New York City

Does the Right Thing

The news is exciting. The New York City Board of Health has stepped forward and spoken out by banning the use of hydrogentated oils in restaurants effective by 2008. One can only hope that by doing so, not only will other cities follow suit, but the food giants, seeing the handwriting on the wall, will eliminate this ominous ingredient from their processed foods regardless of where they are being shipped. Not because they are eager to do the right thing, but because it would be more economical than producing two versions of each item: one with hydrogenated oils, one without.

Are you feeding your family poison?
Poison In the Food: Hydrogenated Oils reveals the raw truth the food companies don't want you to know about health-harming hydrogenated oils and trans fatty acids. Read it for yourself.

Those of us who use only whole foods have no problem avoiding hydrogenated oils, but millions of people rely on the conveninence of prepared foods that beckon from the grocer's shelves and freezer cases. For those who read labels, attempting to avoid the worst of the additives, take note of the following:

Consumer Health Warning

Do not buy any foods or groceries containing the following ingredients:

Sodium nitrite (meats)
Monosodium glutamate (soups)
Aspartame (diet soda)
Yeast extract (snacks)
Hydrogenated oils
High-fructose corn syrup

Reduce your risk of diabetes, colon cancer, leukemia, breast cancer, heart disease, dementia, osteoporosis and other diseases by learning to identify and avoid toxic ingredients in common foods and groceries.

Click here to learn more.

If reading labels slows the shopping process for you, try perimeter shopping. Avoid all the inside aisles and only buy from the departments and displays along the outside walls of the store. Caution still must be used, but this is where you'll find the foods with the fewest additives. Produce, seafood, meat, cheese, dairy. The inside aisles are jam packed with overly processed, over priced, prepared foods that contain a bevy of ingredients that do you no good and long term, may do you much harm.

Eating is more than a pleasurable past time, it's the method our bodies require to develop, function and stay healthy. For children, in the growth and formative years, it's sheer negligence for a parent to have no knowledge of what is needed to build a sound mind and body that will be free of disease as it matures. Food processors gear their mega-million dollar ad campaigns at kids. Just look at the shelf space devoted to sugared cereals, cookies, candy, and a variety of snacks that have absolutely no nutritional value. But we sure have a nation of fat kids, along with youngsters exhibiting high cholesterol and developing Type 2 Diabetes, diseases once only common in aging adults. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones to be aware and to buy the right foods.

Take the time to read the labels. Buy, prepare and eat whole foods. Spend some time investigating which foods will provide the most benefit to you based on your age and health. Protect yourself from disease before it strikes, rather than resorting to treating symptoms once you're ill. Good food is good medicine. Don't wait for your city to ban hydrogenated oils -- ban it from your kitchen and avoid it when eating out.

Till next time . . . keep cooking & keep healthy!