by Elizabeth Deitz, Nutritional Health Coach
When trawling the grocery store aisles on the hunt for healthy foods, most of us will turn to the Nutrition Facts panel when scanning food labels. Wrong approach!
Start with the ingredients. Because, really, if there are harmful ingredients, does it matter how much fat and calories a product has?
Here are seven key ingredients that shoppers should strive to always avoid in all their grocery items:
1. High-fructose corn syrup (can be listed as glucose-fructose)
2. Trans fats (can be listed as partially hydrogenated oil,’ ‘shortening,’ or ‘hydrogenated oil)
3. MSG (Monosodium glutamate)
4. Artificial sweeteners (this includes any aspartame and Splenda)
5. Artificial colors (any type of artificial dyes such as Yellow #5, Red #1, etc.)
6. Artificial flavors
7. Artificial Preservatives
These ingredients wreak havoc on the immune system and are directly linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.