Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I Have a Bone to Pick.

I am so irritated to read a label of one of my old favorite foods and find that it has something "less than healthy" in it. I have just had to shelve for good my beloved 100% Whole Grain Wheat Thins. These seemingly healthy crackers have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them. I know we've all seen the commercials for High Fructose Corn Syrup that say "it's okay in moderation." I disagree and am irritated that this disgusting, cheap, imitation for flavoring is in just about EVERYTHING we eat.

When I say everything, I mean it's in EVERYTHING! Yogurt, Crackers, Fruit Juice, Condiments and this doesn't even scratch the surface.

I'm not saying I know much about the scientific makeup of HFCS, but I do know one thing: Some scientist has to change sugar from it's natural state and alter it to be HFCS so that it has a longer shelf life and food companies can buy it for cheap to make as much money as possible, all the while Americans are getting more overweight and more unhealthy. So what that last run-on sentence tells us is that it's totally unnatural and not good for us.

I wish for just once that a food that is marketed as healthy, such as Wheat Thins, could be just that. It's less popular sister Triscuit has 4 ingredients, all that I can pronounce and know what they are. Triscuit is now going to be my cracker of choice though it doesn't taste as good or crunch as nicely, and I tend to get Triscuit crumbs all over my shirt when I eat them. But for someone like me, who really wants to put only the best things in her body, it's worth the trade off.

I'm not sure what I can do about these deceitful foods that have fooled and continue to fool most Americans into thinking they are making a sound choice. I know ranting on a blog that is read by my parents and maybe a few other people isn't going to fix this. Do I write my congressman? Do I protest the food companies? It seems that all I can do is read labels and be the annoying girl that tells everyone that they shouldn't eat this or that because of some unhealthy acronym of a preservative is in them.

I've explored many ways to make sure that I'm eating healthy and encourage others to read labels on your everyday foods. Chances are if you can't pronounce it, it's probably not something you should be putting in your body. In some of my future posts I may brag about what I do to get around some of the artificial yuckiness in foods and I hope you find some value in something, and live healthier because of it, and maybe even spread the word. In the meantime, I'm going to go and enjoy some grapes and a few Triscuits and most likely be vacuuming the crumbs out of my couch later.

5 comments:

  1. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/25/corn.syrup.sugar/index.html?hpt=T2

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  2. Thanks for the article. I found it quite interesting. Though I do think that the study was flawed as there was not control group, it does support what we all know...HFCS contributes to belly fat and belly fat is not good. I am a firm believer that refined sugar does the same thing. Both are processed and both are full of empty calories. Though I try to keep my sugar consumption as low as possible...I at least know what it is and where it comes from when I read it on a food label.

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  3. I was amazed to come across the article the same day you made your post! Marc and I talk about dieting and weight loss issues all the time and I can honestly say we have never discussed HFCS until your blog!

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  4. I honestly didn't pay much attention to it until recently when I read a blog about it. I have done a little research on it (internet only, of course) and it looks like some studies have shown that your body processes it like it would process fat and though sugars don't ever tend to be good, your body at least knows how to process them. It's just modified and it bothers me that to save money, food companies use it. I'm really working on going as natural as possible with my diet! I'm glad you are a reader, friend. I'm so totally new to this!!!

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  5. Slow Food International is a group you could become involved with to make change. I've signed up for e-mails and updates. They recently sent me a petition to send to my congressman/woman about getting healthier lunches in schools. Check it out!!! I, too, used to love wheat thins. Horribly dissapointing, huh??
    http://slowfood.com/

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