There have been a number of articles written for this website that talk about what we should look for or avoid when buying groceries: organic, GMO foods, oils and fats, how to read food labels, and more. This article pulls it all together, and helps to answer the question of what to look for at the grocery store, and what we should be concerned about.
How concerned should we be?
In a word: very concerned. Much of our food supply is barely adequate to meet our nutritional needs, and there are a great many harmful chemicals, from pesticides to flavorings to hormones, that we should avoid. An increasing amount of our food is genetically modified (GMO), and such food has been shown to be harmful.
That’s the bad news. But there is good healthy food to be found, and we discuss here how to avoid the bad and find the good.
Barely adequate
Even the vegetables, grains, and fruits that most of us think of as being healthy may in fact be nutritionally depleted. Although produce can grow and thrive on only three elements – nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) – produce can’t magically manufacture nutrients if they’re not there in the soil, and we need those other nutrients. Conventionally grown produce is grown in dead dirt – not even technically soil – to which NPK fertilizer has been added. The resulting produce is, not surprisingly, barely nutritious. Meat and animal products that come from animals fed on such food is likewise depleted of nutrition.
Organic produce and grains are of much better nutritional quality, since chemical fertilizers aren’t allowed on products that will carry the organic label. Even better is to grow, or purchase from farmers who grow, food organically using years of compost added to the soil. Such a grower will prioritize taste and nutrition over profit.
GMOs
GMOs, which means genetically modified organisms, have been in the news lately. The cells of our food plants have been tinkered with at a genetic level to provide qualities that food producers, but usually not food consumers or our bodies, would find desirable, such as resistance to herbicides or rot. Animal studies are being published that show that GMO foods can cause quite a variety of health problems, and they are best avoided.
Although many people would like to see products made with GMO ingredients labeled as such, measures to do so have been suppressed for political reasons. GMOs are now so common in foods that food can be assumed to contain GMOs unless they specifically say GMO-free or organic.
Food additives
A food additive is anything that is added to food other than food itself. Additives can be intentional, such as the various flavoring or coloring agents, bread dough conditioners, MSG, or preservatives. Additives are sometimes not intentional in the sense of being added deliberately to food. They are part of the process of growing or manufacturing food such as pesticides on produce or hormones in food animals. But they’re in our food anyway, and we end up eating them.
It’s a good idea to avoid any ingredient on the label that isn’t actually food, that your great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized as food, or that you wouldn’t have on your pantry shelf by itself.
Organic food
For the reasons mentioned – nutrition content, no GMOs, no pesticides or hormones, and others – it is best to get organic food. The use of that label is regulated and takes care of many of the things we need to be concerned about. Be aware, though, that the word “natural”, unlike “organic”, has no real legal meaning and is primarily a marketing term.
Oils and fats
Oils and fats are some of the most misunderstood nutrients. There are those who believe that they are all bad, that they will cause everything from obesity to heart disease. Fats can actually be very beneficial. Even more important, they are absolutely necessary for us to stay alive and function. But not all fats and oils are the same nutritionally. Some are good for us, some neutral other than their calorie count, and some are harmful.
Some examples of each type:
- Good: fish oil, flax oil, olive oil, avocados, walnut oil
- Bad: margarine, canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, any oil if heated, fried foods, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils
- Neutral, or okay in moderation from a healthy organic source: Butter, lard, cream, animal fats, eggs
Sugars
Sugars, and especially corn syrup, are found in a huge variety of products. Besides the usual suspects – candy, cookies, sodas, fruit flavored beverages, and ice cream – sugar and corn syrup are found in most salad dressings, pasta sauces, almost all condiments, quite a few canned and frozen vegetables and fruits, and most processed foods.
People are becoming more aware of sugars in food and their attendant calorie counts, and artificial sweeteners are frequently used instead to respond to those concerns. Most of these are, if anything, even more harmful than the sugars they try to replace. In addition, many people find them unpleasant tasting. So which is better, sugar or artificial sweeteners? Neither, actually; try to get used to foods in their natural unsweetened state.
Other harmful foods
The detox and maintenance diets at CAM eliminate those things that can cause problems for some people:
- Yeast feeders – sugars, bread, mushrooms, most condiments, fruits, sweet vegetables
- Gluten – wheat, bread, pasta
- Dairy products are frequently allergens
- Soy is allergenic and usually GMO; it’s in many processed foods in some form
- Nightshade vegetables – tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant – can contribute to arthritis in some people
And, of course, avoid any food that you know yourself to be allergic or sensitive to.
Food labeling
Those who are concerned about what’s in our food should develop the habit of label reading. But be aware that the primary goal of food manufacturers is to sell food, not to provide optimal nutrition or food safety. On their labels they have to strike a balance between being honest as the law requires on the one hand, and to sell the food or at least not turn the potential customer off on the other.
It’s good to keep in mind that the front of the label is about marketing, and includes the buzzwords of the day – lite, nonfat, no trans fat, contains acai juice, and so forth. The real truth is found on the back of the label in small print. Make it a habit to read the labels, looking for those things that you now know you should avoid.
You’ll find a better selection of food with fewer objectionable ingredients in a natural food store rather than a chain supermarket. But not everything in a natural food store is automatically healthy; you should still read labels.
