Reading Food Labels

Listed below are some of the most important things to look out for when shopping.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil

Hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable oil, margarine, shortening, vegetable fat.

You will find that many foods have this ingredient including things such as chips, cakes, biscuits, and breads, chocolate, pastry, pies, baked goods and the list goes on. To avoid this additive is not easy but it will make a difference to your health.

These names basically mean the same thing. The oil has been processed by heating, adding nickel, bubbling hydrogen through it and then deodorising it.

In other words, it is totally manufactured. It has a very long shelf life and is a cheap fat to use in the manufacturing of food, but in reality it is a dangerous fat to consume.

Dangers of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil

If it is ‘partially hydrogenated’ it forms trans fats and if just 2 per cent of your diet contains trans-fat then you have a 23 per cent increase in your chance of developing heart disease. It also increases your chance of cancer and diabetes.

If the fat is ‘hydrogenated’ then it becomes a saturated fat, but that is not the bad news, the bad news is that it takes a healthy essential fatty acid and makes it a non-essential fatty acid plus adds some toxins in the process. Beware of these fats as they are not processed by the body and they increase your chances of gaining weight and obesity.

So I want you to think about the effect these fats will have on your kids if they are consuming them almost every day for 20 + years!!!

MSG - Monosodium Glutamate

Manufacturers don’t want you to know they are adding MSG to foods so they disguise it by calling it other names - such as; yeast extract, hydrolysed vegetable protein, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, textured protein, flavouring, hydrolysed plant protein - or they just list it as a number (621).

It is a nerve irritator and has been implicated in many discomforts of the body including headaches, asthma and dry mouth to name a few.

Artificial Sweetener (Aspartame)

Artificial Sweetener (aspartame) is another nerve irritator, but more particular it has been implicated in the obesity epidemic. Even though it was marketed as the diet sugar and healthy alternative to sugar, new research shows that it triggers something in the brain to create carbohydrate cravings.

Sugar

Don’t be fooled by the amount of sugar in food, many manufacturers will call sugar by a different name so that it doesn’t appear high up on the ingredient list.

Sugar or sweeteners can be manufactured from many sources and be called by the following names: sucrose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, fructose, glucose and so on. If the manufacturer puts three of these sugars in the food product then the sugar won’t be listed as the first ingredient but may be listed as the 3th, 7th and 9th ingredient, even though put together the total sugar component is the highest ingredient.

Sodium Nitrates and Sodium Nitrite

Sodium Nitrates and Sodium Nitrite are additives found in cured meats, like bacon, ham, salami, hot dogs, sausage etc. to make them look red and also as a preservative. This additive has a direct link to cancer. Why would you consume it?

This Blog post is an extract from my kids care book.

For more information, or to purchase my kids care book (mention this blog a recieve a huge 50% off) 

email courtney@vitalianaturalhealth.com.au

or

call 0421125517