Citizens for Health, a non-profit organization has declared April 11th National ?Read Your Labels Day?. If your goal is to lose weight, look and feel your best, and live a healthy, vibrant disease-free life, you will want to investigate the information on the importance of reading the labels on foods and beverages before you buy them.
Seventy-five percent of the average American diet is from processed and packaged foods, which equates to approximately 10 pounds of additives eaten annually. The majority of packaged and processed foods contain ingredients that are harmful and linked to adverse health problems and complaints.
Take a buyer?s beware approach of the damaging additives and synthetic chemicals in the foods before you buy and eat them. Become an avid label reader and familiarize yourself with the following common and harmful ingredients.
1. High fructose corn syrup (HCS) is the number one source of calories for most Americans. Aside from weight gain, HFCS has been linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, inflammation and several other diseases. Products with HFCS contain high levels of mercury. You?ll find HFCS in processed and fast foods, fruit drinks, sodas, syrupy coffee drinks, chewing gum, baked goods, and in hundreds of other food items.
2. Partially hydrogenated oil (trans fats) found in thousands of packaged and processed foods (breakfast cereals, cookies, chips, crackers) are proven to cause heart disease and obesity. Restaurant food, especially from fast food chains, often serve food loaded with trans fats. Consequences of a diet high in trans fats include decreased IQ, increased inflammation, immune dysfunction, neurological damage, obesity, cancer and diabetes.
3. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a chemical food additive associated with seizures, rashes and hives, infertility, depression and panic attacks, migraines, permanent damage to the endocrine system, linked to obesity and other serious disorders.
Especially harmful to developing fetuses, children and the elderly, MSG is an excitotoxin, overexciting brain cells to the point of death. MSG is found in frozen meals, ramen noodles, soups, chips, and numerous packaged foods. MSG is used as a taste enhancer and has over 50 different names that are used to disguise it on food labels.
4. Processed soy Before you mix up a soy protein shake, snack on a soy protein bar or pour yourself a glass of soy milk consider this: processed soy inhibits the thyroid, is deficient in amino acids, estrogenic, toxic to infants, and shrinks the brain.
There are some redeeming qualities to soy, however these are found primarily in fermented soy products only. If you want to reap some of the health benefits from soy, stick to natto, miso, tempeh, soybean sprouts and pass on ALL processed soy milk, tofu, soy burgers, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy protein and other soy junk foods that are disguised as health foods. In addition, avoid any product containing soybean oil and soy-based ingredients. Over 90 percent of all soy in the U.S. is genetically engineered.
5. Potassium bromate, bromated vegetable oil, BHA and BHT, sodium benzoate Potassium bromated, a chemical food additive and known carcinogen, is found in baked goods, breads and tortillas.
Bromated vegetable oil (BVO) is a synthetic chemical derived from soy or corn that is found in Mountain Dew, citrus sodas and some Gatorade products. BVO contains bromine, a flame retardant for plastics banned in foods throughout Europe and Japan. BVO accumulates in fatty tissue causing behavioral, reproductive and organ damage, neurological disorders, early puberty and heart problems. Bromine, is a halogen that displaces iodine, which may depress thyroid function.
BHA and BHT, made from petroleum and coal tar, are chemical preservatives (carcinogens) that are toxic to the liver and kidneys. You?ll find BHA and BHT in processed and packaged foods including cereals, chewing gum, chips, processed meats, vegetable oils, margarine and baked goods.
6. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine altering brain, behavior and psychological function. Consuming sugar (grains, candy, soda, bagels, etc.) promotes inflammation & oxidation, triggers cravings and increases appetite, increases risk of depression, diabesity & other diseases, is a fuel source for yeast and parasites, causes magnesium, vitamin B & other nutrient deficiencies, accelerates aging and the production of free radicals, which cause collagen to breakdown creating wrinkles.
Avoid items that end with ?ose (a sugar), evaporated cane juice, barley malt and brown rice syrup.
7. Sodium chloride (commercial table salt) found in microwave dinner, take-out items and processed foods is highly processed containing aluminum, chemicals and additives, which are toxic and cause neurological disorders, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders. Opt for a healthier version such as unprocessed sea salt.
8. Artificial sweeteners (Aspartame, Splenda, Equal, Sweet ?N Low, Sucralose, Saccharine, Acesulfame-K). Sucralose is a combination of sugar and chlorine. Aspartame, an excitotoxin and neurotoxin, consists of 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid and 10% methanol. Aspartame comes with a laundry list of side effects resulting in digestive dysfunction, increased appetite, depression, type 2 diabetes, ADD, brain seizures and tumors, rashes, hives, migraines and cancer.
You?ll find artificial sweeteners in thousands of items including desserts, gelatins, low calorie foods, kool-aid fruit drinks, breath mints, sugar-free gum, energy and sports drinks, wine coolers, flavored bottled waters, cereals, cold remedies, medications, some vitamins and protein powders and of course, diet sodas.
Healthier sweeteners include: Stevia, coconut nectar, raw organic honey
9.Wheat, refined grains and gluten create a reaction in the intestines that sets off adverse symptoms. The ultimate effect of this hidden wear and tear is the slow destruction of the lining of the small intestine causing gut permeability, leaky gut syndrome, nutrient deficiencies and autoimmune responses. Processed, refined grains are void of nutrients, disrupt insulin levels, are highly intolerant for many individuals and come with a laundry list of adverse health conditions for approximately 80 percent of the population.
10. Sodium nitrate is a preservative, coloring, and flavoring commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish and corned beef. Studies have linked it to various types of cancer.
11. Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from a process in a lab where genes are taken from one species and inserted into another in an attempt to obtain a desired characteristic or trait. Often referred to as Frankenfoods, GMOs alter and disrupt DNA. Children, newborns and pregnant women face the greatest potential hazards from GM food.
Side effects include infertility, immune dysfunction, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, autism, arthritis, increased food allergies, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system.
A study published in the Journal of Biological Science revealed numerous health hazards from GMOs and pesticides, specifically liver and kidney function, and the heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells.
The United States does not require labeling of GM foods. The most common GM crops are corn, soy, sugar beets, cottonseed and canola. All processed food items contain at least one or more genetically modified ingredient.
12. Caramel coloring, artificial colors and dyes (Blue 1, 2; Red 3, 40; Green 3; Yellow 5, 6) have been linked to hyperactivity disorders and behavioral problems in children, lower IQ, altered brain chemistry, depression, hormonal dysfunction, allergies, migraines and cancer.
Carmel coloring and artificial colors & dyes are found in soda, energy and sports drinks, candy, cereals, pastries and baked goods, pet food, sausage, canned items, cough syrup, vitamins and pharmaceutical drugs.
Take home message: Avoid any item that includes a color plus a number listed on the ingredients.
Choose organic versus conventional, and especially avoid the Dirty Dozen fruits and veggies.
In addition, beware of parabens and synthetic chemicals in your cosmetics and personal care products. The average woman puts 150 chemical on her body daily, which compromise the lymph and liver and increase exogenous estrogen load. Anything you put on your skin is absorbed into your blood stream and.
My favorite professional skincare products are Devita Natural Skin Care products that are 100 percent paraben-free and PETA certified.
Become an avid label reader. Focus on eating nutrient-rich, wholesome and real food like our grandparents and ancestors ate. This is the best way to stay away from toxic, harmful ingredients. Choose to shop at your local Farmers Markets, Trader Joe?s and Whole Foods.
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Copyright ? Paula Owens
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Source: http://thepowerof4-paula.blogspot.com/2013/04/ingredients.html
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