Healthy Eating Tips!
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Healthy Eating E-zine

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Warning: Your Whole Fruit May Contain Aspartame!
2) Healthy Recipe of the Month
3) Your Healthy Eating Support Group Tip
4) Healthy Products and Services

My husband came home from the grocery store the other day with a box of "Whole Fruit" bars. Now my husband is like just about 90% of the population when it comes to reading labels in the grocery store. He looks at the pretty package – at the colorful pictures and designs and the big words that say how wonderful the contents of the package are – and if it looks good he buys it.

He does just what the manufacturer wants him to do. He sees just what they want him to see – their deceptive representation of an unhealthy food as healthful. (If you think I’m being a bit harsh, read on.)

This is a perfect example. Here's what the package said:

Sounds pretty healthy, doesn't it? He thought he was doing something great, bringing home a healthy treat for our daughter.

But let's take a look at what's really in these "whole fruit" bars (I needed a magnifying glass to read the ingredients):

"Ingredients:

Strawberry:
water, strawberries, sorbitol*, glycerine, white grape juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, polydextrose*, maltodextrin, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), natural flavors, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, beet juice concentrate, turmeric color, vegetable stabilizers (guar gum, carob bean gum) which inhibit crystal growth.

Tangerine:
water, sorbitol*, glycerine, tangerine juice concentrate, white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, polydextrose*, tangerine pulp, maltodextrin, natural flavor, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), tangerine oil, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, yellow #6, red #40, vegetable stabilizers (guar gum, carob bean gum) which inhibit crystal growth.

Raspberry:
water, red raspberries, sorbitol*, glycerine, polydextrose*, maltodextrin, white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), aspartame, acesulfame potassium , vegetable stabilizers (guar gum, carob bean gum) which inhibit crystal growth.

* Sensitive individuals may experience a laxative effect from excess consumption of this ingredient.

All natural flavors, artificial color added.

Phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine" (This means it contains aspartame.)

I have color coded certain ingredients so you can see some of the ingredients that are harmful and of questionable safety.

UNSAFE FOR EVERYONE
(aspartame, acesulfame potassium, yellow #6)
SOURCE OF HIDDEN MSG
(natural flavors, maltodextrin)
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN
(sorbitol, polydextrose)

Even if you don’t know anything about reading labels, it’s pretty obvious that these are anything but "whole fruit." Worst of all, these are a type of treat that parents buy for their children, thinking they are doing something good giving them a real fruit treat. But in fact, these “Whole Fruit” bars contain ingredients that should NEVER be given to children.

Since I would not let my daughter eat these bars, my husband ate the whole box all by himself, then made real whole fruit mangocicles (recipe below) for our daughter. He said the real thing tasted far better than the chemical concoction misrepresented as real fruit.

If you're not reading labels, you're eating foods that are harmful to your health. The food manufacturers are not telling the truth about what's in their packaged food items on the packages. The ONLY way to know for sure is to read the tiny print that you need a magnifying glass to see. It may take more time. It may be inconvenient. But it is vitally important to your health.

All the information you need to learn how to read labels and determine which additives are harmful and which are not, is in my book, FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper’s Guide To What’s Safe & What's Not. It’s small enough that you can put it in your pocket or purse and take it to the grocery store with you. If you shop only in health food stores, you still need it there. Even so-called health foods can have harmful additives in them.

Remember, the food manufacturers have one goal in mind: TO MAKE A PROFIT. They don’t care about your health. You have to take responsibility to know what’s healthy and what is not. If enough people take responsibility, stop buying the chemical laden foods and buy only healthy foods, the food industry will have to change. That day is a long way off. So, until then, it’s up to you to know how to read labels and choose healthy foods for yourself and your family.

Send me your comments or questions about this discussion. I cannot answer each question individually, but I will attempt to address questions in the next newsletter.

Mangocicles

Fresh or frozen mango
Water

Put the mango in a blender and add just enough water to blend to a thick consistency. Pour into a popsicle mold, small paper cups or an ice cube tray. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze.

Try using different fruits and combinations of fruits.

Your kids will love them and they’ll be healthier too.

Eat your salads and raw foods first. They have enzymes to help digest them. The enzymes in cooked foods have been destroyed by the cooking process. Your body needs to produce all the enzymes to digest cooked foods.

FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide To What's Safe & What's Not lists over 1300 food additives classified according to safety, whether they may cause allergic reactions and if they are GRAS Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA. It's a handy pocket-sized book that you can carry with you when you shop to help you read food labels and make sure the food you're buying has only healthy ingredients. It will help you choose healthy foods when you shop and keep harmful chemicals out of the food you feed your family.

If the above link doesn't work, copy http://www.healthyeatingadvisor.com/foodadditives.html into the address line on your browser.

HEALTHY EATING: For Extremely Busy People Who Don't Have Time For It tells you what's healthy and what's not in a clear, concise and easy-to-use format. It gives you a system so easy to use that you can't help but succeed at eating healthfully. In less than 15 minutes, you will know how to choose healthy food and be on the right track to eating healthfully.

If the above link doesn't work, copy "http://www.healthyeatingadvisor.com/healthyeating.html" into the address line on your browser.

Healthy Eating Coaching
If you would like personal, one-on-one help to get yourself eating healthfully, I offer healthy eating coaching/nutritional consulting services by telephone. The first session is free. You just have to pay for the call.

To schedule your no charge evaluation, send me an e-mail with NO CHARGE EVALUATION in the subject line. Tell me what your concerns are, what times you are available, and what time zone you're in. I will send you an e-mail with your appointment date and time, and the phone number for you to call.