So….what have I learned from really paying attention to my food?
Hmmm, well….”too many” M&M’s make me feel…yucky…..
I know….shocking, surprising and some of you that really know me……you may have just fainted.
I’m not sure what “too many” means but…..when I eat more than 10ish pieces….I feel different and not in a good way.
I “experimented” and ate plain dark chocolate and felt fine….so, it had to be something in the M&M’s.
That got me thinking…..we eat a LOT of foods that are processed, have additives, dyes, waxes, etc.
That thought reminded me…..
A few months ago, I watched a 60 minutes segment on food flavoring, titled….The Flavorists.
Ummmm, they make “flavors” out of chemicals.
So…the orange pop (translation…soda) that you may be drinking….has never seen, smelled or met an orange (most brands anyway).
When I say they make flavors….they have thousands of chemically made flavors that go in products because it is a cheaper process. Everything from fried chicken flavor to orange flavor to onion flavor to blueberry flavor.
Seems a little weird.
Now….that reminded me of something that happened a few years ago…
Do you remember when we found out how bad trans fats were for us? All the labeling started saying “No Trans Fats”?
Trans fats are caused by “partially hydrogenated oils”. So….if a product has any form of hydrogenated oil, it has trans fats…no ifs, ands or buts!
I remember eating some peanut butter and looking at the label. Their label said…no trans fat but….the ingredients listed “partially hydrogenated oil”.
Hmmmm, so, I called and asked them what the deal was.
Their response….
If a serving size has less than a certain amount…they can claim it has zero. So, they basically round down. That is why some servings sizes are soooo small….it lets them say they have 0 trans fat legally, when they actually do.
Now, they have it explained on their website, here is what it says…
“Does Peter Pan Peanut Butter contain trans fats?
Trans fatty acids are formed when vegetable oils are made either into a room-temperature solid or into a more stable liquid during a process called hydrogenation. Peanut butter stabilizers contain hydrogenated oils, but are used in such small quantities that they have little nutritional impact. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulations for nutrition labeling, Peter Pan Peanut Butter contains zero grams of trans fat per serving.”
If you will notice on the picture….same thing…it says 0 trans fats but lists partially hydrogenated oils….
Okay…
Additional homework….read labels……do certain ingredients seem to make you feel “yucky”?
Now a question…..do you think our bodies work at their peak when we eat ingredients we can’t pronounce?
