Reading Labels?

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Are you reading the labels that come on your so called "health foods?"

I want to pick on a friend of mine at work for a moment. She has asked for help in her weight loss and I am holding nothing back in giving it to her. She was drinking Sobe's Life Water. Did you know that in the Passion Fruit Citrus there is 25 grams of sugar in just one bottle? Plus High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). My co-worker was so disappointed and asked me "Why do they call it LIFE water then?" My answer: because they want you to buy it.

We have to be smarter than this when it comes to our foods by reading the labels and taking charge of what we are putting in our mouths. But Sobe isn't the only one. Gatorade has 28 grams of sugar in a 32 once bottle; Vitamin water is 32.5 grams in a 20 ounce bottle, and the oh so refreshing Pomegranate Light Green Tea from Arizona Teas (which you would think green tea and poms) has 36 grams of sugar in a 16 oz. can. The Green Tea with Honey 17 grams of sugar, the lowest but still loaded with other ingredients you can't even understand.

I have a beef with yogurt too. Almost all yogurt on the shelf has HFCS and Aspartame. I searched and searched for one without the stuff. This yogurt shown below has 14 grams of regular sugar on top Aspartame and other fake additives. Just because they tell you it's good for you and you can lose weight does not mean it's true. Have you seen the commercial with the women eating all the pie flavored yogurt and taking her clothes back to the alteration shop for smaller sizes? Did she mention she had to work out too? You can't just start eating yogurt and lose weight. But you aren't that naive, right?Now there is one yogurt that I am kind of OK with. Unfortunately it is high in sugar as well. But all organic. No HFCS or ingredients you can't read. So as there may be 24 gr. of regular sugar, there is also 8 grams of protein and only 2 gr of fat. Rachel's organic yogurts are what I recommend if you must have yogurt. But limit yourself to one a day or every other day for sugar purposes. She has really great relaxation flavors like honey and lavender and exotic flavors like pomegranate and blueberry. So as there's more sugar (real sugar) you are going to get the benefits from the great natural fruit she has to offer.

Another one that irritates me, like fingernails on a chalk board, is Coke Zero. If it doesn't have sugar, calories, or carbs, then what is it? It's not water! I searched through Wikipedia for more information on this product. Did you know the coke that comes into the United States and Canada is different than that of all other countries? Because you live in the US or Canada you get Potassium Benzoate and Potassium Citrate. Also, France gets herb extracts and we get "natural flavors".

I must break here and add the Wikipedia explanation of Natural Flavors. Just so you get a grasp on what you are eating and drinking. This is most commonly used, in high doses, in jelly, soft drinks and candies:

Although the terms "flavoring" or "flavorant" in common language denote the combined chemical sensations of taste and smell, the same terms are usually used in the fragrance and flavors industry to refer to edible chemicals and extracts that alter the flavor of food and food products through the sense of smell. Due to the high cost or unavailability of natural flavor extracts, most commercial flavorants are nature-identical, which means that they are the chemical equivalent of natural flavors but chemically synthesized rather than being extracted from the source materials.

Coke Zero also marks the soda as containing Phenylalania which is another word for Aspartame. So basically your drinking all chemicals in a plastic bottle nonetheless. I won't go into what the 20 oz. plastic bottle itself has in it for chemicals. Please, just because it's diet or zero does not mean you should be drinking it. Another interesting side note, Coke is calling this zero instead of "diet" because they have found men do not purchase as much "diet" as the women and they are trying to target the young male consumer.

I am going to say it again: If it comes from the earth (wheat/organic bread, vegetables, fruit) or has a mother (eggs and meat) then you can eat it. Be careful when selecting processed foods, if you must. If you want to lose weight and look amazing you just have to give up the stuff. It's no joke putting all these chemicals into your body. They will effect your workouts, your energy, and in the long run, no one knows. That to me is the scariest.