So today I have decided talk about reading label especially when you are
being mindful about clean eating. As I was reading more information on the
subject I realized this topic is going to be a little more difficult then I
first thought. This is simply because of the fact that there are so many
ingredients out there that should be avoided.
A common misconception that people gravitate towards is if
it has more the 6 ingredients that it’s not “Clean” there for should be
avoided. This is simply not the case I will use Shakeology as a prime example
of this. There are over 74 ingredients in one shake. All the ingredients are
clean and it contains no Artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors and no
refined sugars.
One very good rule of thumb when reading a nutrition label
is considering each ingredient individually.
Is it something you can buy separately to cook with in your very own
kitchen? A great example of this is plain old spaghetti sauce. I will use Prego
as an example of this Ingredients are Tomato Puree(water/Tomato Paste) Diced
Tomatoes in tomato Juice, Sugar, Soybean oil, Salt, Dried onions, Dried Garlic,
Spices, Citric Acid, Romano Cheese(Cultured part-skim milk, Salt and Enzymes)
and Basil. So when you are looking at all the ingredients most of the things you see are things you can find in your own kitchen. Where most people get confused is when they start introducing things like Citric Acid. When I first started to learn about the subject of clean eating I thought it was something along the same lines as lemon juice. I was actually mistaken in regards to this subject. What I learned is Citric acid that is put into our food is actually made by fermenting glucose. I was shocked by this, it actually tastes like lemon juice. It is a very inexpensive way of adding citric acid as opposed to squeezing some lemons. I personally avoid Citric acids because they do agitate my digestive track along with giving me heartburn. I will post my favorite homemade clean eating spaghetti sauce later today. If you would like to learn more about Citric acid feel free to send me a message I have some amazing facts I would love to share.
So the next thing that caught my attention was Soybean Oil,
so I hate to rain on some of your parades here but Soybeans are not exactly as
“good” for you as people once thought. There is a reason I only buy almond milk
and not Soy. Did you know Soybeans actually contain large quantities of natural
toxins also known as Antinutrients.
Among these are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of other
enzymes need for protein digestion. 99%
of soy is genetically modified and
it among the highest contamination by
pesticides of any of our foods. Soy Protein Isolates, which are shown to enlarge the
pancreas and thyroid and increase fatty acid deposits in the liver. Soy foods have a high concentration
of goitrogens which block production of thyroid
hormones which in turn make us gain weight.
Also another thing I have
noticed when I was researching the topic was that it was asked about
percentages. While for some people that have certain health conditions such as
sugar problems this can be extremely important. However this part of the label
is will not tell you if the food is clean or not. The ingredients list will do
that. So remember that if each
ingredient is something you can find in your kitchen right now or can get the
ingredients separately it’s a very good chance the food is clean. Remember if
you are not sure what an ingredient is do some homework and find out the real
facts.
