When you go grocery shopping, do you go for the convenient products or do you go for foods that would actually nourish you and balance your health and hormones?
I tend to go directly to the produce section first and not the factory manufactured products section. When you decide to focus more on health than convenience, you also have to learn to become a darn good food detective! Reading food labels can be quite confusing; manufacturers tend to hide the bad ingredients and chemicals behind different names (especially with sugar). My rule of thumb is – if it has more than 5 ingredients, don’t touch it; and if you can’t pronounce anything on the list, you definitely don’t want to buy that stuff – it’s that simple.
Guide to reading food labels
- Start with the serving size
- Read the total calories and fat content
- Let the percent daily value be your guide
- Know the high and low of daily values
- Note the fat, cholesterol and sodium content
- Look for vitamins, minerals, nutrients and fibre content
- Know the sugar content
- Know the meaning of low calorie, low cholesterol, calorie free, fat free/sugar free, low sodium, whole grain, multigrain, zero trans fat
- Check the ingredient list
Processed foods are not whole foods. The longer the list of ingredients, the further you should stay away.
Here are seven dangerous ingredients you definitely should stay away from when shopping:
- Trans fats: labeled as hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated fats, mono and diglycerides
- Artificial flavours: a term that could be referring to over 100 possible chemical additives that could lead to allergic and potential behavioral problems
- Monosodium glutamate (MSG): could cause headaches, heart palpitations, effect on hormones
- Artificial colours: could cause allergies, sinus congestions, hyperactivity in children, worsen symptoms of ADD and ADHD
- Artificial sweeteners: sucralose (splenda), aspartame primarily affects the nervous system, could also cause headaches, dizziness, memory loss
- High fructose corn syrup: could lead to insulin resistance, obesity, heart disease
- Preservatives: which come under many different names, some below and could lead to nausea, infertility, allergies, liver and kidney problems.
These are some of the words that should send you running:
Artificial (anything)
High fructose corn syrup
Artificial sweeteners
Ammonium sulphate
Carminic acid
Sodium benzoate
Refined grains
Shellac (bug parts)
Castoreum (beaver anal glands)
Gum base
L-cystine
MSG
Olestra
LOW FAT, TRANS FAT
Sugar (there are about 400 different names for sugar…that is a whole other article!)
Bleached white flour
Partially Hydrogenated oils / Hydrogenated Oils
Nitrates/nitrites
BHT/BHA
Saccharin (Sweet’N Low)
Neotame
Acesulfame potassium (ACE-K)
Always read the labels before you buy. Better still, buy and eat almost anything in the produce section! Whole Foods!
Thank you , this is helpful. I am more careful when buying foodstuff at the supermarket . I will read the ingredients from now on.