In my Food…
There is no better determination of your future health than what you eat. Read all about your body’s acid-alkaline balance and why it’s so important on this page: Your body’s Acid/Alkaline Balance
Here, you’ll find a listing of different food ingredients and where they might pop up in your diet. If you know of something people would want to know is lurking in their breakfasts (or other meals!), please comment below!
Excellent Resource for Newbies: Earth Fare Markets Banned Ingredient List
And another great list: PCC Natural Markets Ingredient List
Wikihow’s article on How to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods
Here’s an interesting home science experiment: McDonald’s burger Decay
And a nice article outlining what to look for and avoid in your diet: Healthy Food
Stay young forever! Read all about polyphenol antioxidants here: Wikihow on Polyphenol Anti Oxidants
Many thanks to Sci-toys.com for providing background on many of the items below. Visit their excellent ingredient list here.
Another great additive website, organized by e-number (the number assigned to an additive when it is approved for use in the EU) can be found at foodreactions.org.
And if you’re an animal lover like me and are worried about what you feed your pet: Cancerous Pet Food
Sweeteners:
Sucrose (aka Dextrose, Invert sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup) – table sugar is sucrose. Sweeteners are used in a huge variety of foods. See the link here about the differences between each form of sugar. **Recently, High Fructose corn syrup has been tested and shown to contain high levels of mercury due to its manufacture using Chlorine. ** Gross! If you’ve ever looked at a food package in the United States, you’ll recognize how serious a problem this really is.
Neotame – 8000 times sweeter than sugar, can be cooked. Used in tabletop sweeteners, frozen desserts, chewing gum and candy, baked goods, fruit spreads, and ready-to-eat cereals.
Aspartame – 200 time sweeter than sugar. Used extensively in low-calorie foods and drinks.
Sucralose (aka Splenda) – 600 times sweeter than sugar, and non-caloric. Used in low-cal and no-cal products like tabletop sweeteners, baked goods, desserts, toothpastes and mouthwashes, and diet drinks.
Saccharin (aka Sweet N Low) – 300 times sweeter than sugar. Passes unaltered through the body, so is considered non-caloric. Used in toothpastes, cold remedies, ice creams, and coffee sweetening packets.
Lactose (aka Milk Sugar) – Used in milk products like yogurts and cheeses. Lactose can be applied in diverse food products including bakery goods, confections, dry mixes, dairy foods, dried vegetables, snacks, and infant formula. Due to lactose having no flavor and being relatively less sweet, it is commonly used as a filler and flowing agent in seasoning mix, such as instant noodle soup mixes. See more about Lactose here.
Try These Natural Sweeteners Instead:
Agave Nectar – contains no processing chemicals. The raw verison contains many vitamins and minerals. Because it absorbs slowly into the bloodstream, it doesn’t give “sugar rush” in glucose levels. Very sweet, a little goes a long way.
Stevia – derived from plant found in Paraguay. It actually balances blood sugar levels, and is therefore safe for diabetics. Reduces cravings for sweets and aids digstion. Anti-microbial properties, and calorie free. Not approved yet for food use in US (why!?!), so relatively harder to find.
Other sweeteners, recommended by authors of Skinny Bitch – evaporated cane juice, Sucanat (natural sugar cane derivative), barley malt syrup, Rapadura sugar, turbinado sugar (best known as “Sugar in the Raw”), raw sugar, beet sugar, date sugar, maple syrup, molassas, blackstrap molassas.
Salt Substitute:
Potassium Chloride (aka Table Salt) – Used as an essential nutrient, and as a salt substitute. In salt substitutes, the metallic or bitter taste of potassium chloride is often masked by other ingredients, such as the amino acid L-lysine, tricalcium phosphate, citric acid, and glutamic acid.
Fat Substitutes:
Olestra (aka Sucrose octaester, Sucrose polyester) – A non-digestible plastic made of sucrose and fatty acids in long chains. Olestra is currently only approved for use in savory snacks, such as potato chips. Can dissolve fat soluble vitamins and carotenoids, making them unavailable.
Salatrim (aka Structured triglyceride, Benefat) – a partially absorbed fat substitute that does not block absorption of vitamins and carotenoids. Does not cause laxative properties like some other substitutes. Used like fat in cooking, with half the calories of regular fats.
Guar Gum – Used as a thickener in cosmetics, sauces, salad dressings, as an agent in ice cream, and as a fat substitute. In pastry fillings, it prevents “weeping” (syneresis) of the water in the filling, keeping the pastry crust crisp. From the endosperm of the seed of Cyamopsis tetragonolobus, an annual plant grown in arid regions of India as an animal food crop.
Locust Bean Gum (aka carob bean gum) – Extracted from the endosperm of the seeds of the carob tree Ceretonia siliqua, which grows in Mediterranean countries. The ancient Egyptians used locust bean gum to bind the wrapping of mummies. Used as a thickener in salad dressings, cosmetics, sauces, as an agent in ice cream, and as a fat substitute. In pastry fillings, it prevents “weeping” (syneresis). Often used in combination with guar gum.
Xanthan Gum – A slimy gel produced by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris, which causes black rot on cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli. Used as a thickener in sauces, as an agent in ice cream, and as a fat substitute without the calories. It is used in canned pet food to add “cling”. In pastry fillings, it prevents “weeping”.
Preservatives:
Preservatives can be categorized into three general types: antimicrobials that inhibit growth of bacteria, yeasts, or molds; antioxidants that slow air oxidation of fats and lipids, which leads to rancidity; and a third type that blocks the natural ripening and enzymatic processes that continue to occur in foodstuffs after harvest.
Anti-Oxidants (Fat Preservatives):
BHA and BHT (aka Butylated hydroxyanisole, butylated hydroxytoluene) – Generally used to keep fats from becoming rancid. Also used as a yeast de-foaming agent. BHA found in butter, meats, cereals, chewing gum, baked goods, snack foods, dehydrated potatoes, and beer. Also found in animal feed, food packaging, cosmetics, rubber products, and petroleum products. BHT added directly to shortening, cereals, and other foods containing fats and oils to prevent rancidity. Evidence that certain persons may have difficulty metabolizing BHA and BHT, resulting in health and behavior changes. BHA and BHT may have antiviral and antimicrobial activities.
Anti-Microbial (Bacterial Preservatives):
Sodium Benzoate – used in acidic foods such as carbonated drinks, juices, jams, pickles, and salad dressings. Also used in antifreeze. “Artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population.” (article here)
Coloring Agents:
Annatto (aka Bixin carotenoids) – Extracted from the Central and South American plant Bixa orellana. Annatto is used in foods to provide color in cheese, butter, margarine, puddings, and microwave popcorn. It is often used as a substitute for the expensive herb saffron. It also has anti-oxidant properties.
Carmine (aka cochineal extract) – Carmine is a colored pigment extracted from the female insect Coccus cacti or Dactylopius coccus, or their eggs. The insects live on prickly pear cactus in Mexico. It takes over a million of the insects to make a pound of dye. Used as a food coloring, in cosmetics, and in paints. Not used in kosher foods.
Foods that Contain Milk:
Products marked with a “*” may not necessary contain or be derived from milk. This depends on the manufacturer. See foodreactions.org for further information.
| Products derived from milk. | Food containing milk products. |
|---|---|
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Non-Milk Sources of Calcium:
Broccoli (cooked 1 Cup) 94-177mg
Chinese Cabbage (cooked 1 cup) 158mg
Collard Greens (cooked 1 cup) 148-357mg
Kale (cooked 1 cup) 94-179mg
Oysters (raw 1 cup) 226mg
Salmon canned with bones 167mg
Sardines 100g 371mg
Shrimp canned 100g 98mg
Molasses 2 tbsp 274mg
Tofu processed with calcium salts, 100g 225mg
Parsley 50g 100mg
Dried figs 40g 100mg
Almonds 42g 100mg
Brazil nuts 60g 100mg
Solarious - stumbling away from the grid 
Acai Berry Detox said,
August 24, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
RoyArtelo said,
November 8, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
Do you think that Obama is going to win because the Republicans have such a bad candidate?
Why did John McCain make his final argument against Obama… coal?
That’s his closing argument? William Ayers, Rev. Wright, spreading the wealth, Born Alive, meeting dictators without preconditions, etc. all have to take a back seat so that McCain can go to Colorado and New Mexico to talk about coal? Does this more or less explain why he’s going to get his clock cleaned Tuesday?
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November 20, 2008 @ 3:40 am
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