So, do you think you can tell? Part II

Bad:
Like Andrea, I have nothing against fat. Saturated fat needs to be consumed in moderation, but it’s real food. It’s preservatives and hydrogenated oils that will damage your arteries.

All grated or shredded cheeses contain cellulose to prevent caking and natamycin to protect the flavor (such as grated Parmesan or grated Asiago cheese.) Please, pass.

Good:
Buy a chunk of cheese instead, and use a grater at home. Or, find a brand that sells cheese that is already grated but without all the preservatives. Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods are good sources.


Salsa
Salsa is a good way to get some vegetables and a bit of vitamin C into your diet. Plus, it’s so versatile. You can use it on almost everything: eggs, chicken, meat, bread, tortillas, even alone, with chips (more on chips in a bit.)

Bad:
Salsa Kaukauna contains sugar, modified food starch, dextrose and preservatives.

Good:
Casa Sanchez salsa contains tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice and salt.


Soups

Bad:
Safeway Soups are “like dining out at home”. That is, if you happen to have cultured dextrose, modified-corn starch, sodium phosphate, artificial chicken flavor and chicken fat in your pantry.

Dehydrated soup (such as Nissin Cup Noodles or Ramen) contains hydrogenated oil, dextrose, sugar, and enriched flour. Most Campbell soups are high in sodium and high fructose corn syrup.

Good:
The brand Imagine is a bit high in sodium but tastes really good. Ingredients in their broccoli soup: broccoli, onions, soy milk, potatoes, celery, spices, salt, canola oil. They have other flavors such as corn and tomato.


Jam

Bad:
Smuckers currant jam contains currant juice, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup (yes, both), pectin, citric acid and sodium citrate.

Good:
Bonne Maman lists peaches as the first ingredient, then sugar, pectin and citric acid. Even better would be just fruit (and sugars that naturally derive from it.)


Peanut butter

Bad:
I’ve told you about this one but here it goes again: Skippy peanut butter contains peanuts, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed oils and salt. Plus (shame on them), the label states “as always, no hydrogenated fats (Per serving.)”

Good:
Adams – ingredients: peanuts. Even better would be switching to almond butter.


Bread

Bad:
Bread is tricky. What you want is fiber and whole wheat (not to be confused with whole grain.) Safeway’s brand states “100% whole wheat” on the package, but you get a bonus: high fructose corn syrup, and – yum - calcium propionase added to retard spoilage.

Orowheat oatnut bread’s label states “no trans fats” and invites you to “enter the heart of gold sweepstakes”. On the label though, you can see it only contains 1 gram of fiber. The first ingredient is not oats but enriched wheat flour. Also calcium propionate (the spoilage thing again) and high fructose corn syrup. If mold refuses to grow on this bread, you shouldn’t be eating it.

Good:
Vital Vittles. And they have an awesome variety: cinnamon, whole wheat, whole wheat with whole grains, and (my favorite) corn bread that is not sweet.


Dried Fruit

Bad:
Dried fruit is good for you – it’s rich in fiber, and naturally produces ingredients not found in the original fruit (such as iron.) If you’re not careful, though, you get sulphur dioxide, sugar, and artificial colors, such as in Mariani brands. (Even more perplexing, Mariani sells mango flavored pineapple. Why not just buy the dried mango?)

Good:
Sunmaid raisins. Ingredients: California seedless raisins.


Microwave popcorn

Bad:
When popcorn is bad, it’s really bad. Homestyle Popsecret has salt, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, artificial flavors and propyl gallate to preserve color. Why does popcorn need an artificial flavor added?

Good:
Safeway’s “O” brand contains organic popcorn, organic palm oil and salt. Even better, pop your own in olive or canola oil.


Nuts

Bad:
Nuts are so good for you. But their oil is delicate – it’s better to eat them raw so you don’t affect it. Safeway’s brand lists almonds, cottonseed oil, salt, maltodextrin and torula yeast in the ingredients.

Good:
Blue Diamond almonds have almonds, canola oil and salt.
Even better: buy a bag of raw almonds.


Chips

Bad:
I thought I’d seen it all, until I found “Natural Cheetos” in the chip section. Natural, except for maltodextrin, natural flavors (which aren’t natural: there is a chapter in Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlowser, about this that will shock you), and disodium phosphate.

What about stuff that’s baked instead of fried? Baked Lay’s state in the bag that they are “a smart choice made easy”. Never mind how easy they make it for you to eat modified food starch, sugar, corn syrup solids, monosodium glutamate, dextrose, disodium phosphate, artificial flavors, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil with that baked chip. Thank goodness we also have baked Ruffles, baked Cheetos and Tostitos Multigrain, with “four wholesome grains” (and corn, cornstarch and sugar.)

Good:
I know. Sometimes you just gotta have chips. Garden of Eatin’ makes them with organic yellow corn, canola oil and sea salt. Guiltless bakes them in case you’re looking for something lower in fat. I bought a huge bag of Guiltless chips in the salsa verde flavor and Kathia (my sister in law) and I ate the whole bag while we watched Match Point.


Egg Whites

Bad:
I’m not completely in favor of egg whites. The white of the egg is low in fat and rich in protein, but the yolk is vitamin rich and yummy. I eat egg whites because I live with someone who has to be extra careful with his cholesterol intake. If your cholesterol is not high, I recommend you eat the whole egg. If you’re watching your cholesterol, don’t pick Egg Beaters – they contain salt, food starch (modified), xanath gum and artificial colors. You’re supposed to be doing this for your health.

Good:
Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods sell egg whites that contain… egg whites. What a concept.


Nutrition Bars

Bad:
Most nutrition bars cannot in good conscience be considered healthy. What’s in Slim Fast Bars, the brand Andrea chose as an example? Corn syrup, modified potato starch, fractioned palm kernel oil, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated palm oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and salt.

Good:
Lara bars. But, you knew that.


Frozen food

Bad:
The Frozen food aisle is horrifying. Please, don’t do it.

Di Giorno Harvest Wheat Pepperoni Pizza, a self- proclaimed “sensible solution” (“sensible solution” is their registered trademark!) contains modified food starch, potassium chloride, natural flavors (which aren’t), dextrose, sodium nitrate, BHA, BHT and sugar. One serving contains a total of 8 grams of fat, 3.5 of them saturated, and 26% of the salt you’re supposed to take in a whole day. The catch? That’s just for a sixth of the pizza. There are six servings in a pizza I’d serve for two people.

Weight Watchers Smart Ones contain modified starch, sugar, salt, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and dextrose. Healthy Choice is pretty much the same, loaded with preservatives and enriched flour. South Beach Diet entrees have modified food starch, salt, monoglycerides, calcium propinate, as well as artificial flavors and colors. The same goes for Lean Cuisine.

Good:
If you must buy frozen foods, Amy’s is a good choice. They sell pot pies, burritos, lasagna, enchiladas and brown rice and vegetables. The products are somewhat high in sodium, but at least it’s real food. When you eat them, have some fruit too, like a banana.


Crackers

Bad:
I hate to break it to you, but crackers are a bad idea. Take Ritz. Enriched flour, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, high fructose corn syrup, artificial color, modified cornstarch. Wheat thins and even water crackers are similar.

Good:
Ok Moks. Good stuff.


Chocolate

Bad:
I love chocolate. And, as powerful as wishful thinking is, I am skeptical about the claims that it’s healthy, particularly if you’re into milk chocolate like I am. I can assure you, however, that a chocolate bar is not supposed to contain artificial flavors and colors, cornstarch, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, or dextrin, which is often the case with the Hershey’s, Snickers and Goodbars of the world.

Good:
I’ll let you do your own research here. I can’t have all the fun. If you find a good one write to me!


Sports drinks

Bad:
First of all, unless you’re a serious athlete (I’m talking about training for marathons or triathlons) you don’t need a sports drink.
Gatorade (who, to be fair, has tiny, tiny print that clearly states that it “contains no fruit juice”) contains sucrose syrup (sugar), glucose (sugar), fructose syrup (more sugar), salt and artificial color. If you really must drink this instead of the water God intended us to drink, then at least pick a clear color.

Good:
Ummm, water?


Fruit Juice

Bad:
You saw Andrea’s note. Fruit juice is…well, not. Despite the fact most of them (say, Capri Sun) say “all natural” they contain water and high fructose corn syrup.

Good:
Pom or Naked are good, but I still wouldn’t drink them straight. It’s too much sugar too fast. I add still or sparkling water.


Cereal

Bad:
After spending a good 30 minutes looking at tiny labels on cereal boxes, my best advice to you is: stay away from this aisle. I mean, even “yogurt clusters” are nothing but high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils. Cereals are coloring, sugar, salt, corn syrup, preservatives and added vitamins (pop a multivitamin and call it a day.)

By the way, the claim that Cheerios reduces your cholesterol is hogwash.

Good:
Bran. But what’s the point?


Baby food

Bad:
Ugh. This is it. The saddest part of the supermarket. Juice concentrates, preservatives, corn starch. Skip Gerber.

Good:
Earth’s Best is better…but I’d suggest mashing your own.


Tortillas

Bad:
Mission multigrain flour tortillas claim to be “a good source of fiber and whole grain”. I am telling you they are also a good source of vegetable shortening, hydrogenated soybean oil, brown sugar, salt, and cellulose.

Good:
I buy El Aguila. Whole kernel corn, water and lime.


Pasta sauce

Bad:
I won’t bother telling you about cream based pasta sauces. If they’re white, just skip them. Tomato based pasta sauces (such as Classico, Prego and Ragu) are rich in corn syrup, chloride, sulpher dioxide and sugar.

Good:
Making a pasta sauce is almost as easy as opening a bottle of one. Open a can of Muir Glenn diced tomatoes, put in saucepan, boil with a bit of basil and garlic. That’s it. If you must buy pasta sauce in a jar, Rao’s is good. Barilla has too much sodium and sugar in it, but I love their new Barilla Plus pasta – it’s healthy, but it’s delicious too (nearly impossible to find a healthy pasta that’s edible, specially with an Italian purist in the house.)


Salad dressing

Bad:
Don’t drench your vegetables and leafy greens in high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors (this is the case with 90% of the salad dressings I saw.)

Good:
If you must buy dressing, Rao’s is not that bad. Better yet, mix olive oil and lemon and you’re good to go.


Yogurt

Bad:
A lot of yogurts contain more than you bargained for. Corn syrup, modified cornstarch, sucralose (artificial sweetener), potassium sorbate. This is the case for Yoplait (which contains 23 grams of sugar!) and Dannon (as well as most of the other brands.)

Good:
Get plain, nonfat or low fat yogurt (and make sure they’re not loaded with sugar). Then you can add a spoonful of jam or honey. Even then it would be less than a fifth of the sugar.

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So there you have it. A sampling of food that goes to prove what both Andrea and I have invited you to do: read the labels. You could be eating exactly what you’re eating now, and losing weight with no effort (if you don’t count reading every label as effort.)

By the way, I’m walking around the supermarket for a few hours of note taking fun, but there is an excellent publication, Nutrition Action, that is fully dedicated to this type of research, if you want to know more. They have a whole article about cereal, that includes a paragraph that states that Cheerios saying they “reduce cholesterol” is completely unfounded.

I also recommend:
“Eating Well for Optimum Health” by Andrew Weil (Sigh. My hero.)
“Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlowser. (You’ll never stop at a McDonald’s again, and the fact that it’s unhealthy is only part of it.)