You may double check every product you put in your grocery cart to keep junk food out of your home, but do you really know what's in your food?
A new study by natural food brand Arla has revealed some surprising facts about the food we all buy. It's no surprise that lots of foods have additives, chemicals or natural products that make them stay fresh longer, or give them a nice color.
But the number of additives in even the simplest food is surprising. Ketchup can have as many as 12, while gluten-free breads can include as many as 26. What's worse, some of these have been proven to be bad for your health.
The next time you go grocery shopping, keep an eye out for these 5 ingredients and try your best to keep them out of your grocery cart.
-Partially Hydrogenated Oils: This additive might as well be called "trans fats," because that's pretty much all they are. They keep food fresh, but they're been proven to raise your cholesterol.
-Sodium Nitrates and Nitrites: How do hot dogs and bacon keep their tasty colors while they sit in the grocery store? It's thanks to these chemicals. They can form cancer-causing cells called nitrosamines when they mix with your stomach acid, so look for meat products that are additive-free.
-Potassium Bromate: You'll find this in your breads and dinner rolls because it makes them extra thick. Here's the thing: it's been banned in every country but Japan and the US because it has been proven to cause cancer in lab animals.
-High Fructose Corn Syrup: This is just sugar by another name, but with one extra downside. It can block leptin, the hormone that tells your brain your stomach is full, making you eat more.
-MSG or Monosodium Glutamate: You may remember when people were scared to eat Chinese food because this additive would cause headaches. Those fears were overblown, but MSG can cause obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndromes. Look other for sneaky names to disguise MSG, like maltodextrin, sodium caseinate or autolyzed vegetable protein.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone! Arla's survey also found that over half of the 4,000 people they spoke with felt food is too complicated these days.
Hopefully with this new information you'll be able to spot these risky additives the next time you go shopping!
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