# Top 10 bad ingredients?



## Contented73 (May 14, 2006)

Hi there,

I am slowly making the transition to healthier eating, but still eat a lot of "mainstream" products. So, I'm wondering if you all can help me make a top ten list of ingredients to avoid when I'm shopping. The two that I know of that are important to avoid are partially hydrogented oils and HFCS. Beyond that, I make a vague attempt to not buy products that have too many "unpronouncables", but I'd rather know specific ingredients - as well as why they're so bad - that I should avoid. Any suggestions?

Suzanne


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## kallyn (May 24, 2005)

MSG for sure.


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## Nikki98 (Sep 9, 2006)

Propylene glycol !!!!


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## Nikki98 (Sep 9, 2006)

Also BHT and BHA, I think they give products a longer shelf life (I'm trying to clean up my diet too







: ).


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## Contented73 (May 14, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Nikki98* 
Propylene glycol !!!!


What is this and what is it typically in? I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere...

Glad to see that I'm not the only one here "on the way" to better eating.

Suzanne


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## AJP (Apr 30, 2003)

Definitely add all artificial sweeteners to your list. ALL of them.

Something I think should be on everyone's radar is genetically modified foods, see http://www.seedsofdeception.com, click on "about genetically modified foods" for the low-down. This is a biggie for me. You're mostly safe in this respect buying organic, minimally-processed foods, but for conventional foods, in order to avoid GMOs you have to stay away from soy, corn, canola, cottonseed (oil is in many foods), anything labelled "vegetable oil" which is typically from one of those 4 plants, and a few others. From the site I linked above (sorry, this is a lot more than 10), the percentage in parentheses is how much of that crop grown in the US is from GM seeds:

Genetically Modified Foods at a Glance

Currently Commercialized GM Crops in the U.S.

Soy (85%), cotton (76%), canola (75%), corn (40%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (small amount), and tobacco (Quest® brand).

Other Sources of GMOs

Dairy products from cows injected with rbGH.

Food additives, enzymes, flavorings, and processing agents, including the sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet®) and rennet used to make hard cheeses.

Meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals that have eaten GM feed.

Honey and bee pollen that may have GM sources of pollen.

Some of the Ingredients That May Be Genetically Modified

Vegetable oil (soy, corn, cottonseed, or canola), margarines, soy flour, soy protein, soy lecithin, textured vegetable protein, cornmeal, corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, citric acid, and lactic acid.

Some of the Foods That May Contain GM Ingredients:

Infant formula, salad dressing, bread, cereal, hamburgers and hotdogs, margarine, mayonnaise, cereals, crackers, cookies, chocolate, candy, fried food, chips, veggie burgers, meat substitutes, ice cream, frozen yogurt, tofu, tamari, soy sauce, soy cheese, tomato sauce, protein powder, baking powder, alcohol, vanilla, powdered sugar, peanut butter, enriched flour and pasta. Non-food items include cosmetics, soaps, detergents, shampoo, and bubble bath.


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## tboroson (Nov 19, 2002)

Top 10, huh? Let's see...

10. High fructose corn syrup
9. Hydrogenated oil
8. BHA/BHT/TBHQ - all dangerous preservatives
7. Artificial colors
6. Artificial flavors and *natural* flavors. There ain't nothin' natural about "natural flavors". They're laboratory products, produced via the same methods as "artificial" flavors, just happen to use a natural product instead of petroleum as their base.
5. GMOs. If it isn't organic, there's a darned good chance it contains GMO wheat, soy, canola or other products.
4. Soy. Except for a small amount of traditionally fermented soy (soy sauce/tamari, miso).
3. Any except the best dairy: absolutely no rBGH, not UHT (ultra-pasteurized), in fact preferably raw, grass-fed and organic. No "non-fat dry milk powder" or other factory produced milk products. At the very least, organic, low-temp pasteurized and non-homogenized.
2. Meat that's not at the very least organic, and preferably grass-fed and grass-finished. Animals bioaccumulate many toxins in their fat. If it's not top quality, there can be some scaaaary stuff in there. Not to mention the ethics of factory farms: animal rights, environmental, human rights, community economic, etc. And, the healthier the meat, the safer it is to cook it to a lower temperature. I would never get a conventional hamburger rare. But I have no qualms about making such a burger myself out of meat from a grass-fed cow.
1. Mushrooms. 'Cause they're icky.







y:


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## AngelBee (Sep 8, 2004)

:


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## Contented73 (May 14, 2006)

Great replies, thank you so much! I do have a question about soy though...you mean, like, soy milk? Soy yogurt? Like that? Even if it's organic? Me and DS drink soy milk all the time







The good news though is that I just placed my first order for raw milk. I'm excited to try it, and hope that it will eliminate my need for soy milk.

Suzanne


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## emdeecee_sierra (Oct 16, 2005)

Carmine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine

Mmmmmmm, insects in my food..... nice color, too......


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tboroson* 
1. Mushrooms. 'Cause they're icky.


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## Mary-Beth (Nov 20, 2001)

Hydrogenated oils/trans fats- I'd say make sure you elimiante all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats from your house and diets.

Like others said,
high fructose corn syrup
artifical colors and flavors
MSG....


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## tboroson (Nov 19, 2002)

Re: soy, after learning that I'm hypothyroid, I started researching it more. Now, other than a little miso and tamari, I assiduosly avoid it. The Weston A Price Foundation website has a lot of info on it. I especially avoid highly processed varieties like soy milk or yogurt.


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## DevaMajka (Jul 4, 2005)

oh oh oh I can help! I was on the search for this last week.
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
If you go all the way to the end, it has the additives grouped by "avoid" "limit" "ok" etc.

Other sites I saved:
12 Dangerous Food Additives
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/additives/

My current focus is Hydrogenated oil (there's a lot of agreement on that) and artificial colors.

I'm torn on hfcs- some things say its no worse than sugar (so should be limited, but not necessarily avoided), but then again it is unnatural, and I buy the theory that our bodies have no idea how to recognize it.


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