UnDiet...Week 26

Hello UnDieters!


Well, this is a special post: not only does it mark the halfway point in our UnDiet journey but it is also my 100th blog post on Eat Drink Be Happy! In just a year, this little blog has come a long way. From only a handful of my friends and family reading it to over a thousand of you checking it out every month. I can't wait to see it grow even more....and am eager to know what you would like to see here too. Feel free to send me an email or make a comment and let me know what kind of topics you are interested in seeing on Eat Drink Be Happy.


For this week on the UnDiet, I want us to explore our food choices by reading the ingredients on our food packages. I am not interested in having you "label reading" but INGREDIENT reading. There is an important distinction here; we can get caught up in the nutrients and become focused on eating more fibre, less salt etc. but these well intentioned goals can be co-opted by food manufacturers to make their processed, lifeless food seem healthier. Think Lucky Charms "made with 100% whole grain". "Cholesterol free!" potato chips. "Trans fat free" Oreos. 


While you can makeover a food with differing nutrient profiles, you can't hide what is in your food in terms of ingredients. Most of the packaged food we eat today is a combination of just a few ingredients: processed sugar, wheat, corn and soy in their many derivatives. These foods just kind of fill us up; they don't really nourish our body the way modern life demands.


This week, please choose at least two days to read the ingredients on each and every food you put in your mouth. If they don't have ingredients on the package, try the internet. Most food websites will offer this info. Then really think about what you are reading. Do you understand all the names on the ingredients list? Is it a mile long or is it simple? Are most of the foods you eat little more than sweetened, salted flour? Think about the foods you are putting into your body. Perhaps after taking a close look at the ingredients, you may shift towards foods with very different ingredients lists. Or better yet, foods without ingredients lists at all. Now there is a health goal that can't be messed with!


In Good Health,
Desiree