Top 5 Ingredients To Avoid When Shopping

If you know me, you know that I am conscious of what goes in my kids bodies.  I have been asked by quite a few people what ingredients I avoid.  So, I thought I would make a Top 10 list of ingredients to avoid.  I thought that might be overwhelming for some people, especially if you eat like the average American, so I decided to do a Top 5 list instead.  The following is a list of ingredients that don’t enter my house.  To get you started eating a healthier diet, try avoiding one or more of these.

Here is my Top 5 list of ingredients to avoid

(In no particular order)

1.  High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) also called corn syrup – This one has been getting a lot of media attention lately, which I love.  I especially love the commercials from the corn industry trying to fool a person into believing that not only is HFCS not bad for you, but it is actually good for you!  What a joke!

2. Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Oils – You aren’t going to like me for this one.  This is in lots of foods.

3. Sodium Benzoate – Commonly found in things that are ‘pickled’, such as pickles, banana peppers, jalapeño peppers, etc.

4. Artificial Sweeteners – This can include aspartame, phenylalanine, splenda, nutrasweet, and the list goes on.  This is becoming a long list that I can’t keep up with as companies keep on coming up with new ‘sugars’ in their labs.  When I am looking at a label, I will buy it if it says sugar, evaporated cane sugar, honey, molasses, stevia, or no sugar at all.  That way, I don’t have to keep up with all the cancer causing sugars they are making in labs!

5. Glutamate – This is the harmful component to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – This is probably the hardest ingredient on my list to avoid (and why I listed it last).  The reason I feel it is the hardest to avoid is because it is in so many things and it’s not as simple as looking for ‘Monosodium Glutamate’ in the ingredients list.  Click here for a list of other names/ingredients that glutamate can be found in and you will see what I am talking about.

I will post about each of these individually so you can see why I avoid these like the plague!  

*Update: I have now linked all my individual posts so all you have to do is click on each ingredient above and it will go to the post.  That way you don't have to search through my archives to find them.  I'm all about making things easier for you. :) 

Even though this is just a top 5 list and not a top 10, it may still be overwhelming to some.  That’s okay.  If that’s the case, just pick one.  Start wherever is easiest.  Getting one of these ingredients out of your diet and the diet of your family members will still be beneficial for your health.

The great thing about picking just one is that you will find that by just taking one of these out of your diet you will be taking some of the others out as well, because they travel in packs.  You’ve heard the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together”, right?  The same usually goes for bad ingredients.

I hope this helps you to get your family on the road to better health!

Note: For my readers who are already going in this direction, I’m sure that you have others to add to this list.  You may even be thinking there is an ingredient or two that is/are more important to avoid than these.  Please remember I am talking to the readers that have never altered their diet in this way and that this is just a starting point for them.  Feel free to leave a comment with your opinions on these ingredients or others that you feel are detrimental to our health.  I welcome feedback.

Nicole