Does the added 'Yikes' make it taste better?!

Below is a list of 7 ingredients easily found in foods at the average grocery store. They’re in the bagel you had for breakfast, the white bread you’re having for lunch, and the ice cream you’ll have later for dessert. 

Butylated Hydroxyanisol
Propylene Glycol
Olestra 
Azodicarbonamide 
Diacetyl
Ammonium Sulfate 
Potassium Bromate

The number one reason people admit to not reading labels is because they'd rather not  know how many calories they’re consuming or how much fat they’ve eaten. I know what fat and sodium are and what they do to my body. While I need to be mindful of how much salt and fat I consume, they're ingredients that frighten me. What in heaven’s name is Butylated Hyrdoxyanisole and why is it in my breakfast cereal?!

Take a quiz: Can you tell which is which? 
Read the list of consumable ingredients above and then guess which number below describes it. (Note: I didn’t say food ingredients. I’m certain this is not what food was ever intended to be.)

1. One chemical is also a key ingredient in windshield wiper fluid.
2. One of them is a petroleum distillate.
3. One causes diarrhea and used to require a warning label. 
4. One is a frequently used to make industrial foam plastic.
5. One is used to make personal lubricant and cosmetics.
6. One of them can actually be found naturally: it’s an inorganic salt found 
     on active volcanoes, where no plant or animal life can live.
7. The last ingredient has been sanctioned by the FDA since the 1950s, 
     but it remains a legal food additive. Though the FDA encourages 
     companies to voluntarily abstain from its use.

Yikes! There are some scary additives lurking in processed foods. I hate to state the obvious, but a head of broccoli doesn’t require an ingredient label. Every person reading this blog knows a balanced diet, strong in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, is essential. I’m here to help you on your journey to eating clean and well. The Eden Tree is a resource where you’ll find healthy, delicious recipes and food ideas that are based on one principle: eat what was designed to be food. 

Spring Cleaning Food Challenge:

Don’t eat any foods with ingredients you don’t know.

For the next month, I challenge you to look at the ingredient labels of everything you buy at the grocery store. This is all I’m asking: don’t purchase any food with ingredients you can’t identify. If you don’t know what ‘hydrogenated’ oil is or why it needs to have hydrogen infused into it at all, than please don’t purchase it.

I’m realistic about the fast paced life we live. I don’t have time to buy dried garbanzo beans, rehydrate them and cook them, before making my hummus. I buy my beans from a can. BUT the can reads two ingredients: garbanzo beans and water.

Little changes make a big difference! That’s terribly cliche but ridiculously true. Ditch the pronunciation pop-quiz on the ingredient list of many over-processed grocery store consumables. Choose to buy things you know and understand. You just might find they taste better too.