Food Label Lies

More food label advice - for all of us, not just our affected kiddos. Same stuff I've been squawking about... imagine that.

I've been thinking about adding more fresh and raw foods in our diets again. Thinking and doing -- not the same thing though...

Can You Trust That the Ingredients are What They Say They are?

You need to realize that some foods, particularly those making low-fat, low-carb or no-sugar claims, can contain drastically different nutrients than are listed on the label, and food products that say they contain milk, fruit or vegetables may not contain the real McCoy at all.

For example, some blueberry muffins do not contain actual blueberries, but rather artificial blueberry-flavored bits. Other products that list milk on their label may actually contain non-fat powdered milk, palm oil, sugar and additives, instead – the chemical “equivalent” of milk.

There is also the potentially daunting task of deciphering what certain ingredients really are. For instance, if you were trying to avoid corn (which is genetically modified in most cases these days), you would have to avoid not only anything listed as “corn,” but also:

Malt	Baking powder
Malt extract and syrup	Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Sorbitol	Maltodextrin
Food starch	Starch
Dextrin	Confectioner’s sugar
Fructose and fructose syrup

All of these items could potentially be made from corn, but unless you are specifically aware of what to look for it would be easy to overlook these items when looking for corn on an ingredient label.

Here's the article from Dr. Mercola.

GMO's More Letters, Of Course

Why does Nick often react to watermelon? Seedless watermelon...

He has, he does and it's odd. He knows it too.

I found an article I read a while back, and it's pretty thought provoking. And, I am just now getting around to thinking about it, again. I need more time to think - I think... (ha-ha)

What are the dangers of genetically modified foods, and what are GMOs, anyway?

Posted on July 13, 2009
by Nikki Ostrower

We hear a lot about genetically modified foods (often referred to as GMOs, which stands for “genetically modified organisms”). But how many of us really understand what these things are, or what hazards they might pose to our health?

Genetically modified food is food that has been altered through genetics. Often, this is done to produce foods more quickly and in greater abundance. Seedless watermelons, for example, do not exist in nature. They’ve been genetically modified to produce more fruit with no seeds. Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is another – it’s the thing that Ben & Jerry’s proudly proclaims NOT to use in any of its dairy cows. Why not? What’s so wrong with increasing dairy production or fruit production? Well, for dairy, at least, most other industrialized nations have banned rBGH because of potential harm to both people and animals.

And consider this: “The overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists was that GM foods were quite different and could lead to unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems” (Seeds of Deception).

A big part of the problem is that many folks don’t know if they’ve ever even consumed GM food and, further, are unaware of what foods could contain GMOs. You can find a comprehensive list of these foods here. Potential health risks of these foods are numerous, and may include increased allergies, exposure and reaction to toxic herbicide (including endocrine and intestinal problems) and problems passed along to infants from mothers who have consumed GM foods. A thorough examination of potential health problems can be found here.

The very bottom line is your health it is possible that your health is being put in jeopardy in order to increase the profits of big industry food. We can all combat this by educating ourselves and by feeding ourselves and our families with love. As always, none of this is meant to be alarmist. Rather, it is meant as a tool to help you live your healthiest life. For a full comprehensive understanding of GM foods and GMOs and what you can do to stay healthy, check this out. Here’s to your good health!

Nikki Ostrower is the founder of NAO Nutrition, a private practice in New York City specializing in weight loss, eating disorders, autism, fatigue and heart disease. She has a degree in Business Management from SUNY Binghamton and a certificate from The Academy of Healing Nutrition.