I recently got the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Michael Pollan, one of my favorite health advocates and outspoken activist on our food supply.  Rule #3 in his eater’s manual Food Rules, he advises, “Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.”

These are words to live by.

With more and more highly processed pseudo-foods lining the grocery aisles, the list of unrecognizable ingredients conjured up in a lab only contribute to consumer confusion—and chronic health problems.

Your best bet is to shop the perimeter of your store and prioritize whole, organic, and local foods whenever your budget allows. However, for those times when packaged goods are your only option, rely on these simple guidelines to make sure you are making the wisest choices for your health.

More ingredients mean the more processed the food. If there are dozens of ingredients, put the box down. Also note that ingredients are always listed in order of concentration, so the first ingredient is the main ingredient.

Here are tips on how to perform a pantry purge:

1. Steer clear of artificial colors— Red # 3, Yellow # 5 and the like. While on the FDA’s GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) list, most wreak havoc on your health. (See Resources for more on food dyes.)
2. Avoid artificial flavors or flavor enhancers such as MSG (monosodium glutamate) and about 1,500 others. MSG, which among other things is known to contribute to headaches, shows up in a slew of boxed products and is commonly found in Chinese food. Manufacturers get away with listing these flavor enhancers in a generic way by claiming that they are proprietary blends, so be wary of anything merely listed as “artificial flavors.”
3. Avoid artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin contain zero calories—and zero nutrients! Keep your eyes peeled as many products contain artificial sweeteners when you might not expect them to.  These are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and each has its own area of concern, so it’s best to avoid them, despite their low-cal claims.
4. Get rid of high fructose corn syrup, also called dextrose, is a highly refined sugar made predominantly from GMO corn. It’s found in large quantities in many foods and is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.
5. Stay away from trans fats show up in many forms, such as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Because your body doesn’t recognize these oils, they can place undue burden on your internal systems.
6. Avoid natural preservatives are citrus (ascorbic acid), vinegar, and salt. In contrast, artificial preservatives sound exactly like lab creations, and include such substances as calcium propionate, nitrates, potassium sorbate, sulfur dioxide, and others.

To this last point, Pollan writes in Food Rules: “The food scientists’ chemistry set is designed to extend shelf life, make old food look fresher and more appetizing than it really is, and get you to eat more. Whether or not these additives pose a proven hazard to your health, many of them haven’t been eaten by humans for very long, so they are best avoided.”

Enough said.

Leann Forst, MBA, CHC — Family Health & Cancer Coach

Leann is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, holding a Master’s degree from Drake University and a Bachelor of Science from Upper Iowa University. Leann is accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. And she is an award winning author of 2 books “How to Get Your Kids to Beg for Veggies” and “100 Ways to Lose Weight.”

Born and raised as an Iowa farm girl, she moved to Texas in 1998 where she lives with her husband and 2 kids.

As a wife of a brain cancer survivor, Leann has a special interest in anti-cancer nutrition and detoxification. She works with individuals and groups, and speaks regularly at hospitals, schools and organizations to teach people how to attain optimal health by getting to the root cause of chronic and inflammatory conditions, while using healing modalities such as essential oils. <Click here to get my free report, “37 Cancer Facts You Should Know…But Probably Don’t”

Resources

“Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf

Sugar’s Many Disguises: Recognizing Sugar on Food Labels: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugars.htm

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