Read your labels

Eat to live, don’t live to eat. If you want to live  healthy and long life you have to watch what you are eating. The global food market is a big fake “bubble”. When you go to the grocery store, you see tons of different products: green and bright veggies all year long, multiple kinds of cheese and meat, cereals, bread that never goes bad, milk with expiration date in 2 years, sauces, dressings,dips, cookies, sodas, candies, pastas etc. A lot of companies use the word “Natural” that works as a “magic” word for a lot of people. They believe “natural” means healthy, good for you and your kids, but in real it means” my product is packed with chemicals, but I will call it healthy, because, there is no government controls about it”.
First, the term “natural” is not synonymous with “organic”. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service defines “natural” as “a product containing no artificial ingredients or added color and is only minimally processed. Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product. The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural( such as ‘no artificial ingredients; minimally processed’).”
Before you put something in your shopping cart and later eat it, please read the label, check the ingredients, even organic ones.
Here is the top MUST-AVOID-ingredients list:
1. Trans fat, aka hydrogenated oils. Found in: any vegetable oil that has been hydrogenated( hydrogenated soybean oil,hydrogenated safflower oil, etc.), margarine, chips and crackers, baked goods, and most fast food.
2. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or corn sugar. Found in: soft drinks, most processed foods, breads, cereals, candy, flavored yogurt, salad dressings, canned vegetables.
3.Artificial sweeteners( sucralose, aspartame, saccharin). Found in: most diet or sugar-free foods, including soda, desserts, sugar-free gum, beverage mixes, baking goods, sweeteners, cereals, breath mints, even chewable vitamins and toothpaste.
4. Artificial colors( Red no.40, Yellow no. 6, Blue nos. 1 and 2). Found in: candy, beverages, cereals, cheese, bakery products, and ice-cream.
5. Sodium nitrites and nitrates. Found in: hot dogs, bacon, ham, luncheon meat, cured meats, corned beef, smoked fish, and any other type of processed meat.
6. Growth hormones(rBST, rBGH). Found in: nonorganic dairy products and meats.
7. Monosodium Glutamate. (MSG). MSG is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and many restaurant foods. Don’t be fooled if you don’t see it as a listed ingredient-MSG is often camouflaged under the guise of sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or autolyzed yeast. Found in: Chinese takeout and restaurant foods( ask to hold the MSG), many snacks, chips, cookies, seasonings, soup products, canned foods, frozen dinners, and lunch meats.
8. Butylated hydroxyanisole(BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT). These are preservatives commonly found in most nonorganic cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. Found in: potato chips, gum, cereal, frozen sausages, enriched rice, lard, shortening, candy, and Jell-O.
9. Antibiotics. Found in: conventionally raised livestock( including poultry) and farm-raised fish.
10. Pesticides. Found in: the majority of nonorganic fruits and vegetables.