Read your labels day, 4-11-2014 and why
Today’s Post: Friday, 4-11-2014
Citizens for Health has declared Friday, April 11 to be “Read Your
Labels Day.”
Their list is below with our
comments in (parentheses.) We also list it at the end just as they published it just in case you want to read a copy without my comments.
The main thing is to always read labels and avoid these ingredients!
ALWAYS reading labels before buying or ingesting food and drinks is
critical because many much- used additives to make foods taste addictively good
or cheap to make due to extended shelf life are fatteners or cause heart and
blood vessel disease, cancers, and other serious diseases. You can avoid those harms by avoiding those
ingredients.
BUT, you can only avoid the ingredients if you read the label to check
if they are in the food or drink!
Three of the ingredients they
list, HFCS, MSG, & hydrogenated oils are even MORE harmful than
they suggest.
(HFCS and MSG are very effective
fatteners! And, both HFCS and hydrogenated oils are effective heart
attack starters! And, both MSG and hydrogenated oils each have a sneaky
and extra harmful secret effect.)
And, they do NOT list Sucralose
or sugar or free fructose.
We comment on free fructose in
our comments on HFCS since it is the free fructose in HFCS that seems to be
most harmful part of HFCS.
And we add Sucralose as an 11th
thing to avoid and to always read labels to do so!
By all means avoid the other
harmful things on their list and the foods and drinks that contain them.
But High Fructose Corn Syrup,
free fructose, the agave syrup or nectar that contains free fructose;
hydrogenated oils and trans fats;
and MSG and the names they use to
hide MSG behind are the most used and most harmful.
Of the artificial sweeteners,
they all tend to be fattening and harmful and best avoided totally; but
Sucralose (Splenda) is currently the most used and one of the most harmful.
So if you are rushed and want the
short list of things to avoid, that’s it!
Here’s their list with our comments added:
#1. High fructose corn syrup
Where you’ll find it:
Where do we begin? HFCS has
permeated the marketplace in so many foods and beverages it’s just about impossible
to create a list. For starters, it’s in most all sodas, and many other
beverages such as tea and flavored drinks, and numerous juice drinks made for
kids, as well as other sweetened items such as jellies, cookies and pastries.
It also turns up in some surprising places like bread and condiments, and
oddly, even in some diet foods (where it’s possible that a super-high fructose
version is used). All in all, to purge HFCS from your diet, you need to read
ingredient labels and reject all products containing this laboratory sweetener.
Why you should avoid it:
HFCS and high fructose
consumption have been implicated in a variety of diseases and health problems,
including heart disease, diabetes and weight gain.
The actual fructose percentage of
HFCS is variable and unknown (which is why Citizens for Health has petitioned
the Food and Drug Administration to require the true fructose content of HFCS
formulas be disclosed on food labels).
Contrary to industry propaganda,
HFCS isn’t “corn sugar” or a “natural” ingredient, but a test-tube concoction
that’s much cheaper than sugar.
(Our comments:
a) HFCS
is heart attack starter.
Excess added sugar, free fructose
products including agave syrup, refined grains, 100% whole grains to some
extent, all modern wheat, and HFCS all boost triglycerides to a massive degree.
Research shows that means they
dramatically increase the amount of the kind of small particle LDL that is one
of the most effective causes of blood vessel and heart disease!
And, one of the most effective
and damaging of these is HFCS! Worse,
most people who drink soft drinks and don’t read labels to avoid it ingest a
LOT of HFCS.
This same list of foods when
eaten in excess causes type 2 diabetes and high blood sugar levels that are
almost as damaging. Sugar spikes on your
blood cells also cause damage to your blood vessels and increase the speed of
developing heart disease and make heart attacks and strokes far more likely!
b) HFCS
is one of THE most powerful fatteners.
Research shows that in people
taking in the same amount in calories of HFCS and regular sugar, the people
getting HFCS are hungrier and have more cravings, are fatter, and weigh
more. This apparently is because where
the glucose and fructose are bonded together in real sugar. HFCS has some
glucose and free fructose. [Note that
since the free fructose is the most harmful part, this means to also avoid
agave syrup and fructose by itself.])
Where you’ll find it:
Where do we begin? HFCS has
permeated the marketplace in so many foods and beverages it’s just about
impossible to create a list. For starters, it’s in most all sodas, and many
other beverages such as tea and flavored drinks, and numerous juice drinks made
for kids, as well as other sweetened items such as jellies, cookies and
pastries. It also turns up in some surprising places like bread and condiments,
and oddly, even in some diet foods (where it’s possible that a super-high
fructose version is used). All in all, to purge HFCS from your diet, you need
to read ingredient labels and reject all products containing this laboratory
sweetener.
(I was astonished to find my
favorite ketchup had HFCS as did my favorite jam and my favorite chocolate
syrup and my favorite fruit flavored syrup.
I no longer buy or eat those! Of
course, except for ketchup I no longer eat the other things period!
Salsa usually has no HFCS and
Whole Foods carries a ketchup that does not have it.)
#2. Aspartame
Where you’ll find it:
Aspartame is apt to turn up in
foods labeled as “light” or “low-cal,” diet soft drinks, teas and juice drinks,
kid’s vitamins, liquid cold drugs and other pharmaceuticals, chewing gum,
cereal, sugar-free candies. Foods containing this artificial sweetener must
also bear a warning that the item contains phenylalanine for those with a
disorder called PKU.
Why you should avoid it:
Aspartame has never been proven
to be a safe food additive, and is, in fact, considered by experts to be in a
class of ingredients called “excitotoxins” that can literally excite brain
cells to death, especially in children and the elderly (as are the three
additives that follow);
Studies have connected it to the
development of brain tumors in rodents and grand mal seizures in monkeys.
Thousands of aspartame-related
health complaints, from migraines to memory loss to dizziness to vision
problems have been reported to the FDA.
(Some people have reported
getting MS or very similar systems after beginning to ingest aspartame AND
having those symptoms stop when they stopped the aspartame!
And, The Center for Science in
the Public Interest lists it and other artificial sweeteners as NOT entirely
cleared of helping to cause cancer.)
(3, 4, & 5 are basically ALL
MSG. To hide that MSG IS in products,
the labels often list hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed yeast, or “spices” and even
“natural spices.”
THAT means that to avoid listing
it as MSG they avoided it by hiding it this way. AND it means to never, ever buy or eat foods
with those other ingredients listed AT ALL on the labels.
[I was surprised to find my
favorite mustard listed spices on the label.
Then I was astonished to find ALL the mustards I looked at listed spices
too. Annie’s Naturals that I found at
Whole Foods was the ONLY one that was just real mustard with no worries about
MSG!]
MSG is implicated in brain cell
and nerve cell damage. But MSG is ALSO a
double fattener!
Research has found that people
eating foods with MSG weigh more and are fatter than people who eat the same
foods without MSG!
Worse, if you eat MSG long enough
it damages your thyroid and lowers your energy level and metabolism. MSG really
is a nightmare ingredient!
Note that you can use a Butcher’s
Kitchen or Jaccard meat tenderizer that is far more effective than using
MSG. [It’s also far faster and much more
effective than pounding the meat with a hammer.] They make even wild caught
venison and meat from animals fed 100 % grass and foods from their natural
diets that are super lean – or even very lean cuts that have been extra fat
trimmed – all very tender and easy to cook and flavor well. They work BETTER than using MSG and pounding
the meat!
Also note that sparing use of
horseradish not only can add the kind of sharpness that MSG does, horse radish
has health BENEFITS instead of harms.)
#3. Hydrolyzed protein
#4. Autolyzed yeast
#5. Monosodium glutamate
Where you’ll find them:
These “excitoxins” can be found
in soups, broth, flavoring additives, chips, dips, soup mixes, ramen noodles,
frozen meals, snack mixes, canned fish, and a wide variety of other dishes –
including “natural,” “vegetarian,” and organic ones.
Why you should avoid them:
These are all toxic substances
containing processed glutamic acid that can kill brain cells.
They are especially harmful to
kids, the elderly and developing fetuses.
Adverse reactions to these
additives include everything from skin rashes and asthma attacks to mood
swings, upset stomach, migraines, heart irregularities and seizures – even
potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.
#6 Potassium bromate
Where you’ll find it:
Added to flour, it can be found
in breads, flat breads, bakery products, knishes and tortillas. (It may also be
listed on ingredient labels as “bromated flour.”)
Why you should avoid it:
Potassium bromate has been known
for over three decades to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
It’s banned in Europe, China,
Canada and Brazil.
If it’s not used “properly,” a
significant residue of this additive can end up in the finished food product.
#7 Brominated vegetable oil, or
BVO
Where you’ll find it:
Some Gatorade products, Mountain
Dew and other drinks containing citrus flavorings.
Why you should avoid it:
BVO builds up in fatty tissue and
been shown to cause heart damage in research animals.
It’s banned in Europe, India and
Japan.
It’s never been declared safe by
the FDA, where its status has remained in limbo for over 30 years.
#8 BHA and BHT
Where you’ll find them:
This pair of preservatives turn
up in many breakfast cereals (including most Kellogg’s varieties), as well as
snack foods, chewing gum, pies, cakes and processed meats.
Why you should avoid them:
Made from coal tar or petroleum,
BHA and BHT have been of concern for decades.
Over 30 years ago studies found
that after pregnant mice were fed BHT and BHA, their offspring were born with
altered brain chemistry.
BHA is considered a possible
carcinogen by the World Health Organization and listed as a carcinogen in
California.
#9 Trans fats (AND, partially hydrogenated oils and
something called esterified oil
which is 100% hydrogenated and even more harmful!)
Where you’ll find it:
Any food products containing
partially hydrogenated oil contain trans fats, regardless of a zero trans fats
listing on the nutrition facts label. These can include bakery items, pizza,
dough, pies, cakes and cookies, snack foods and frozen meals.
Why you should avoid them:
Trans fats increase LDL, or “bad”
cholesterol, and decrease “good” HDL cholesterol.
People with high blood levels of
trans fats appear to have a greater risk of developing certain cancers. (Some
research has even linked them to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s.)
All health authorities, including
government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are
in agreement that trans fats cause heart disease and that cutting them out of
our diet could prevent thousand of heart attacks and death from coronary
disease each year.
(Because at this time, you can
say a food has zero trans fats when it DOES have quite a bit, the way to read
labels is to do it in two steps: If it
SAYS it has any actual amount of trans fats in it, it’s loaded with the
stuff. Take a pass! BUT most of it is
listed as partially hydrogenated oil, so the more important ingredient to look
for is partially hydrogenated oil.
ALWAYS look to see if that is in the food. If so, take a pass!
Here’s why. Hydrogenated oils directly increase the
amount of small particle LDL in your blood. And they do it fast and in quantity. High levels of small particle LDL are one of
the most effective and common causes of heart disease. The changes in lowering HDL and increasing
triglycerides are a proven indicator of this!
BUT it’s far worse than
that. Is cutting back the amount of hydrogenated oils protective as some
writers suggest? NO! The only safe intake of hydrogenated oils is
ZERO!
Here’s why: Manmade hydrogenated oils take your body
several days or even weeks to get rid of!
That means that ingesting a little bit every day or several times a
week, week after week will ensure you have massive amounts of this heart attack
starter in your blood all the time!
Hydrogenated oils are critical to
avoid. And, they DO list them if there
is a label on the food at all. So,
ALWAYS check for hydrogenated oils even if you are too) rushed to do more than
that!
#10 Artificial colors
Where you’ll find them:
They’re present in many cereals,
cakes, candy, bakery products, drinks, juice drinks, vitamins and
pharmaceuticals.
Why you should avoid them:
Artificial colors are widely
acknowledged to cause hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some children.
They’re made from both coal tar
and petroleum extracts – hardly the sort of things one would want to ingest.
Some, such as Red #3, have been
shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, but are still allowed to be used
in foods.
So there they are in review – the
top ten offenders among food additives. They’re best avoided (except in the
case of processed glutamic acid), by buying organic processed foods, or, better
yet, by cooking your own food from scratch as much as possible. But if you’re
too hard pressed to always do all that, you should at least take the time to
read those ingredient labels – and keep the items that contain these
health-threatening intruders out of your kitchen and out of your life.
(11. Sucralose, also known as Splenda, is extremely
harmful.
Worse, it is similar enough to
real sugar and sweet enough with no aftertaste that it is now in VERY common
use.
We finally know what its worst
harm is. Ingesting sucralose kills off
the bacteria in your gut.
Unfortunately the probiotic
bacteria in your gut help you get the nutrition out of the food you eat; help
prevent excessive chronic inflammation and colon cancer; and help prevent harmful
bacteria from growing in your gut.
Is it safe to kill them all off
or to do it several times a week? Nope.
I also read the report of a far
more detailed study of all the metabolic and systems harms caused by
sucralose. So this is far from the only
problem with sucralose. But this one
problem is so harmful, no one should ingest sucralose.
Look for it on labels. If there is any, take a pass. And, don’t buy
it or ingest it or products you know contain sucralose.
As sucralose contains chlorine as
many nerve gases and pesticides do, it was invented originally as a sweet bait
and pesticide in one compound.
But the sweetness was so high and
the direct toxicity was so low and because it looked like real sugar, they
decided to sell it as an artificial sweetener.)
Here’s their original list without
my comments if you want to see the original:
#1. High fructose corn syrup
Where you’ll find it:
Where do we begin? HFCS has
permeated the marketplace in so many foods and beverages it’s just about
impossible to create a list. For starters, it’s in most all sodas, and many
other beverages such as tea and flavored drinks, and numerous juice drinks made
for kids, as well as other sweetened items such as jellies, cookies and
pastries. It also turns up in some surprising places like bread and condiments,
and oddly, even in some diet foods (where it’s possible that a super-high
fructose version is used). All in all, to purge HFCS from your diet, you need
to read ingredient labels and reject all products containing this laboratory
sweetener.
Why you should avoid it:
HFCS and high fructose
consumption have been implicated in a variety of diseases and health problems,
including heart disease, diabetes and weight gain.
The actual fructose percentage of
HFCS is variable and unknown (which is why Citizens for Health has petitioned
the Food and Drug Administration to require the true fructose content of HFCS
formulas be disclosed on food labels).
Contrary to industry propaganda,
HFCS isn’t “corn sugar” or a “natural” ingredient, but a test-tube concoction
that’s much cheaper than sugar.
#2. Aspartame
Where you’ll find it:
Aspartame is apt to turn up in
foods labeled as “light” or “low-cal,” diet soft drinks, teas and juice drinks,
kid’s vitamins, liquid cold drugs and other pharmaceuticals, chewing gum,
cereal, sugar-free candies. Foods containing this artificial sweetener must
also bear a warning that the item contains phenylalanine for those with a disorder
called PKU.
Why you should avoid it:
Aspartame has never been proven
to be a safe food additive, and is, in fact, considered by experts to be in a
class of ingredients called “excitotoxins” that can literally excite brain
cells to death, especially in children and the elderly (as are the three
additives that follow);
Studies have connected it to the
development of brain tumors in rodents and grand mal seizures in monkeys.
Thousands of aspartame-related
health complaints, from migraines to memory loss to dizziness to vision
problems have been reported to the FDA.
#3. Hydrolyzed protein
#4. Autolyzed yeast
#5. Monosodium glutamate
Where you’ll find them:
These “excitoxins” can be found
in soups, broth, flavoring additives, chips, dips, soup mixes, ramen noodles,
frozen meals, snack mixes, canned fish, and a wide variety of other dishes –
including “natural,” “vegetarian,” and organic ones.
Why you should avoid them:
These are all toxic substances
containing processed glutamic acid that can kill brain cells.
They are especially harmful to
kids, the elderly and developing fetuses.
Adverse reactions to these
additives include everything from skin rashes and asthma attacks to mood
swings, upset stomach, migraines, heart irregularities and seizures – even
potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.
#6 Potassium bromate
Where you’ll find it:
Added to flour, it can be found
in breads, flat breads, bakery products, knishes and tortillas. (It may also be
listed on ingredient labels as “bromated flour.”)
Why you should avoid it:
Potassium bromate has been known
for over three decades to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
It’s banned in Europe, China,
Canada and Brazil.
If it’s not used “properly,” a
significant residue of this additive can end up in the finished food product.
#7 Brominated vegetable oil, or
BVO
Where you’ll find it:
Some Gatorade products, Mountain
Dew and other drinks containing citrus flavorings.
Why you should avoid it:
BVO builds up in fatty tissue and
been shown to cause heart damage in research animals.
It’s banned in Europe, India and
Japan.
It’s never been declared safe by
the FDA, where its status has remained in limbo for over 30 years.
#8 BHA and BHT
Where you’ll find them:
This pair of preservatives turn
up in many breakfast cereals (including most Kellogg’s varieties), as well as
snack foods, chewing gum, pies, cakes and processed meats.
Why you should avoid them:
Made from coal tar or petroleum,
BHA and BHT have been of concern for decades.
Over 30 years ago studies found
that after pregnant mice were fed BHT and BHA, their offspring were born with
altered brain chemistry.
BHA is considered a possible
carcinogen by the World Health Organization and listed as a carcinogen in
California.
#9 Trans fats
Where you’ll find it:
Any food products containing
partially hydrogenated oil contain trans fats, regardless of a zero trans fats
listing on the nutrition facts label. These can include bakery items, pizza,
dough, pies, cakes and cookies, snack foods and frozen meals.
Why you should avoid them:
Trans fats increase LDL, or “bad”
cholesterol, and decrease “good” HDL cholesterol.
People with high blood levels of
trans fats appear to have a greater risk of developing certain cancers. (Some
research has even linked them to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s.)
All health authorities, including
government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are
in agreement that trans fats cause heart disease and that cutting them out of
our diet could prevent thousand of heart attacks and death from coronary
disease each year.
#10 Artificial colors
Where you’ll find them:
They’re present in many cereals,
cakes, candy, bakery products, drinks, juice drinks, vitamins and
pharmaceuticals.
Why you should avoid them:
Artificial colors are widely
acknowledged to cause hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some children.
They’re made from both coal tar
and petroleum extracts – hardly the sort of things one would want to ingest.
Some, such as Red #3, have been
shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, but are still allowed to be used
in foods.
So there they are in review – the
top ten offenders among food additives. They’re best avoided (except in the
case of processed glutamic acid), by buying organic processed foods, or, better
yet, by cooking your own food from scratch as much as possible. But if you’re
too hard pressed to always do all that, you should at least take the time to
read those ingredient labels – and keep the items that contain these
health-threatening intruders out of your kitchen and out of your life.
....
Labels: 4-11-2014, avoid these heart attack starters, Read your labels day, why avoid hydrogenated oils, why avoid MSG, why to always read labels and the harmful and fattening ingredients to avoid
