Avoid Toxins in Your Food
Toxins in food come in many different varieties. They include, in my opinion, foods such as sugar and salt that should only be consumed in limited quantities. I also believe that they inlcude artificial flavorings for which the actual ingredients do not need to be listed on food labels. Then, there are the chemicals that are identified on the labels and that are included for a variety of reasons, including flavor, preservation, and who knows what else.
Sugar
Sugar is highly processed. Our bodies are not designed to digest it, so it goes directly into our bloodstream kicking off an insulin reaction and generally causing bodily harm. It's not just diabetes and weight gain that sugar puts us at risk for, it is heart disease, potentially Alzheimer's, and potentially cancer, just to name a few. It hides in many processed foods where you do not expect it such as spaghetti sauce, crackers, and peanut butter.
Artificial sweeteners may also be fraught with problems. Far better to solve a sweet craving with fruit, sweet vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes, or to replace coffee with sugar or sweetener with green tea with honey. My sister Rachel, suggests sticking with the coffee, but skipping the sugar.
More about this on my blog.
Salt
There is increasing evidence that excessive salt causes health problems. Like sugar, salt hides in many foods. While, unlike sugar, we do need some salt in our diet, the amount of salt in processed foods and restaurant foods, likely causes most of us to highly exceed the recommended daily allowance.
The recommended daily allowance for salt is 1,500-2,300 mg (which is about 1/2 to 1 tsp) This includes all salt in your diet, not just the table salt you add. The nutrition labels are based on 2,300 mg, so if you fit into one of the categories of people who should only consume 1,500 mg, you should multiply the percent of sodium on a label by 1.5 to get the percent of salt in one serving for you. According to the Mayo clinic, if you are 51 or older, African American, or have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, you should consume 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
The FDA does have labeling requirements regarding sodium, but I feel like they don't necessarily mean what I would think they mean. Here is what they say:
Chemicals
My very wise friend, Susan Joan, says that if you avoid sugar and minimize salt, then you really don't have to worry about toxins in your food, because you won't be buying processed food. My equally wise friend Holly says the list of things not to buy is so long and complicated, it's just easier to buy whole, unprocessed food. I agree with both of them ABSOLUTELY.
In case you are not there yet, I have attached a walled sized handout that you can take with you shopping. It identifies some key items to avoid in food and products.
Toxins in food come in many different varieties. They include, in my opinion, foods such as sugar and salt that should only be consumed in limited quantities. I also believe that they inlcude artificial flavorings for which the actual ingredients do not need to be listed on food labels. Then, there are the chemicals that are identified on the labels and that are included for a variety of reasons, including flavor, preservation, and who knows what else.
Sugar
Sugar is highly processed. Our bodies are not designed to digest it, so it goes directly into our bloodstream kicking off an insulin reaction and generally causing bodily harm. It's not just diabetes and weight gain that sugar puts us at risk for, it is heart disease, potentially Alzheimer's, and potentially cancer, just to name a few. It hides in many processed foods where you do not expect it such as spaghetti sauce, crackers, and peanut butter.
Artificial sweeteners may also be fraught with problems. Far better to solve a sweet craving with fruit, sweet vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes, or to replace coffee with sugar or sweetener with green tea with honey. My sister Rachel, suggests sticking with the coffee, but skipping the sugar.
More about this on my blog.
Salt
There is increasing evidence that excessive salt causes health problems. Like sugar, salt hides in many foods. While, unlike sugar, we do need some salt in our diet, the amount of salt in processed foods and restaurant foods, likely causes most of us to highly exceed the recommended daily allowance.
The recommended daily allowance for salt is 1,500-2,300 mg (which is about 1/2 to 1 tsp) This includes all salt in your diet, not just the table salt you add. The nutrition labels are based on 2,300 mg, so if you fit into one of the categories of people who should only consume 1,500 mg, you should multiply the percent of sodium on a label by 1.5 to get the percent of salt in one serving for you. According to the Mayo clinic, if you are 51 or older, African American, or have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, you should consume 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
The FDA does have labeling requirements regarding sodium, but I feel like they don't necessarily mean what I would think they mean. Here is what they say:
- Salt/Sodium-Free → Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
- Very Low Sodium → 35 mg of sodium or less per serving
- Low Sodium → 140 mg of sodium or less per serving
- Reduced Sodium → At least 25% less sodium than in the original product
- Light in Sodium or Lightly Salted → At least 50% less sodium than the regular product
- No-Salt-Added or Unsalted → No salt is added during processing, but not necessarily sodium-free. Check the Nutrition Facts Label to be sure.
Chemicals
My very wise friend, Susan Joan, says that if you avoid sugar and minimize salt, then you really don't have to worry about toxins in your food, because you won't be buying processed food. My equally wise friend Holly says the list of things not to buy is so long and complicated, it's just easier to buy whole, unprocessed food. I agree with both of them ABSOLUTELY.
In case you are not there yet, I have attached a walled sized handout that you can take with you shopping. It identifies some key items to avoid in food and products.