Center of the Supermarket...

It's no secret that I'm not a big Nabisco advocate. I tend to avoid anything from the center of the supermarket, especially if it comes in a brightly colored box.

I really want to share why.

Nabisco's Ritz Crackerfuls are an example of something I wouldn't buy.

Ingredients: UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE {VITAMIN B1}, RIBOFLAVIN {VITAMIN B2}, FOLIC ACID), WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, PALM AND/OR SOYBEAN AND/OR CANOLA OIL, RESISTANT CORN MALTODEXTRIN, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED AND/OR PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, SEMISOFT CHEESES (PASTEURIZED CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), CHEDDAR CHEESE POWDER (MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), CHEDDAR CHEESE POWDER (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WHEY (FROM MILK), SALT, LEAVENING (CALCIUM PHOSPHATE AND/OR BAKING SODA), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CELLULOSE GUM, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, LACTOSE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC AND CITRIC ACIDS, SOY LECITHIN, DRY CREAM (FROM MILK), MONOSODIUM PHOSPHATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6), CHEDDAR CHEESE (CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES, ANNATTO EXTRACT COLOR), ANNATTO EXTRACT (VEGETABLE COLOR), SODIUM CASEINATE. CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, SOY.

• Partially Hydrogenated Oils are trans fats. Quick bit about fat: Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, called oils. To get partially hydrogenated oil you take unsaturated fats and break down the molecular structure and add hydrogen, this will make the oil solid at room temperature. You may think, why not just use saturated fats since they are already solid at room temperature? Good question, it's because current information says saturated fats clog arteries. Current information is also saying that these artificial saturated fats (hydrogenated oils) are actually worse than the original. These is in part because they still clog arteries, and also because adding the hydrogen to the molecular structure has a side effect of trans fatty acids. Trans fat is unnatural and is not well absorbed into the body, if at all. It also may cause problems with the way healthy fats are absorbed into your body. (I can't really go into healthy fats at this time).

• Maltodextrin is basically corn. That has been processed through large machines that use enzymes to pre-digest the corn for you and eat the calories out of it. The result is a white powder that is low in calories, carbohydrates, and sugar. This white powder will also last for a long time on a shelf without going bad or attracting bugs (since bugs don't really recognize this as food). Maltodextrin is a very popular food additive.

• Corn Syrup is again, corn. That has, again, been pre-digested for you with the use of enzymes so that it is sweeter, lower in calories, and has a longer shelf life. It is also much less expensive to produce and use than cane sugar. There is current information that says lots of terrible things about corn syrups everything from it will make you more hungry than full to it causes cancer.

I feel badly for the folks in food production, I'm not kidding. Years ago people demanded lower calories and cheaper food. Food production did literally everything and anything they could to get the people the butter taste or the fluffy cake that they loved without the nutritional value it traditionally had, and for less money. Unfortunately they have created a line of food additives that are low in calories because the body cannot digest them. I am willing to pay more for food that my body can eat. We are eating things that taste like food, look like food, even smell like food, but don't feed our bodies like food.

I am choosing to try to eliminate these additives from the things I eat so that my body can be nourished.

Happy Eating real foods!