The food we eat becomes our blood, affecting the quality and function of our cells, tissues, organs, and our minds. This can result in a body that doesn’t have health issues vs. one that has many health issues. The good news is it’s never too late to prevent and even cure yourself of minor to major health problems.
Eating primarily vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans is a great place to start. If you still want to incorporate processed/packaged foods into your diet, make sure you are reading the food label first so you know what you are putting in your body, and can ensure it doesn’t contain ingredients you would rather avoid.
Knowing what to look for can be daunting. The first thing you should inspect on a label are the ingredients to see if it contains products you would even want to put in your body.
If the product passes that test, next you should look at the serving size/how many servings per container. Keep this size in mind when reading the rest of the label. Then, look at the number of calories, trans fats (should be 0), sodium, and sugar.
Stick to processed foods that:
- Have 6 or less ingredients
- You can pronounce and recognize all ingredients
- Are organic or at least Non-GMO Certified
- Contain NO artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, sucralose)
- Contain NO artificial colors or dyes
- Contain NO sodium nitrite or nitrate
- Contain NO MSG (yeast extract, soy protein isolate, torula yeast, magnesium glutamate, anything “hydrolyzed”)
Why are so many processed foods made with chemicals, dyes, and all around words we can’t pronounce you ask? One big reason is price. More money can be made by big food companies substituting cheap chemicals for real food. For example: Quaker Instant Oatmeal: Strawberries & Cream flavor does not even contain actual strawberries!
Check out some labels you have on foods in your cabinet today.
