5 Ingredients to Unconditionally Avoid.

High Fructose Corn Syrup - Despite the fact that ALL of Europe has banned the use of HFCS, it is still in almost anything you can pick up in America, especially foods targeting children. For 5 non-debatable and comprehensive, yet brief, reasons to never eat HFCS again, check out 5 reasons HFCS will kill you. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, just useful.

Enriched/Refined/Bleached Flour - When flour is refined, all of the nutrients in the original grain are destroyed. Companies then "add" small amounts of nutrients back into the mix and are allowed to use the word "enriched" on the ingredient list. Fiber, An important components that is lost is not added back. Fiber helps to promote fullness, slow digestion, and prevent the rapid, harmful spike in blood sugar that occurs upon the consumption of enriched flour, or white bread.

Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats) - "Hydrogenation is the process of heating liquid vegetable oil and combining it with hydrogen gas. Hydrogenated fats or oils are also called trans fats, a term which refers to the changed bonding arrangement of carbon atoms. These man-made fats have no health benefits, and are known to raise cholesterol and contribute to coronary artery disease." [1] Common foods that contain hydrogenated oils are vegetable shortening, cake frosting, white breads, fast foods, frozen foods, chips, and soups.

MSG or Monosodium Glutamate - This "flavor enhancer" in used openly in lab studies to induce obesity in lab animals so that studies can be conducted on them. MSG is relied on to induce obesity. This ingredient is found in seasoned Pringles, Doritos, and used in food in almost every fast food chain in America. If you're eating whole foods rich in color, you won't need to worry about adding an obesity inducing "flavor enhancer."

Artificial Sweeteners aspartame, saccharin, Sucralose, acesulfame-K - Artificial sweeteners have been proven to promote obesity and cause cancer. Watch out for foods that tout "sugar free" or "zero calorie" claims. Check the labels of these foods and make sure they do not contain any of the above sweeteners or ingredients. Chances are they are replacing the natural calorie-containing sugars with these artificial sweeteners, and the health costs of these are far worse than the few extra calories you are "saving." Artificial sweeteners are far sweeter than natural sugars and they train our mind to prefer, and actually crave, extremely sweet, empty-calorie foods and cause us to shy away from healthier, more filling foods.

Supermarket Survival - 8 Tips to Get You Through.

8 ways to ensure your trip to the supermarket helps you reach your goals 
instead of sabotages them.

1. Always make a list - Go with a purpose, plan you meals, lunches, and snacks and only grab what you need. This will help eliminate unnecessary impulse purchases of food that you don't need and are probably better without.

2. Always shop on a full stomach - Avoid being influenced by hunger and make sure to go to the food store on a full stomach so you can focus on buying the ingredients you need for the week, not the food you want at the moment.

3. Always read the ingredient label - What matters is what you're actually eating, not what the manufacturer is selling you. The only part of the packaging that should interest you is the information in the nutrition label. Read the ingredient list, the shorter the ingredient list the better, avoid foods with ingredients you are unfamiliar with or aren't food at all and always make sure you have this list in mind: 5 Ingredients You Should Unconditionally Avoid.

4. Always read the nutrition information - Pay attention to sodium, cholesterol, and sugar as things that should be as close to "0"as possible. Make sure to avoid trans fat in everything you eat and look for a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For those amounts click here.

5. Pay attention to serving size - Manufacturers often slice the serving size of a package you would normally consider to have just one serving to make it appear as though there are less calories, fat, etc. in it than there actually is. So make sure to do the math, chances are if that is the case, it's probably better to leave it on the shelf anyway.

6. Shop the perimeter - The healthier, "real" food that you want to buy is always located along the outside perimeter of the store. Focusing on these items, not the pre-packaged, manufactured, processed foods located in the isles, will help you reach your goal.

7. Only buy things that are "real" - Make a commitment to never purchase anything with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, in it. Some ingredients to never purchase: high fructose corn syrup, Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Acesulfame-K, neotame, Sorbitol, shortening, hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils, MSG, or "enriched" anything.

8. Know what "organic" means and switch to organic whenever possible if you haven't already. Your body knows the difference, even if you don't. - For fruits and vegetables to be USDA Certified Organic they must be grown without any of the following: genetically modified seeds, fertilizers made from chemicals or sewage sludge (yes, companies do that), chemical pesticides or herbicides, and irradiation. For meat, this certification means the animals were only fed organically certified food and no by-products of other animals (yes, farmers do that also), they were never given growth hormones or antibiotics and they must be allowed access to the outdoors and treated humanely.