Are you label literate? I'm guessing no...

It's shocking what hides in our food. Are you drinking a soda right now? Maybe eating a candy bar or some chips? Take a look at the nutritional label, and read the ingredients. No, go ahead, I'll wait...

Do you really know what most of that stuff is? Or do you assume that since someone put it on the shelf, it has to be benign?

I challenge you to take one of those weird words you found on the label, and type it into a search engine. That's right - learn what you're putting into your body. Because whether you choose to believe it or not, you most definitely are what you eat. And I personally don't want to be "partially hydrogenated soybean oil."



Here's a picture of a can of refried beans I found in our cabinet. As someone following a Paleo lifestyle, what are some of the things that stand out to you that make this food a no-no?





Alright, so after taking a long look at the picture above, what are some of the no-no foods/ingredients you found?

You should have found that:

1. BEANS - no-no on Paleo! Beans, part of the legume family, are an off-limits food. If you don't know why, Google it.
2. Autolyzed yeast extract. My rule of thumb is, if I don't know what it is, I probably shouldn't be eating it. Click here to learn more about autolyzed yeast extract.
3. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Two bad things here - one, no one should eat anything with any degree of hydrogenation, partial or otherwise. It's not natural, and it's not healthy. Two, soybean oil - soybeans are another food group Paleo dieters stay away from. Again, if you don't understand why, Google it (you need to learn some of this stuff for yourself).
4. May contain Soy. Okay, the very idea that they would say "may" when they list "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" as one of the ingredients just cracks me up. DUR.

There are probably a few other things I would add to the list as something I personally avoid (excessive sodium, non-organic, etc.), but those things aren't worth going into right now. The whole point is to show you what is in your healthy food.

BTW: If you are avoiding gluten, it's really important that you read ALL the labels and packaging that comes with your food. Gluten is in nearly everything, and if it doesn't specficially say "Gluten free" somewhere on the label, there's a really good chance that there's gluten in the food.

Take a look at that soda or that can of Pringles you're consuming. Having second thoughts yet? Oh, and heaven help you if you're drinking a diet drink. Might as well chug a few beakers from a chemistry lab. Nasty.