Monday, April 22, 2013

Food to Not Eat

Long story short, my doctors think that I may be allergic or intolerant to artificial flavorings and additives. Some doctors say that these things could be the cause of skin irregularities/breakouts, an increase of anxiety, digestive issues, etc. I remember when I was little that my friend's younger brother wasn't allowed to eat "natural flavoring" or color or anything of the sort because he had ADHD; it really helped. When he wasn't eating fake dyes and such, he was much more focused.

So the doctor gave me a list of additives to stay away from. Half of them I couldn't even pronounce, so I did some research - both on the Internet and in the grocery store. You wouldn't believe how much crap is in food these days. When it seems like we are taught to pay attention to the nutrition facts (calories, fat content, sodium, etc.) I have begun looking at the ingredient list. I now have a rule: if I don't know what an ingredient listed is, I don't buy it. Trickier said that done.

On the Internet, I simply put the unwanted additive or natural flavoring into a google search and immediately got an overwhelming amount of information. Who knew that MSG was disguised by so many other names? So many things I would have dubbed as "healthy" (i.e. Quaker Oats granola bars) have trans fat in them! This is what I found...

Food to not eat:

·      MSG
o   "Natural flavor" 
o   Glutamic acid
o   Monosodium glutamate
o   Sodium glutamate
o   Sausage
o   Salty snack chips (Sun Chips are MSG free)
o   Soups – MSG as flavor enhancer
o   Chicken nuggets and tenders
o   Sauces – soy sauce, fish sauce, curry sauce, teriyaki sauce
o   Campbells soups
o   Progresso soups
o   Kraft products
o   Planters nuts
o   Flavored ramen noodles
o   Salad dressings
o   Monopotassium glutamate
o   Canned tuna
o   Worcestershire sauce
·      Aspartame
·      Hydrolyzed protein
·      Autolyzed yeast
·      Soy protein isolate
·      Soy products
·      Carrageenan
o   Soy milk
o   Veggie dogs
·      Caseinate
o   Milk
·      Protein isolates
·      Whey protein
o   Ricotta cheese
o   Diary products

·      Trans fat
o   Partially hydrogenated oil
o   Margarine
o   Packaged foods: cake mixes, Bisquick, mixes
o   Soups
o   Frozen food: waffles, pizzas
o   Baked goods: cookies and cakes from bakeries in supermarket, pound cake
o   Chips and crackers: wheat thins, cheez-it (instead eat pretzels, toast, pita bread)
o   Whipped toppings, bean dips, gravy mixes, salad dressings
o   Rice Krispies
o   Quaker Oats Chewy Granola Bars
o   Saltine Crackers
o   Special K’s entire line of health/weight loss food (besides their original plain old cereal)
o   Popcorn
o   Animal crackers
o   Ritz crackers
o   Fortune cookies
o   Refrigerated cookie dough
o   Vegetable shortening
o   Frozen French fries
·      Excess sugar
·      High-glycemic foods
o   White bread
o   White rice
o   White pasta
o   Corn breads
o   White flour products
o   Corn Chex and rice Chex cereals
o   Watermelon
o   Pinapple
o   Dates
o   Cantaloupe
o   Mash potatoes
o   Parsnips
o   Pumpkin
o   Cherrios
o   Pretzels
o   Rice cakes
o   Maple flavored syrup
o   Water crackers
o   Bagels

1 comment:

Sara Eddy said...

Oh, that's quite a list. A couple of years ago I stopped buying bread in the grocery store and started making my own, after looking at the labels and seeing all this CRAP added to what is, after all...bread. That's just the tip of the iceberg, isn't it?

Can you buy your own groceries? Cook in the dorms? I'm worried that lots of what you list here is probably used in the dininghall foods...