Stuff in Your Food

Be an educated consumer – learn what’s in your food and

how you can change it

What’s in our food?

• There is a lot of stuff in food

• Food can be simple – containing less than 10 ingredients

• Food can be very complex – containing a list of 70+ ingredients

• Food that you eat can either be supportive to your health or be detrimental to your health

What we are talking about…

• Good stuff in our food• Reading food labels• Food ingredients• Scary stuff in our food

Life-giving stuff in our food…

• Vitamins

• Minerals

• Energy (calories)

• Other healthy compounds – fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, water, antioxidants, phytochemicals

Water Soluble Vitamins

B-Vitamins– Thiamin – whole grains– Riboflavin – milk products and whole grains– Niacin – animal products and whole grains– Biotin – whole grains, made in GI Tract– Pantothenic acid – widespread in foods– Vitamin B6 – meats and legumes– Folate – whole grains– Vitamin B12 – animal products and nutritional

yeast

Vitamin C – fruits, fresh vegetables

Vitamin B12

Works very closely with folate in DNA synthesis and red blood cell

Deficiency – results in anemia, fatigue, degeneration of nerve tissue resulting in paralysis

Food sources:– Animal products (meat, milk, cheese, eggs)– Root vegetables– Fortified cereals– Nutritional yeast

Folate (Folic Acid)Folate is extremely important for women of child-

bearing age

Folate deficiency can affect the neural tube development of fetuses

Folate is great for preventing heart disease!

Food sources:– Whole and enriched grain products– Leafy greens– Legumes– seeds

Fat Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin A – dark yellow orange vegetables, acne medicine Accutane

Vitamin D – sunlight

Vitamin E – oils

Vitamin K – synthesized in GI tract

Minerals

Sodium Calcium

PotassiumPhosphorous

Chloride Magnesium

Take a look at potassium and sodium in processed

foods

Energy (Calories)

Carbohydrates

Proteins

Fats

Dietary FiberGreat for your digestive system – gut bacteria feed off of

it!

Great for your blood cholesterol level – soluble fiber binds cholesterol.

Diets high in fiber have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.

Foods high in dietary fiber:– Whole grains and whole grain products– Fruits– Vegetables

Foods low in fiber:– Meats and animal products– Processed foods like candies, cookies, bread, crackers,

snacky foods.

Why Whole Grains?High in FIBER!High in vitamins and mineralsGreat for weight

management – foods high in fiber tend to fill you up and keep you full.

Great for your overall health!

Non-whole grain foods:– White rice– White pasta– White bread– Some wheat breads– Cookies, crackers, etc.

Fats, fats, fats, oh My!Good Fats

Monounsaturated fats– Olive oil, canola oil, peanut

oil, avocadosPolyunsaturated fats– Vegetable oils – sunflower,

safflower, sesame, soy, and corn

– Nuts and seedsOmega-3 Fatty Acids– Fatty fish – salmon, mackeral,

sardines– Grass fed beef, pastured eggs– Walnuts, flax seeds, soybeans

Omega-6 Fatty Acids– Vegetable oils– Poultry fat, eggs, meats– Nuts, seeds

Not so good fatsSaturated fats– Animal products– Coconut oil– Palm oil

Trans fats– Partially hydrogenated

vegetable oils found in processed foods like cakes, cookies, snack foods and candies.

Fats, fats, fats, oh My!Good Fats

Monounsaturated fats– Olive oil, canola oil, peanut

oil, avocadosPolyunsaturated fats– Vegetable oils – sunflower,

safflower, sesame, soy, and corn

– Nuts and seedsOmega-3 Fatty Acids– Fatty fish – salmon, mackeral,

sardines– Grass fed beef, pastured eggs– Walnuts, flax seeds, soybeans

Omega-6 Fatty Acids– Vegetable oils– Poultry fat, eggs, meats– Nuts, seeds

Not so good fatsSaturated fats– Animal products– Coconut oil– Palm oil

Trans fats– Partially hydrogenated

vegetable oils found in processed foods like cakes, cookies, snack foods and candies.

Decoding an ingredient list:

INGREDIENTS: Enriched flour [wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid], vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and/or canola oils), skim milk cheese (skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto extract color), salt, paprika, yeast, paprika oleoresin color.

Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils – Trans Fats! Avoid these…

Other good stuff in our food…

Water!– Found in most food that we eat– Fruits and veggies are made up of 70% or more

water

Phytochemicals and antioxidants– Found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, some

animals (very few)– Great great great!– Examples: lycopene, vitamin A, vitamin E,

vitamin C

Moving on…

What is the key to unlocking the secret

about the stuff in your food?

Reading a food labelServing Size - what is considered a “serving”?

Servings per container – no, serving size isn’t actually how much that package of food contains

Calories – good ‘ol energy!

Calories from fat – yep, pretty just that!

Total fat – things with >4g of fat you should be worried about if it is coming in a package in processed form

Saturated fat – check out the label – how much of this saturated fat counts towards your daily recommendations?

Reading a food label…Carbohydrates – fuel for your brain!

Dietary fiber – good sources of fiber have >5g per serving.

Sugars – these tend to be added sugars in processed foods, so anything >10g is questionable…

Protein – yep, this is good stuff; proteins in processed foods typically come from the additives that they use (like whey, soy protein, etc.)

Vitamins and Minerals! – only ones listed are A, C, calcium, and iron

Reading a food label…

The Ingredient List Scale of Scariness:

< 7 items – great!

7 < items < 15 – okay

>15 items – getting scary

>30 items – NO WAY!

Ingredients:Whole corn, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), salt, corn maltodextrin, whey, monosodium glutamate (MSG), tomato powder, Romano cheese (part-skim cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), onion powder, disodium phosphate, garlic powder, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, spice, citric acid, sour cream (cultured milk, nonfat milk), sugar, nonfat milk, lactic acid, buttermilk, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.

Contains: Milk ingredients

This item contains 35 ingredients!

Lets take a look at some food labels/ingredient lists:

Can you guess?Ingredients:

Whole corn, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), salt, corn maltodextrin, whey, monosodium glutamate (MSG), tomato powder, Romano cheese (part-skim cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), onion powder, disodium phosphate, garlic powder, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, spice, citric acid, sour cream (cultured milk, nonfat milk), sugar, nonfat milk, lactic acid, buttermilk, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.

Contains: Milk ingredients

Can you guess?

Ingredients:

Water, white rice, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar

Horchata – a traditional rice milk

drink made in Mexico

Can you guess?

Ingredients: high fructose corn syrup, sugar, water, non-dairy creamer (partially hydrogenated coconut oil), corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono- and di-glycerides, dipotassium phosphate. Contains 2% or less: Sodium silicoaluminate, soy lecithin, whey protein, cinnamon, vanillin, natural caramel color, rice flour, potassium sorbate

Moving on…

What is even more scary than a long ingredient list?

… what those ingredients are!

Chemical AdditivesThings added to our food to preserve

them, make them taste good, make them a different color….

Chemical Preservatives

Artificial Coloring

Artificial Flavoring

Chemical Preservatives - BHT and BHA -

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)

Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)

Most widely used antioxidant in food/drug industry

Not permitted in infant foods

Top 10 of most commonly used preservatives in cosmetics

Chemical Preservatives- Benzoic Acid -

Where does it come from?– coal tar– resin– may be derived

from animals

Artificial Colorings- Red No. 40 -

Concerns:– behavioral and

neurological effects– hyperactive

behavior in children– lower IQ

Artificial Colorings- Carminic Acid -

Comes from:crushed bodies of the female Dactyolpius coccus – an Indonesian scale insect

Also known as carmine

Artificial Flavorings- Aspartame -

Concerns:– Headaches– Cancer

Artificial Flavorings- Saccharin -

Concerns:– Causes cancer in

laboratory animals

Other ingredients thought or

known to cause cancer:Sucralose

Sodium nitrate and nitrite

Artificial and natural flavorings

Acesulfame-K

Potassium bromate

Propyl Gallate

Genetically Modified Organism

Seen by many scientists as the new food revolution of the future

70% of the processed foods in America now contain GMO ingredients

What is it?– Genes from completely different species can

be inserted into each other– Scientist in Taiwan have succeeded at inserting

jellyfish genes into pigs in order to make them glow in the dark

- Genetically Modified Organism -

Concerns:– allergic reactions,

gene mutations, antibiotic resistance, loss of nutrition, damage to environment, social implications

– superweeds, terminator seeds

– CORPORATE OWNERSHIP

Hormones- rBST or rBGH -

Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST)

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)

Concerns:– Animal health– Increase in insulin-like

growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in cows – identical in humans

- Antibiotics -Used in meat and

animal production to keep animals “healthy”

Traces found in meat and animal products

Risks – increased tolerance to antibiotics; antibiotic resistant SUPERBUGS!

- Biomagnification -

What is it?

What foods have the highest levels of biomagnified pollutants?

What is being done about it?

- Metals: Mercury -

Food Sources:- Fish- High Fructose

Corn Syrup

Concerns:- harmful to the developing brain

- Metals: Arsenic - Sources:

Chicken WaterOther poultryRiceFish

Concerns:CancerDiabetesHeart disease Arsenic has been a gov.

approved additive in chicken

feed for years!

- Pesticides and Herbicides -

• Organophosphates• DDT• Dioxin

Concerns:CancerKidney diseaseBirth defectsPoor healthPremature deathHormone disruptionNervous system disordersReproductive damage

- Mad Cow Disease / BSE -Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Infectious disease of the brain of cattle

If humans eat the tissue of a cow with ‘mad cow’ disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Prions – infectious proteins

- E. Coli o157:H7 -

Source: Cow Manure

Found in:- beef- raw veggies

Concerns:intestinal discomfortbloody diarrheadeath

- Bird Flu -

Tips to avoiding nasty things in foods…

• Stick with whole food products• Skip processed foods• Read the ingredient list• Limit/avoid contaminated

animal products• Eat foods grown without

pesticides/herbicides• Cook animal products

thoroughly

There is Hope!