Read your ingredients!!!!!

I do not understand what is so hard about this. Why can't most of America understand that it is SO important to read what is IN THEIR FOOD?! Just because something is made by Kraft, for example, doesn't mean that it's GOOD FOR YOU!!! For Heaven's sake, people!!!

When I was on Weight Watchers, I was taught that Fat Free was the way to go. Knowing what I know now, that makes me sick!! It's amazing how deceiving food labels can be, and how so many people can fall into the trap. Fat doesn't make you fat- CALORIES make you fat. Sure, you can say 'oh well, a diet high in saturated fat causes heart disease, so fat isn't good' blah blah blah, but people, listen to me- if something is high in saturated fat, it is also high in calories. Fat is not the sole bad guy all you Weight Watchers fans... do your homework.

What's even WORSE, is the ingredients that make up your food. I would much rather eat a handful of nuts, like almonds, than a handful of Fat Free BBQ Pringles. Sure, each almond is 7 calories (thank you, Calorie King), so 14 would be, what, 98-ish calories, and 8.5 grams of fat (Gasp! Fat!! -rolls eyes). 14 Fat Free BBQ Pringles have 70 calories, and 0 grams of fat. BUT- check out the ingredients, taken from Pringles.com-- INGREDIENTS: DRIED POTATOES, OLESTRA (OLEAN BRAND), MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, MALTODEXTRIN AND RICE FLOUR. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT, BROWN SUGAR, SUGAR, NATURAL FLAVORS, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, ONION POWDER, DEXTROSE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR (GLUTEN), GARLIC POWDER, PAPRIKA POWDER, CITRIC ACID, MALTODEXTRIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, MALIC ACID, PAPRIKA EXTRACT (COLOR), CARAMEL COLOR, SULPHUR DIOXIDE, POLYGLYCEROL ESTERS*, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES*, ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL ACETATE** (VITAMIN E), TOCOPHEROLS (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), VITAMIN A PALMITATE**, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), VITAMIN K** AND VITAMIN D**.

Uh, yeah, I'll eat my almonds, thanks. It's all of these, what I call death ingredients, that will kill you!! Maltodextrin!? Monosodium Glutamate?! Olestra?! Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil?! Come on, people!! Read your ingredients!! Take a little time, and find a brand of, chips lets say, that is made with natural ingredients! It's not that hard. Take the chips that I buy- Meijer Baked Tortilla Chips. What's in them? Corn, Oil, and Salt. That's it! Take the time, and read your ingredients. Just because something seems to be healthy, like spinach veggi soft tortilla doesn't mean that it's not colored green by Yellow #5 and Blue #1.

I made a big scene at Meijer on Sunday. I was looking for coconut. I found a bag that said 'Sweetened Coconut'. I thought... 'ok, let's see what's in this bag here'. I didn't get past the first three ingredients before my mouth dropped open, I yelled "OH MY GOSH!!" and dropped the bag. The ingredients were ''Coconut, Sugar, PROPYLENE GLYCOL" and others . AHH! Propylene Glycol?! Yeah, that's lighter fluid, also used in anti-freeze. From Wikipedia:

Potential health effects
Eye : Causes mild eye irritation. Contact may cause irritation, tearing, and burning pain.
Skin : Causes moderate skin irritation. Contact with the skin may cause erythema, dryness, and defatting.
Ingestion : May cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Low hazard for usual industrial handling. May cause hemoglobinuric nephrosis. May cause changes in surface EEG.
Inhalation : Low hazard for usual industrial handling. May cause respiratory tract irritation.
Chronic : May cause reproductive and fetal effects. Laboratory experiments have resulted in mutagenic effects. Exposure to large doses may cause central nervous system depression. Chronic ingestion may cause lactic acidosis and possible seizures.

Did you know that???

Read your lables, people. If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it.

Until next time, Namaste.