Be Judgmental. Read the label.


We all have come across "new improved packaging" way more often than actual improvement in the product itself. So, we end up buying new packets instead of new products.

 Here are a few examples:

 Cholesterol free oil

These oils claim to be heart healthy. The fact of the matter being that none of the refined oils or unrefined oils have cholesterol!! Even when it is not stated, the oils don't have cholesterol.

Fact check: Cholesterol is made in the liver when excess fat is eaten.


Ice cream 
The so called cream is actually hydrogenated fats which are excessively harmful for your heart.
Take a look at the ingredients of the 'Baskin Robbins' chocolate ice cream.

Cream, Sugar, Nonfat Milk, Corn Syrup, Mousse Base (Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Sodium Caseinate, Propylene Glycol Monostearate, Mono and Diglycerides, Cellulose Gum, Acetylated Monoglycerides, Guar Gum, Carrageenan), Chocolate Liquor and Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Whey Powder, Natural and Artificial Flavor.
Nutritional Info

Corn syrup is used to enhance texture and improve taste and also to add volume to the food. Palm oil increases cholesterol in the body, but you can find it in lots of packaged products including biscuits, cakes etc.

Fact check: A perfect chocolate ice cream can be made at home with few ingredients like cream, sugar, milk, melted chocolate or cocoa.

Health drinks for kids
A household health drink in India and the superfood of the previous generation. We grew up on the added flavours of complan, bournvita and horlicks to our milk. With main ingredient as sugar  (most of them have 30-40% sugar) and plenty of useless additives like emulsifiers and anti-caking agents and caramel, maltodextrin etc. and with side effects ranging from a spike in blood sugar levels to complications like the bi-polar disorder. These are doing more harm than you can imagine! No matter what they claim, they cannot increase your child's natural growth progression. Nor can they fill up the nutritional gaps in a diet.




Fact check: You can make the milk interesting by using nuts, saffron, turmeric, cardamom, even cocoa powder or good quality melted chocolate. If you don't use sugar from the start, the kids get used to the natural sweetness of milk.

So the next time, you go to the supermarket, judge your food, read the labels and then decide if you really need it or not.

Do drop in your comments and views. Also you can share your experiences about various products.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gluten free diet

Image
Gluten free diet has been in the news, as is evident by its popularity with the hollywood celebrities and with the emerging labeling trend on the packaged foods (its still new in India). It has become somewhat of a fad-diet too for all types of food allergies. What is Gluten free diet? Gluten is a part of the grain protein (mainly found in Wheat, rye, jowar /barley, buckwheat and sometimes jai /oats). A diet free of all these grains and their products is known as gluten free diet . Who needs to follow this diet? People suffering from Celiac disease , Non- tropical sprue or Gluten sensitive enteropathy need to follow this diet. They are allergic to the alcohol soluble portion of gluten (called gliadin) which triggers an immune reaction leading to intestinal damage, thus affecting nutrient absorption. A person sensitive to gluten, needs to avoid these grains and their products (usually for life) because even a small amount can make them very sick. Being a Celiac in India Its
Read more

Looking for comfort?

Image
A few days back I was talking to my cousin and it turned out that both of us were on a cooking spree. On the top of it we were gorging on desserts. Why would we do that? As newly married women, things like new people, new job, relocation, rearrangement of priorities and new responsibilities were our main concerns. As it has been said “Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.” So there we were, eating and sharing our concerns. Mental stress and depression are by far the major reason when many of us reach out for comfort foods. As Peter De Vries stated “Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.” Comfort foods are generally foods which trigger our memories e.g. some broth which your mother cooked when you were ill. Or, they can just be your favourite foods. Most of the time, these are loaded with calories. A number of hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in regulating our mood. Serotonin is the one which has been extensively researched upon. It is one
Read more

Are you a couch potato?

Image
Most eating preferences are habits, influenced by a person’s lifestyle.   When TV viewing  replaced our entertainment options, it did not only revolutionise our free time activities, but also modified our eating habits to a large extent. Family meals started moving around our favourite soaps. Playtime got reduced by cartoons. Holiday treks  were replaced by movies and popcorn. Research has linked excessive TV viewing  to obesity especially in children. The proverbial "couch potato" image is scientifically true.Research also suggests that we tend to eat more food and remember less about what we ate when we are busy watching TV.   So how does one get out of this habit?  Ideally switch off the TV, computer etc. and concentrate on just food while eating.   "Hey, I'm supposed to have small regular meals, you cant seriously mean that I switch off the TV every single time I eat?? What about the evening snack time?"   True, TV viewing is such an integral part of
Read more