What's In That: Peanut Butter!

Peanut butter is touted as a healthy source of protein and good fats, but did you know that it has to be the right kind of peanut butter or you are actually harming your body to the equivalent of smoking cigarettes?! Don't worry, you can still have your peanut butter and eat it too. You just have to make sure it doesn't contain this one ingredient.

Just look at the ingredient label of this Jiff Peanut Butter:

The Sugar is bad enough and something I have talked about in past posts. It can lead to diabetes and heart disease and is highly addictive.

But what I am really worried about is the Hydrogenated Oils. Doctors have been quoted saying that hydrogenated oils are just as bad for your body as smoking cigarrettes. This is an ingredient that I avoid at all costs. In fact, I'd say this and any form of corn syrup are the two most avoided ingredients in my diet. If a food contains either of these I just won't touch them. No matter what.

You may know hydrogenated oils as trans fats and even in small amounts they can wreak havoc on the heart. Hydrogenation is a process in which they take vegetable oils, heat them to extreme temperatures and add hydrogen to them, altering the entire chemical makeup of the oil. This increases their shelf stability and turns these normally liquid oils, solid- more resembling plastic than oil by the time they are done.

These oils increase LDL (or "bad cholesterol") while also decreasing HDL ("healthy cholesterol"). Trans fats also accumulate in the body because the digestive system doesn't know what to do with them, hardly even recognizing them as food, so the body stores it as fat. Diets high in trans fat (hydrogenated oils) have been directly linked to obesity as well as cardiovascular disease.

Where else you may find hydrogenated oils:

• Margarine
• Baked goods
• Store bought cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc
• candy
• chips
• Highly processed food products

Also, be weary of labels that say 0g trans fat. If a food product contains less than 0.5g of hydrogenated oils PER serving, a food company is allowed to state that it does not contain trans fat, even though it does. If you really like the food (like I love my peanut butter) you are more than likely going to eat more than one serving size and those hydrogenated oils will add up! Besides, in my book any amount of hydrogenated oils is not okay! Always read the ingredient label on the back and if it has hydrogenated oils, put it back! There are plenty of alternatives that do not contain Hydrogenated Oils.

Whole Foods Market does not allow any food containing Hydrogenated Oils in their store, so any peanut butter (or other food you pick up there) will be free of them!

MY FAVORITE NON-HYDROGENATED PEANUT BUTTERS!

• Whole Foods brand Organic Unsweetened Peanut Butter is my absolute favorite. It's creamy and resembles my childhood favorites Jiff and Peter Pan but without the hydrogenated oils or sugar!

• Woodstock Organic Peanut Butter:

• Maranatha Peanut Butter:

Buzznet What's In That: Gatorade

This artificially colored sugar water may as well be called Haterade because your body sure doesn't like it! I can't stand that Gatorade is the go to drink for pre/post workouts or when people get sick. You don't need a sugary artificial drink connocotion to replenish electrolytes! There are much better, healthier alternatives that I will show you after I break down the crap that is in this so called health drink. 

•Sugar is the second ingredient on the list meaning its the majority of whats in there. This single bottle of Gatorade contains enough sugar to send you well on your way to Diabetes town. 52.5g! To put it into perspective, thats 13 packets of sugar! Sugar causes a release of insulin therefore prompting the body to store a lot of those calories as fat. 

•Dextrose- Another form of sugar. According to CSPI this is an ingredient that should be limited. Contributes to unecessary, empty calories and does nothing to help replenish those electrolytes which is why you're drinking Gatorade in the first place, right?

•Citric Acid- Derived from corn which is most likely GMO. You can read here why I avoid GMOs

•Natural Flavor- I pulled this quote from The Food Babe because she said it perfect!  "The natural and artificial chemicals that flavor manufactures engineer are contributing to what David Kessler (former head of the FDA) calls a “food carnival” in your mouth. The inability to stop eating because the flavors they have synthesized trick your mind into wanting more and more. They don’t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry – they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste – so you get “addicted” and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification – eating more of that product which in turns fills Big Food Companies pockets. The Big Food Companies are “hijacking” your taste buds one by one." Not to mention, there is no way to tell what is really in that natural flavor and chances are theres probably nothing natural about it at all! 

•Sodium Citrate- A preservative and used to enhance flavor. Preservatives make food last for unnaturally long periods of time. Imagine what thats doing to your body!

•Monopotassium Phosphate- this soluble salt is a food additive that is also used as fertilizer and fungicide. Appetizing huh?

•Gum Arabic- a thickener and emulsifier that keeps all the ingredients from seperating.

•Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate- An additive that is used to keep the oils in citrus flavored drinks in suspension. It also replaced the Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) they were using in Gatorade before which was thankfully removed recently (Powerade still contains it however) because it is a flame retardant (!) that was causing skin lesions, memory loss, tremors, fatigue, loss of muscle coordination, and headaches in people consuming it. It is also banned in Europe. Considering the effects of BVO alone, I am not too keen on trusting a new additive used to replace it.

•Glycerol ester of rosin- This additive is used in citrus flavored foods and drinks to enhance flavor and act as en emulsifier to keep oil and water from seperating. It was recently banned in Europe because there was not enough evidence of safety of this additive. 

•Yellow 6- According to the CSPI this dye should absolutely be avoided. It is known to cause tumors of the adrenal gland and kidneys. It also contains small traces of known carcinogens (cancer causing agents). 

Still want to down that Gatorade after a workout? Now don't get too worked up, there is a delicious alternative that will replenish your electrolytes after a workout (or long night of drinking...) and isn't full of refined sugars, empty calories and carcinogenic ingredients!

Coconut Water contains a naturally occuring balance of the minerals potassium, sodium, magnesium and chloride that are better known as electrolytes. Coconut water is so incredibly hydrating that in some countries it is used as an IV in severly dehydrated patients. The plasma and electrolyte balance of coconut water has been found to be identical to that of human blood! The best part is you can replenish your electrolytes naturally without the addition of refined sugars, carcinogenic dyes and flavorings and a pretty low amount of calories.

Harmless Harvest's raw coconut water (pictured below) is hands down the best one because it hasn't been heated so it retains all of the vital nutrients and electrolytes. But if you can't get your hands on this one I also recommend O.N.E as a good alternative!

For those of you who are not fans of Coconut Water (I am learning there are more than I thought!) You may want to give raw coconut water a try! I am not a huge fan of the Zicos and other types of coconut water but I found that this raw coconut water tastes a lot different than the rest! Or you can also buy an actual coconut from the grocery store and try that. Also a very different taste. If you are still not a fan there are some alternatives to replenish electrolytes!

Vega Sport Electrolyte Hyrator

Celery + Apple + Lemon juice: Celery is naturally full of sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and phosphorus, apples provide magnesium and lemon has the highest amount of electrolytes of all the citrus fruits.

Banana + Almond milk + Kale smoothie: Bananas are high in potassium and magnesium that regulate your fluid balance. Almond milk contains magnesium and potassium and kale is a great source of magnesium and calcium!  

Chia seeds + coconut water (or water if you don't like coconut water): This combination helps hydrate you even further because chia seeds hold 9x their weight in water. Just combine 1-2 Tbsp of chia seeds with coconut water or water and let sit for about 5 mins. The chia seeds will form a gel around them that help with hydration!

(from my Whats In That series on Buzznet!)

The top 7 ingredients I avoid at all costs

You never know these days what you are going to find in your food so I always read the ingredient list before I eat anything. I try to eat as close to nature as possible, but sometimes you just can't avoid eating packaged food. Here is the list of ingredients I look for and will not eat. 

• Hydrogenated Oils. These are better known as trans fat. They are made when oil is heated to a very high temperature to the point where it changes the molecular makeup of the oil. The hydrogens are placed on either side of each other instead of side by side in normal "cis" formation. These oils are used because they act as a preservative for food and help make foods like peanut butter creamier and give baked goods that buttery taste. The problem is they wreak havoc on the body, in particular the heart. They are about as close to eating plastic sludge as you can get without actually consuming plastic. Doctors have been quoted comparing the consumption of hydrogenated oils to smoking cigarettes. That's how bad they are for you. Beware food products that say "0 trans fat" on the front, always read the ingredient label and look for "hydrogenated oil" because food companies are allowed to say 0 trans fat if the amount of trans fat per serving is lower than a certain percentage. 
  
  
  

• Corn Syrup: (This includes High Fructose corn syrup). Corn syrup is nothing more than high concentrations of fructose in the form of a syrup. Fructose in of itself is horrible for the body because of the way it metabolizes it and the body almost immediately stores it as fat instead of breaking it down like other forms of sugar. Not to mention high fructose corn syrup is highly processed and made from genetically modified corn (which you can read more about below). Consumption of HFCS is linked to insulin resistance, diabetes, hypertension, & obesity.
  
  
  

• Artificial Sweeteners: There are countless studies showing the dangerous side effects of these so called "safe" chemical concoctions. But companies like Pepsi & Coca Cola who want the ability to use them in their diet drinks have paid for their own research showing that the consumption of these sweeteners is totally "safe". Which explains the conflicting information out there regarding these sweeteners. Once in the body they are converted to formaldehyde and have been linked to numerous kinds of cancers, leukemia, lymphoma and MS. Not to mention, studies have shown that consuming artificial sweeteners actually results in increased weight gain because once they hit the tongue they trick the body into thinking it will be receiving sugar so it prepares itself by releasing hormones to metabolize the sugar. When it does not receive that sugar, it leads to cravings and ultimately binging on sugary foods to overcompensate for the loss of sugar. These fake sweeteners haven't been around that long and with a list of disease linkages like that I'd rather not take my chances. Stick to the sugars mother nature gave us like honey, pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, date sugar and 100% pure stevia leaf. The most commonly used artificial sweeteners to look for on ingredient lists are Sucralose (Splenda), Aspartame, & Acesulfame-K. If you would like to read more about artificial sweeteners you can read about them here.
  
  
  

• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage & even death, causing brain damage to varying degrees. MSG is put into food because it is addictive and will cause you to eat more of it (therefore you buy more leading to more profit for that company). It also adds a certain savory taste to food. It is linked to many neurological disorders such as migraines, seizures, endocrine disorders, certain forms of obesity and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's & Huntington disease. Beware, it hides under many different names on ingredient lists, here is a list of all the names it can hide under (the FDA doesn't require labels to state MSG in ingredient lists). 
  
  
   
  
  

• Artificial Colors: Red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6 and red 3 are acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration as known carcinogens (cancer causing). They are also linked to hyperactivity in children and are said to be as damaging to the brain as lead in gasoline, yet they still continue to put this junk in our food. Not to mention they are simply in our food for aesthetic purposes to make it look more appetizing and aren't even needed! 
  
  
  

• Preservatives: BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) or BHT (butylated hydrozyttoluene) is banned in pretty much every country but the US and is used in a lot of processed foods to preserve them and prolong their shelf life. In studies, 100% of the animals studied showed tissue inflammation, enlargement and/or growths and cancer in 35%. TBHQ is a preservative derived from petroleum that is used in perfumes, varnishes, and oil field chemicals and is linked to stomach tumors. It's also used as a preservative in your precious Chick Fila sandwiches. Another ingredient to look out for, Sodium Benzoate, is found in sprite, cake mixes and lots of other processed foods and when combined with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) forms a known carcinogen, Benzene that damages cell DNA and causes accelerated aging. Other preservatives to look out for and avoid: propylene glycol, dimethylpolysiloxane (an antifoaming agent found in Mcdonald's french fries, as well as caulks & sealants, silly putty and breast implants!), Azodicarbonamide.

 

• Non-Organic Corn & Soy. 88% of the corn and 93% of the soy crops in the US are genetically modified. Since GMOs are not required to be labeled, the only way to avoid eating GMOs is to eat organic because by US law, anything labeled organic cannot be genetically modified. You can read here, here & here why you want to avoid GMOs.