What you may not know about your food

Most individuals fall for words like "all natural", "heart healthy" and pretty pictures of fruits & vegetables when shopping for groceries. These very misleading marketing ploys are partially responsible for the rising numbers of those diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes and people suffering from obesity even though they are eating goods that claim to benefit their health.

Here are some examples of poor choices you could be making right now:

Kellogg's Eggo Nutri-Grain Waffles - whole wheat. These waffles actually contain more white flour than whole wheat flour.

Fiber One Bars market that a diet high in fiber will help you loose weight and feel full. The oat and chocolate "naturally flavored" bar has more chocolate than oats and has at least 6 types of sugar in the ingredient list! If you'd like to experience abdominal bloating and gas from the sugar alcohols, and fast-track yourself to an adult onset diabetes diagnosis - eat these!

For children, please do not fall for pictures of fruits and added vitamins on the label. It infuriates me that many of these produces are allowed to be sold to growing children and we wonder why we see so many suffer from ADD/ADHD. An example of nutrition gone wrong for toddler age children is Gerber's Graduates For Preschoolers Juice Treats. Absolutely NO healthy fat or protein - just 17 grams of sugar and corn syrup! There is more sugar than juice!

V-8 Splash lists water and high fructose corn syrup as it's first ingredients.

For those still convinced that eating low fat will protect their hearts, Kraft Fat Free Catalina dressing has  7 grams of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Diabetes first, then heart disease is sure to follow.

Do I really need to mention foods like canned soup, Cool Whip, Crystal Light, flavored yogurts and fast foods in general?

People come to me all the time in hope of preventing or curing their illness. If you don't look at the diet first - you are sure to fail in your desire to heal. There is no medication that will cure a poor diet!

For those already suffering from diabetes, the old recommendations were to eat sugar free. So how about a Pillsbury Sugar Free Devil's Food Cake? You may find yourself running for the bathroom from the laxative effect of malitol (sugar alcohol), suffering the negative affects from trans-fats (partially hydrogenated soybean oil) and lets not forget brain or neurologic damage from sucralose or acesulfame potassium.

Now for those who are too busy and must resort to buying frozen meals. Number one, nothing nutritious is cooked in the microwave. Number two, this 8.5 ounce meal contains more than 50 ingredients. Lean Cuisine chicken with basil cream sauce contains trans-fat (partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated anything), chicken parts (you don't want to know), MSG (disguised as whey protein concentrate), and many other chemicals and sugars.

MSG affects many individuals with symptoms such as migraine headaches, upset stomach, fuzzy thinking, diarrhea, heart irregularities, asthma and/or mood swings. MSG (monosodium glutamate) is not easily recognized as it is hidden under many names. The following ingredients should always be treated as MSG. Anything with the word "glutamate", yeast extract, anything "hydrolyzed", autolyzed yeast, gelatin, textured protein, soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, vetsin, Accent and ajinomoto Bouillon and broth often contain MSG and the same goes for most soy sauce.

Even foods labeled as organic can contain high amounts of sugar and other ingredients that are not health promoting.

So many well-intending people are falling for marketing tricks that do not benefit your health. Many are just still stuck in the old thinking that a low fat, sugar-free diet is best, when the exact opposite is true. Look at the cancer rates since the turn of the century - they have escalated tremendously with the addition of food chemicals and preservatives.

Eating foods as they come from nature, in the purest form. There is such an amazing selection of fresh food available to you.

Frozen, wild caught fish, with asparagus and a salad make a great meal that takes less than 20 minutes to put together. You do not have to be a chef to cook healthy meals that taste amazing.

Instead of focusing on medicinal cures for cancers, diabetes and heart disease why don't we just clean up the diet and see what happens. I am sure this would have the most profound impact no the reduction of these deadly diseases.


Written By: Cathi Stack, N.D., as seen in WNY Health 
Catherine (Cathi) Stack is the owner, facilitator and Doctor of Naturopathy at Journey II Health LLC, established in 2007 in Niagara Falls, NY. Along with her naturopathic practice at Journey II Health, Stack continues to work at Millard Fillmore Suburban as a Certified Nurse Midwife. She can be reached via her website www.journeyiihealth.com