Learn to Read Labels
Most of us do our shopping by grabbing a familiar can or package and dropping it into our shopping cart. Mainly for convenience, and it tastes good. If you knew that some of the ingredients were actually giving your family cancer or diabetes would you still buy it? Think about it as you read about what is really in your food.
Here are a few ingredients to avoid:
1. Sodium Benzoate: This stealthy killer flies under most people’s radar, and is found in just about everything in jars and bottles. You can find it in salad dressing, pickles, sauces, mayonnaise, almost all soda and juice drinks, and even in foods labeled as “all natural.”
2. Canola Oil: This artificial, Canadian-exported GMO is super popular and is found in over 30% of all products. It chokes out your mitochondrial cells. Canola oil is really rapeseed oil and can cause emphysema and respiratory distress, eventually leading to cancer. (My Grandpa used it as Farm Machinery lubricant. He wouldn’t eat it if it were the last thing on earth. If you think I’m kidding, do the following Google search: canola oil farm machinery)
3. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): The FDA allows 20 “pseudo” names for it, including autolyzed yeast extract, free glutamate, glutamic acid, soy lecithin, calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, hydrolyzed soy protein, and maltodextrin to name a few. Just because a product says “No MSG” doesn’t mean it’s not in there!
4. Sodium Nitrates (nitrosamines): Used for fertilizers and explosives, and as a solvent in the dry cleaning industry. This ingredient keeps hemoglobin molecules in your blood from carrying oxygen to your body tissues. It’s considered a “super salt” (like MSG) and is added to things like hot dogs, cold cuts and bacon for added shelf-life, color and flavor. Problems compound when microwaved. (So THAT’S why my hot-dog blows up in the microwave! It’s full of Explosives!)
5. Margarine: The body cannot incorporate trans-fatty acids into membranes, thus causing deformed cellular structures. Vegetable shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils accelerate aging and degenerative changes in tissues. (I have heard it’s one ingredient short of being plastic)
6. Anti-foaming agents (Dimethylpolysiloxane): An industrial chemical used in caulks and sealants. This component is mostly used in fast food chicken nuggets and eggs. Also watch for TBHQ, a petroleum derivative, used as a stabilizer in perfumes, resins, varnishes and oil field chemicals, and linked to stomach tumors and DNA damage. (If you’ve been feeding your little ones Chicken Nuggets, read this again, and again.)
7. Anti-caking agents: Chemicals that absorb moisture and prevent other compounds from sticking together. These are added to table salt and powdered food products. They are often composed of phosphate, carbonate, silicate and oxide compounds which contain aluminum. Watch for sodium alumino-silicate, alumino-calcium silicate and aluminum silicate. Aluminum is linked to Alzheimer’s and is also used in flu shots and vaccines.
8. Artificial colorings: Synthetic petrochemicals made from petroleum, antifreeze and ammonia. Blue #1 causes kidney tumors in mice. Red #2 and Blue #2 cause brain and bladder tumors in rats. Red #3 causes thyroid cancer in animals, and is banned in cosmetics, but still allowed in food. Red #40 debilitates the immune-system. Green #3 causes bladder and testes tumors. Yellow #5 and #6 cause adrenal tumors in animals. (I’ve always wondered how they made those artificial blueberries in the muffins.)
Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter has Organic ingredients and real vanilla, while Nutella Hazelnut Spread has artificial flavor and no organic ingredients. The Larabar has two to three ingredients, and the Snickers candy bar has dozens of ingredients. It’s important to compare ingredients if you want to keep your family healthy. I simply purchased the Healthier version and my family tried them and loved them.
9. Emulsifiers: Carrageenan, polysorbate 80 and brominated vegetable oil (BVO). These are stabilizing, smoothing and thickening agents. They are typically found in chocolate milk, cottage cheese, ice cream, infant formula and jelly. BVO remains in body fat for years. Polysorbate 80 is also found in most vaccines.
10. Artificial Sweeteners: Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Sucralose, Sorbitol, Splenda, Truvia, and of course, Saccharin. Because they taste sweet, these chemical sweeteners trick the body into ingesting them and holding on to them for extended periods of time, turning rancid in the body fat. Fake sugars are the “Trojan horses” of the cell-choking and mutating, food agent industry. Sorbitol is also found in many vaccines. (Also found in Yogurt)
11. Caramel Coloring: Causes Cancer, according to a new study challenged by the FDA in February 2014. The state of California limits the amount of caramel coloring that can be used in food and beverages by manufacturers. They will demand labeling with “caution” labels if manufacturers don’t abide by the limits given. Other states are taking note and reducing the amount of caramel color being used. There is no reason for this chemical to be added, except for simple appearance to the eye of the consumer.
Write these down and take the list with you when you go shopping. Avoid anything with these ingredients. It will be a challenge at first, but once you find good healthy food without toxins, you will return for the same items and not have to stop and read the labels every time.
