It is very important to read the labels on the food you buy.  (I use the term "food" loosely here, and you will see why shortly)  I don't want to take it for granted that everyone who stops by this blog knows how important it is to know what you are taking into your body.  The whole point of eating is supposed to be to give your body the nutrients it needs to function and stay healthy.  But we have transformed it into something else - a smorgasbord of sugar, salt, and chemicals to tantalize our tastebuds, and get us hooked like an addict to the very stuff that will ultimately harm us.

Just tonight I pulled out the coffee creamer that my husband keeps in the fridge.  I was curious.  Here's the ingredient list:

water
corn syrup
partially hydrogenated soybean & cottonseed oil
sodium caseinate
mono and diglycerides
sodium stearum
lactylate
dipotassium phosphate

Gag!  I need to get some good raw milk and let hubby use the real cream for his coffee - that would actually be healthy for him. (other than I don't think coffee is good for you, but that's another topic)

Here is another comparison.  I started buying a natural brand of peanut butter. You have to read the labels though.  The last time I went looking for the natural peanut butter, several of the name brand peanut butters had a natural variety on the shelf, but the ingredient list was still long.  Here's the comparison:

Natural peanut butter:
peanuts
salt

Jif Creamy peanut butter:
roasted peanuts
sugar
molasses
fully hydrogenated vegetable oils (rapeseed and soybean)
mono- and diglycerides
salt

So really, what would you rather eat?  What would you want to feed your kids?

The labels are there - start reading them and know what you are really eating.

Posted in: health on Friday, March 19, 2010 at at 9:39 PM