Left-Over Lasagna Trumps Sugared Cereal for Breakfast

Reader Contribution by Mary Lou Shaw
Published on February 7, 2011
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I suggested in my last blog that we eat healthier by avoiding the “dirty dozen.” These are the twelve fruits and vegetables that are the most contaminated with farm chemicals. There’s another way we can begin to take steps to eat food that will keep us healthier, and that’s by eating food that is less “processed.”

The foods that are the most processed are the ones that have the longest list of ingredients on their containers. In contrast, raw carrots, apples and broccoli are “whole foods.” When they are fresh, grown in good soil and without chemicals, they’re loaded with vitamins and minerals. They would be at the healthiest end of the nutrition-spectrum.

Breakfast “foods” can be highly-processed, and are one example of the other end of the nutrition-spectrum. For examples, I count 27 ingredients in Cocoa Puffs and 30 ingredients in Pop-Tarts. We like to think of our food as being created in a kitchen-like atmosphere, but I’m afraid these ingredients come from a laboratory-like setting where chemicals are used to simulate the smell, texture, color and flavor of real food. The result is that we and our children are not getting the nutrition we need, and we are actually eating things that harm us. Let’s look at some typical ingredients on these lengthy labels:

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