Chip wrote:Reading labels in the food store will change your life forever. HFCS is everywhere as you said. I might have a soda once or twice a year...
But my other nemisis is hydrogenated oil. The food industry knew about the problems with this stuff for many many years, yet did nothing until trans fat had to be displayed on the fat index of food labels. Then they act like they some kind of heroes by cutting back on it. They sound too much like the tobacco industry.
Definitely.
And the worst part is that 0g of trans-fat doesn't always mean that.
As long as a serving size has under .5g of trans fat, they can put "0" on the label. So, what do the food companies do? Make the serving sizes smaller! Genius.
As sad as this sounds, the MAJOR food companies do not care about your health. They care about food looking good in the packaging, lasting a long time, and tasting good enough to keep you coming back for more. Just look at the long list of ingredients, and you'll see this.
Oh man, I sound like such a radical, but the more you learn about food .. the more you become so disgusted with the big corporations.
And to those that drink soda, a little bit in moderation is fine. But how many people do you know that drink soda that have it occasionally, and how many have it usually every day (and in excessive amounts?). There is NO nutritional value in soda and there are so many bad things with it. An average can of soda has 40g of sugar. An average packet of table sugar has 5g of sugar. That's approximately 8 packets in one can. And that's not including bottles or two-liters.
And unfortunately, diet soda is no better.
The best thing you can do is cut soda out of your diet completely. It's not easy. I failed many times, but the most effective way to do it is just quit cold turkey. Find other things to replace it with (like tea!) You will most likely lose weight and have more energy.
And for those that want a scare about soda, just look up "soda" on wikipedia. That was my personal wake-up call. I knew it wasn't good for me, but when I saw ALL the potential side effects of consuming it, I knew I had to quit.