The Sugar They Don't Tell You About
Did you know that there are 3 letters on food labels that you MUST avoid, especially if they're at the beginning of the list of ingredients?
Those letters are OSE. Let me explain.
You see, spotting sugar on food labels isn't quite as easy as it once was. Yep, now that food manufacturers are aware that consumers of the current day are much more discerning than those of yesteryear, they're doing everything they can to disguise sugar on their lists of ingredients. These days, it's not likely that you'll see "sugar" at the forefront of an ingredients list, but instead you'll see these code names:
fructose
maltose
glucose
sucrose
And the worst of the worst, high fructose corn syrup.
If you see any of the above -ose words in the first 3 or 4 ingredients on a food label, rest assured that product is LOADED with sugar and you should be avoiding it. The reason to avoid them is because these are sugar substitutes and there a lot more dangerous to your health than real sugar. These substitutes are man-made and the body can't really break them down like they do real sugar that's pure and not refined. I back away from anything that says "refined" on the label. Refined is code for "we altered it", but they don't tell you how they altered it. In most cases the body can't breakdown any of these substitutes and will immediately store these as fat.
Beyond that, I'll go as far to say that if a product contains high fructose corn syrup (the worst of the worst man-made sugars) in ANY amount, you should avoid it like the plague. Simply put, the invention of high fructose corn syrup is one of the leading causes of obesity.
There's another non-sugar -ose word not listed above that's become extremely popular in the last few years. While it doesn't carry the sugar content that the above ingredients do, it's been clinically shown to destroy essential, healthy bacteria in your gut. If you regularly consume products with this "other" -ose ingredient, you can really do a number of your immune system and digestive health.
Even worse, this non-sugar -ose ingredient is being added to "health foods" left and right, but it's actually slowly destroying your health every time you consume it.
Two years ago, I made a choice to completely eliminate this ingredient from ever entering my body again. I recommend you do the same. Actually, by reading up on this I found out it’s not one ingredient, it’s more of a class of ingredients that aren’t found in any other group.
Reading ingredient labels will definitely be a challenge at first. If you currently have a no boundaries type of diet, then you have quite a shock waiting for you. There will be ingredients that you can barely pronounce, let alone know what they are. So, what are they? What is it that you are so willingly, yet unknowingly, putting into your body? Is it good? Is it bad? Are their side effects? Or do you even care at all?
I suggest that you start looking up these ingredients and reading up on them. Learn what they are and the effects they have on your health. This may be what finally facilitates you making that move – you know, the one you’ve wanted to do for so long, but keep putting it off. The move towards better health!
As you educate yourself on ingredients and reading labels, never get too comfortable that you believe what you read. What? Now that doesn’t make sense does it? I’m telling you to read labels, but not to believe what you read. Well, the truth is, labels can be short of the truth. The FDA allows it. They have their guidelines, and if ingredients are in small enough amounts, then the FDA does not require that the ingredient be listed.
Recently I was doing a double take on the ingredients thinking that perhaps I missed something when I noticed “cultured dextrose.” I had no idea what it is. But hell, the packaging says VEGAN, and I know it’s not gluten, so I had never given it a second thought. I decided to look it up and found there’s much controversy as to whether or not it’s vegan, and whether or not it’s a preservative or chemical. Can you believe this? I mean, it’s literally a mystery…how weird is that?
Do your own research and see if you can get a straight answer. One article I read responded to the question “What is cultured dextrose” as follows:
This is a tough one, I can say that the name “cultured dextrose” doesn’t really specify what is within. Alcohol could be cultured dextrose, as could penicillin. This is one of those industry vernacular phrases, virtually designed to mask the actual nature of the ingredients. So, you have to ask yourself "Why are they doing a cover-up and calling it "cultured dextrose"?
Those letters are OSE. Let me explain.
You see, spotting sugar on food labels isn't quite as easy as it once was. Yep, now that food manufacturers are aware that consumers of the current day are much more discerning than those of yesteryear, they're doing everything they can to disguise sugar on their lists of ingredients. These days, it's not likely that you'll see "sugar" at the forefront of an ingredients list, but instead you'll see these code names:
fructose
maltose
glucose
sucrose
And the worst of the worst, high fructose corn syrup.
If you see any of the above -ose words in the first 3 or 4 ingredients on a food label, rest assured that product is LOADED with sugar and you should be avoiding it. The reason to avoid them is because these are sugar substitutes and there a lot more dangerous to your health than real sugar. These substitutes are man-made and the body can't really break them down like they do real sugar that's pure and not refined. I back away from anything that says "refined" on the label. Refined is code for "we altered it", but they don't tell you how they altered it. In most cases the body can't breakdown any of these substitutes and will immediately store these as fat.
Beyond that, I'll go as far to say that if a product contains high fructose corn syrup (the worst of the worst man-made sugars) in ANY amount, you should avoid it like the plague. Simply put, the invention of high fructose corn syrup is one of the leading causes of obesity.
There's another non-sugar -ose word not listed above that's become extremely popular in the last few years. While it doesn't carry the sugar content that the above ingredients do, it's been clinically shown to destroy essential, healthy bacteria in your gut. If you regularly consume products with this "other" -ose ingredient, you can really do a number of your immune system and digestive health.
Even worse, this non-sugar -ose ingredient is being added to "health foods" left and right, but it's actually slowly destroying your health every time you consume it.
Two years ago, I made a choice to completely eliminate this ingredient from ever entering my body again. I recommend you do the same. Actually, by reading up on this I found out it’s not one ingredient, it’s more of a class of ingredients that aren’t found in any other group.
Reading ingredient labels will definitely be a challenge at first. If you currently have a no boundaries type of diet, then you have quite a shock waiting for you. There will be ingredients that you can barely pronounce, let alone know what they are. So, what are they? What is it that you are so willingly, yet unknowingly, putting into your body? Is it good? Is it bad? Are their side effects? Or do you even care at all?
I suggest that you start looking up these ingredients and reading up on them. Learn what they are and the effects they have on your health. This may be what finally facilitates you making that move – you know, the one you’ve wanted to do for so long, but keep putting it off. The move towards better health!
As you educate yourself on ingredients and reading labels, never get too comfortable that you believe what you read. What? Now that doesn’t make sense does it? I’m telling you to read labels, but not to believe what you read. Well, the truth is, labels can be short of the truth. The FDA allows it. They have their guidelines, and if ingredients are in small enough amounts, then the FDA does not require that the ingredient be listed.
Recently I was doing a double take on the ingredients thinking that perhaps I missed something when I noticed “cultured dextrose.” I had no idea what it is. But hell, the packaging says VEGAN, and I know it’s not gluten, so I had never given it a second thought. I decided to look it up and found there’s much controversy as to whether or not it’s vegan, and whether or not it’s a preservative or chemical. Can you believe this? I mean, it’s literally a mystery…how weird is that?
Do your own research and see if you can get a straight answer. One article I read responded to the question “What is cultured dextrose” as follows:
This is a tough one, I can say that the name “cultured dextrose” doesn’t really specify what is within. Alcohol could be cultured dextrose, as could penicillin. This is one of those industry vernacular phrases, virtually designed to mask the actual nature of the ingredients. So, you have to ask yourself "Why are they doing a cover-up and calling it "cultured dextrose"?
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