Unraveling Confusion on Nutrition Labels

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I am excited to have Mira Dessy on the show. Mira is a Nutrition Educator and “real food advocate” and she has some amazing tips to share about unraveling confusion on nutrition labels. I was blown away by what Mira shared with me and I was thrilled to be able to put some of what I learned from her into practice to make better choices during my next shopping trip. If you are confused by what’s on or not on nutrition labels you'll be glad you checked out my interview with Mira.

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Mira is a Certified Nutrition Educator and "Real Food Advocate".  Originally she worked as a computer and database administrator. After a healthcare crisis she discovered what a huge difference food, and particularly what we eat, makes to our bodies. This realization had such an impact on her that she went back to school and changed careers. She now helps people learn to eat right.

Mira is an author and her book "The Pantry Principle" helps clear up confusing nutrition labels by teaching you to decipher the complexity of products on food shelves.

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Efforts to Keep You from Reading Nutrition Labels

Manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money to determine what will attract a consumers attention. They rely heavily on "buzz words", key concepts and front of package labeling to keep us looking at the front of the package so we don't see what's in the product.

Additionally, when we do look at the nutrition label we've been trained to "skim" the information. There's a sense that we don't need to really pay attention to what's on the label, that someone else is looking out for us and our safety.

Sadly, when we do take a "closer look" we find that much of what is in these products is not something we want to eat.

Front of Package Marketing

Time and money is invested in making sure that the colors, shapes, words and word placement on the front of the package works to lull us into a sense of false security about how healthy the product is.

For example, a package of corn chips may include a phrase on the front of the package that says "made with organic blue corn". This phrase makes us feel that the product is organic and good for us. However, if we flip the package over we find that some of the other ingredients are not great and the product is not 100% organic.

Even when the product is not organic a phrase like the one above relies on loopholes to imply the product is organic while not technically claiming it is. Another strategy manufacturers use is creating an organic line and a conventional line that use the same logo so it's not always clear which line you're buying.

Alarming Ingredients Found in Food Products

As a Nutrition Educator Mira is alarmed by the number of ingredients found in products that aren't food. There are some key concepts we can use to help identify non-food items when reviewing nutrition labels.

1 - Don't purchase a "food" product that has ingredients that are followed by numbers. (Nature doesn't grow food by numbers so these ingredients are NOT FOOD!)

2- All CAPS on a nutrition label is an abbreviation and we don't want to eat these. These are also not foods.

An example of an ingredient listed in all CAPS that is a dangerous product to eat is BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene). These are often found in breakfast cereals and should be avoided.

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GMOs

When other countries around the world have banned their use why does the US allow GMOs to be used in foods?

While it's a complicated question to answer, part of it may have to do with corporations who are closely tied to agriculture. There is a belief that we are protecting the agriculture but we're are not paying attention to the challenges that are happening with regard to the impact on the environment and to the biochemical impact on our bodies.

While there continue to be more examples of the dangers of GMOs the government is not following through as they should. For example, there are crops that are genetically modified to resist pesticides. This allows the crops to be grown in a field and sprayed with pesticides. However, over time the weeds have become resistant to the pesticides as well. That requires stronger pesticides and a second round of genetic modification. All the while we're depleting the soil, creating environmental run-off and these pesticides are starting to effect our gut flora.

The last two attempts to require GMOs on nutrition labels were defeated largely because the opposition outspent the proponents 10 to 1! Even though more people are aware of the dangers of GMOs and want this information included on labels the producers of these products don't want it included. Why? Because we would be alarmed by how much genetic modification is happening and included in the foods we're consuming.

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What are some of the health dangers associated with these "non-food" ingredients?

A landmark study done in 2007 by the University of Southhampton in Great Britain showed that artificial colors and benzoates were highly disturbing to the system for children with attention deficit disorders. It made them more inattentive and more hyperactive.

Other chemicals in our food can cause a host of health problems because we're taking these toxic substances into our bodies and taxing our systems.

Things like:

• Migraines


• Rashes


• Insomnia


• and more....

Another chemical to be wary of is RBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin). RBST was created by Monsanto and it's an artificial hormone used to make cows give more milk. Unfortunately, RBST does not go away when you milk the cow. That means if you're drinking conventional milk or eating conventional dairy products you're most likely eating RBST. Unless your dairy product specifically says it's RBST free it's probably in the product.

RBST has an impact on insulin growth factor one which has a direct impact on metabolic syndrome and could eventually lead to diabetes. There is also emerging evidence that seems to indicate there are problems with girls reaching menarche at younger ages.

How do you avoid RBST (also sometimes called RBGH)?

Look for dairy products that state they are "RBST Free" or "RBGH Free" on the label or purchase "organic".

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Is eating organic the answer?

There is no clear cut answer to this because manufacturers try to throw the term around whenever possible because they know consumers will respond to it.

Organic is mandated by the federal government to actually mean something. Organic means no pesticides, no GMOs, it's free of antibiotics, free of added hormones if it's an animal product. If it's a plant based product organic means it does not have pesticides, it does not have GMOs.

While it would be great to eat 100% organic it's very difficult to do because it's expensive. Families need to make a choice based on their own budgets to determine how organically they can afford to eat. There are also some choices families can make where eating organic is not required and there are tools people can use.

The Environmental Working Group puts together the Dirty Dozen List which are the 12 fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated by pesticides. The group also maintains something called the Clean Fifteen List which are items you don't need to purchase organic because they have an outer coating that protects them.

How do we take action?

• Learn how to read labels


• Make changes a little at a time

Start taking back control of the food you're buying and follow these simple rules:

1. If it has a number after it, it's NOT a FOOD. Don't buy it!


2. If it has ingredients in All CAPS , it's NOT a FOOD. Don't buy it!


3. Check your breakfast cereals and stay clear of BHA and BHT


4. Check your dairy and look for RBST Free or RBGH Free labels


5. Get educated and check out Mira's books below

BONUS

Three Actionable items: 

Here are three actionable items you can implement right away:

1. Get rid of artificial colors


2. Get rid of high fructose corn syrup


3. Make a decision toward organic animal products or look up the dirty dozen

Get Mira's Books to learn more:

The Pantry Principle 

Eating Out Eating Healthy

Follow Mira on-line

The Pantry Principle Blog

Facebook

On Twitter

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I asked the community on Google what they wanted to ask Mira. Here's what you asked and here are her answers:

Louis B: What is the 2 most important items on the food labels that we should be aware of?

Mira:First, look at the grams of #sugar are in the product because there is a lot of excess sugar in our foods. They do it to because we respond to sugar on a fairly primitive level. The sweeter things are the more we think we like them.

Second, look at that list of ingredients. For example if you pick up a can of peaches and there are 12 ingredients on the label you may want to reconsider.

Paul L: With all these chemicals in our food, fake or lethal material. How are we supposed to eat safe and healthy?

Mira: Part of what you need to do is become an educated consumer.Learning what these things are and how to avoid them. For example, if you're trying to avoid artificial colors don't assume there are no colors added just because the product doesn't look like it has color. Pickles are a good example. They actually have artificial colors. One good way around this is to shop for your pickles in the international aisle.

 A. Chynal: Why aren't GMOs being labeled and how to avoid buying #gmo products if they aren't labeled?

Mira: One thing you can do is look at the "Non GMO Shopping Guide". You can learn which products are most likely to be modified genetically. Products like, corn products, soy products, canola, etc... and then for those choose organic versions.

There is also a FREE iphone app available ShopNoGMO

Rachael: What are the best foods for pregnant women?

Mira: Eat clean and make sure you're getting clean sources of animal proteins. It's a sobering thought to think that 70% of the antibiotics in the U.S. are consumed by animals. There are some studies that show women who eat organic apples and Salmon have less of a risk of having babies that have asthma.

[cryout-pullquote align="right" textalign="center" width="33%"]...when we're eating animal products, "We eat, what we eat, ate" - Mira Dessy[/cryout-pullquote]

 

One of the things that we don't tend to realize when we eat animal products is that we eat, what we eat, ate. So if these animals are eating toxins, hormones or pesticides we are too. For example there are people who are allergic to corn and it's a serious allergy. They can't eat corn fed beef because the corn lectins are in the beef and will make them sick.

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