challenge you to go to the grocery store and find a cereal that does NOT contain this preservative. Believe me, you will be looking for quite a while before you find one. Practically every single cereal in the “cereal isle” will contain BHT. BHT is one of those ingredients that is banned in a ton of other countries. Why? Because it doesn’t have a place in any food supply, anywhere! What’s so bad about it? Well let’s start with the fact that it is also used in embalming fluid, jet fuel, rubber petroleum products, and transformer oil. Still not convinced? The National Toxicology Program calls is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” and the Material Safety Data Sheet says “BHT should not be allowed to enter the environment, can cause liver damage, and is dangerous to aquatic organisms.” Eliminating BHT can be harder then you think if your family is used to eating commercial cereals. However, once I educated myself about what BHT really was I had no problem putting my foot down and saying absolutely not in my household! I knew I was not comfortable with my children consuming BHT and they have never asked for any of those products again anyway (its funny how quickly children forget about the foods that aren’t in the house anymore). The good news about this is that there are a lot of alternative cereals that do not contain it but you do have to read every label just to be sure.

9.Mono and Diglycerides: This is an emulsifier that mixes ingredients together that normally wouldn’t mix, like oil and water. This ingredient is a hidden source of partially hydrogenated oil aka trans fat. The trans fat used in this emulsifier does not have to be listed on the nutritional panel so therefore it goes unnoticed in a lot of products. I have seen this in most breads, ice cream, non-dairy creamers, heavy cream, and chocolate syrups.

10.Carrageenan: This one is tricky because technically it is “natural” so even organic companies can use it and still be able to label their products as organic. It is another emulsifier used in dairy products, ice cream, yogurts, half and half, and soy milks. The reason why it is considered “natural” is because it is extracted from red seaweed, which sounds harmless. However, this ingredient has been studied for years and the data collected isn’t looking good for dairy lovers. Carrageenan can cause inflammation in our bodies and therefore lead to some serious health issues like Alzheimer’s and cancer. I have seen carrageenan first hand in organic products and its a good way to weed out companies who don’t care about your health, organic or not. If you search the word carrageenan in Google there are dozens of articles about it, but here is one that I found helpful.