Dangerous food ingredients

I was very dismayed awhile back when I read the label of a poppyseed dressing which I had recently purchased to make a pasta salad for a special occasion. Guess the #1 ingredient–high fructose corn syrup! I was embarrassed to discover that I had unknowingly served a nasty food-like substance to my guests. High fructose corn syrup is not well metabolized by our bodies, and unfortunately, it’s a commonly used sweetener in the Standard American Diet.

Because I ‘m a firm believer in the value of eating a whole food diet, I thought my frig and cupboard contained primarily high quality wholesome foods. As I further searched my kitchen and read the fine print on some labels, I found a few more foods with unhealthy ingredients:

One was a box of thin square wheat crackers (a common brand name). In reading the fine print, I discovered that they contained THREE types of sugars: sugar, malt syrup and refiners syrup. No wonder they taste so good–they are loaded with sugar! And because our brains naturally crave sugar, this “hyper-palatable” food can then become quite addicting.  Of course, the food industry wants us to be addicted and keep buying more of the product.

In reading the label of a “healthier” brand of Chicken and Orzo soup, I discovered that they had added whey powder, a milk derivative, probably to help increase the amount of protein with less chicken! This could be a problem for anyone with a dairy allergy, but it is not clearly evident unless you read the fine print on the label.

According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a practicing MD, and author of the New York Times best-seller Eat to Live, these types of processed foods, containing sweeteners, additives and food-like substances, are damaging to our health. They are the major contributors to much of the obesity, diabetes and heart disease in this country. Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the US, but it can be largely prevented by avoiding processed foods and consuming a whole food diet.

If you’re looking to eat “clean” and healthier, but need some guidance and support, enlist the help of Board Certified Nurse Practitioner and nutrition expert Karen Radtke. With her individualized care and the right tools, you can start eating healthier to avoid and reverse diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Your initial 20-minute phone consult is FREE, so grab a spot on my calendar here: http://Integralhealthsolutionswi.com/calendar.