Oh dear a rant blog post.....

Misleading advertising and slogans on foods...   

Makes me feel like this

Alright, so firstly I am not a dietitian.  I can't dispense medically proven food advice, with the backing of a large degree of training.  I CAN find my own medically proven food advice and share it with you.  I have had training in the nutrition field, learned TONS on my personal journey to wellness, and I have eyes. You too have eyes, so this means you can become as well informed as you need to be.

Soo it drives me BANANAS that TV and print ads constantly bombard you, and your children with slogans like "Part of this good for you breakfast",  

"I was in a rush, but there was Nutella, full of hazel nut goodness" 

( um yeah, check that label.  Ingredients go from most used item, to least used item - the hazelnuts are almost LAST, and it has MORE SUGAR THAN A THREE MUSKETEERS CANDY BAR!!!!!  So yeah Nutella change that reality to,

 "I was in a rush, so I gave them a candy bar and sent them to school".  You get the idea...it is like those products that include "BEST" or "FINEST" on the label trying to bolster a not so hot product.  It is nt lies, but it IS based on the teeniest part of a tiny truth buried under a mound of usually, sugar, fat and chemicals.

You see I think, what must have happened in the advertising rooms is that they decided as long as a product contains things commonly believed to be healthy staples ( at this point I am not picking out the commonly believed healthy staples that aren't actually good for you - I will save that for another day), so eggs, milk, flour, meats etc...then they can CLAIM it is healthy because it has so called good for you things in it. But this is so far from the truth in SOOOOOO many cases.

Lets look at some labels... (which is what you need to be doing, NOT only the calories fat carbs etc, BUT THE INGREDIENTS.  In fact, you NEED to look at the INGREDIENT label FIRST!!

So we have Fiber One....CLAIMS to be healthy because it has Fiber.  Do we need lost of Fiber YES....should we be getting it from cereal?  NOooooooo!    Firstly count how many times that ingredients say SUGAR...go on I can wait....( tum tee tum)

FOUR TIMES.  PLUS it has HFCS ( high fructose corn syrup) which is ILLEGAL is Europe and several other countries because of the catastrophic damage it causes your liver.

Watch on Youtube Dr. Neal Bernard Chocolate, Cheese, Meat and Sugar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VWi6dXCT7I  to see just how terrible the damage HFCS is to your liver.

Meanwhile.....back at the label, the sugar continues...sucralose, molasses, malt syrrup, honey...is there ANYTHING in there that ISN'T sugar????  Oh wait...lets seeeee Trisodium Phosphate.  Do you know what that looks like?  Do you know what it does?  Well it has the word Tri in it - so that is 3, it has sodium in it, so some kind of salt...salt was used as an early preservative, it is a pretty good guess - even to the non chemistry reader that it is probably a weird chemical preservative with 3 parts salt, to lengthen the shelf life of food (which lets remember at its BASIS is supposed to be BIO DEGRADABLE - INSIDE A BODY!!!!)

Sooo lets Wikki what that is shall we?

Trisodium phosphate (TSP) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na₃PO₄. It is a white, granular or crystalline solid, highly soluble in water producing an alkaline solution. TSPs are used as cleaning agent, lubricant, food additive, stain remover and degreaser.^[2]

The item of commerce is often partially hydrated and may range from anhydrous Na₃PO₄, to the dodecahydrate, Na₃PO₄·12H₂O. Most often found in white powder form, it can also be called trisodium orthophosphate or simply sodium phosphate. Trisodium phosphate was at one time extensively used in formulations for a wide variety of consumer grade soaps and detergents, but ecological problems have largely ended that practice, at least in the western world. Substitutes are not as effective.

Aaaand some how, someone on the FDA said it was ok for companies to make a product that puts that in us???!!!!  CLEANING PRODUCTS...IT IS PUT IN CLEANING PRODUCTS!!!!!!  Things that come with WARNING LABELS about POISON control and death if ingested!!!! 

Hmmm, look yummy Tripotassium Phosphate...

Tripotassium phosphate is a water-soluble ionic salt which has the chemical formula K₃PO₄. It is used as a food additive for its properties as an emulsifier, foaming agent and whipping agent.^[1] In combination with fatty acids, it is a potential antimicrobial agent in poultry processing.^[2]As a fertilizer, its proportions of N, P₂O₅, and K₂O are 0-33-67.

FERTILIZER???!?!?!?!!?  

Oh wait, wait, it can also be used a an anti microbial agent on poultry....well so it cleans as you use it...NICE.  Well that all goes back to salt being a cleaner and preserver.

The most terrible thing from all of this is, because it is EVERYWHERE, people now think it is food and it is normal.  How many times have you heard a news report saying X might not be good and someone will say - "phhhah, it is in everything, gotta die of something".

That is partly true it IS in everything but that DOES NOT MEAN YOU CANT AVOID IT.  It DOES NOT MEAN you should continue to eat the JUNK in boxes, just because they are what most people think of as food.  IT IS NOT FOOD.  It has just come to be thought of as food because it is the most common thing, most people eat.  But it is NOT what real food is!  If it comes in a bag or a box and you cant READILY identify each ingredient ( and ideally it has 5 ingredients or less, unless it contains 12 veggies or grains all listed) DONT EAT IT!!

Ok so here are the THREE things I want you to read, absorb and start doing NOW, TODAY, THIS VERY MINUTE.....because your life, health, fitness, size, and shape will ALL improve DRAMATICALLY just from doing this!

1. LEARN, KNOW, LIVE that 85% of what you see in the grocery store and have grown up eating IS NOT FOOD.  If it isnt in its natural grown state when you see it, DONT BUY IT!

2. READ the Ingredients labels first.  If it has more than 5 ingredients, OR you cant readily visualize what an ingredient looks like, DONT EAT IT - not ever.  Yes it may taste; what you have come to believe is lovely, but trust me, if you eat real food for 3 months, you can taste that boxed thing again and it tastes like poooooo!

3. If the ingredient label has ALL things you recognize, THEN look at ( in this order) sodium, fat, calories.  Sodium over 150g ( dump it), Fat over 7g ( dont eat it) calories...look at how much you get in a serving size.  If it is 200 calories for 1/2 a cup - ask yourself is that food is going to give you enough energy to make it to the next meal.  Make sure the amount of food in that serving size is worth the calories it is using up.

Just because it CLAIMS to be healthy, doesnt mean it is.  Real health is found in eating whole foods 98% of the time.  Really 98% of the time.  Check out this web page for amazing healthy ways to make foods you love - ALL from whole foods.  

www.100daysofrealfood.com

As always, if I can help you in any way with food, exercise, what to eat, how to make it, you are VERY welcome to contact me.  My help is always free :)
fightthefluff@gmail.com
fb.com @ Fight The Fluff Fitness

Ok rant over....I return you to your lives.... :)