(Near the Schiele Museum of Natural History)

How to Read Food Labels Without Being Tricked

 

Reading labels is a tricky business.
Consumers are more health-conscious than ever, so food manufacturers use misleading tricks to convince people to buy their products.
They often do this even when the food is highly processed and unhealthy.
The regulations behind food labeling are complex, so it’s not surprising that the average consumer has a hard time understanding them.
This article briefly explains how to read food labels, and how to sort out the junk from the truly healthy foods.

Don’t Be Duped By the Claims on The Front

One of the best tips may be to completely ignore the labels on front of the packaging.
Front labels try to lure you into purchasing products by making health claims. Manufacturers want to make you believe that their product is healthier than other, similar options.
This has actually been studied. Research shows that adding health claims to front labels affects people’s choices. It makes them believe a product is healthier than the same product that doesn’t list health claims.
Manufacturers are often dishonest in the way they use these labels. They tend to use health claims that are misleading, and in some cases downright false.
Examples include many high-sugar breakfast cereals, like “whole grain” Cocoa Puffs. Despite the label, these products are not healthy.
This makes it hard for consumers to choose healthy options without a thorough inspection of the ingredients list.
Bottom Line: Front labels are often used to lure people into buying products. However, most of these labels are highly misleading or downright false.

Look At the Ingredients List

 

Product ingredients are listed by quantity, from highest to lowest amount.
That means that the first listed ingredient is what the manufacturer used the most of.
A good rule of thumb is to scan the first three ingredients, because they are the largest part of what you’re eating.
If the first ingredients include refined grains, some sort of sugar or hydrogenated oils, you can be pretty sure that the product is unhealthy.
Instead, try to choose items that have whole foods listed as the first three ingredients.
Another good rule of thumb is if the ingredients list is longer than 2–3 lines, you can assume that the product is highly processed.
Bottom Line: Ingredients are listed by quantity, from highest to lowest. Try looking for products that list whole foods as the first three ingredients, and be skeptical of foods with long lists of ingredients.

Super ORAC Antioxidant (90 caps)Stock Number: 808-3

Benefits:
Provides key nutrients to neutralize free radicals.
Helps prevent cellular damage.
May exhibit anti-aging benefits.

How It Works:
Antioxidants are the body’s natural defense against free
radicals. They scavenge them, “mopping up” free radicals
before they have a chance to harm cells. Super ORAC
combines eight powerful ingredients known to quench free
radicals.


Green tea contains polyphenols, which are potent
antioxidants. EGCG is considered the most active
polyphenol. It appears to help protect brain cells from damage. Mangosteen xanthones are
potent antioxidants with a special affinity for supporting the circulatory system. One such
xanthone, mangostin, helps the body battle the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Resveratrol protects
both the nervous system and the cardiovascular system. Turmeric contains curcumin, a
polyphenol with wonderful health benefits for the immune, circulatory and glandular systems. In
studies, curcumin has been shown to inhibit oxidative DNA damage. The açai berry contains
powerful anthocyanins—water-soluble compounds with potent antioxidant actions. This fruit also
helps protect against superoxide and peroxyl radicals. Other ingredients offer similar antioxidant
benefits. All in all, Super ORAC plays an important part in your battle plan for achieving health,
vitality and longevity.

Ingredients:
Green tea leaves extract, mangosteen pericarp extract, turmeric root extract, quercetin dehydrate,
resveratrol, apple fruit extract, açai (acai) berry concentrate and selenium.
Recommended Use:
Take 1–2 capsules twice daily with meals.

Green Tea Extract (60 caps)
Stock Number: 1096-6
Benefits:
Provides antioxidant properties that benefit immune
and circulatory health.
Helps maintain already normal blood flow.
Supports cholesterol levels already within the
normal range.
Supports healthy kidney function.
May help protect the digestive and respiratory
systems.
How It Works:
Green tea contains catechins—a type of polyphenol with
powerful antioxidants that neutralize free radicals. Green
tea also provides antimicrobial immune system support, helps support the vascular blood-clotting
function and helps maintain cholesterol levels already within the normal range. It also appears to
support healthy kidney function.
Ingredients:
Green tea leaf extract—decaffeinated (80% polyphenols, 60% catechins, 30% EGCG).
Recommended Use:
Take 1 capsule three times daily with a meal. Three capsules equals 10 cups of liquid green tea.
Not recommended for children under 6 or pregnant/nursing women.
How to Order:
Order online at www.naturessunshine.com or call 704-823-1577. Give them #1802869.
 Become a Member and save up to 40%. Get a 1 year free membership with a $40 purchase.

One in eight women will develop a thyroid disorder during her lifetime. And, the number of people suffering from thyroid disorders continues to rise each year. But the bigger problem is that nearly 60 percent of these people are completely unaware of their condition—let alone how to heal it.Millions of people are suffering—trying all kinds of diets, pills, and treatments to clear their mental fog, to boost energy and lose weight. Unfortunately, they will all fail unless they learn how to heal the underlying thyroid issues. 

Every cell in the body has receptors for thyroid hormone. These hormones are responsible for the most basic aspects of body function, impacting all major systems of the body. You can think of the thyroid as the central gear in a sophisticated engine. If that gear breaks, the entire engine goes down with it.

The Gluten-Thyroid Connection

After suffering from Thyroid problems for 30 years I finally went Gluten Free and within two weeks my hair has stopped falling out and I am losing weight without even trying.  If you have these issues please read this article.

This article is part of a special report on Thyroid Disorders. To see the other articles in this series, click here.

In the first article in this series, I showed that hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease in 90% of cases. In this article we’re going to discuss the connection between autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and gluten intolerance.

Several studies show a strong link between AITD (both Hashimoto’s and Graves’) and gluten intolerance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] The link is so well-established that researchers suggest all people with AITD be screened for gluten intolerance, and vice versa.

What explains the connection? It’s a case of mistaken identity. The molecular structure of gliadin, the protein portion of gluten, closely resembles that of the thyroid gland. When gliadin breaches the protective barrier of the gut, and enters the bloodstream, the immune system tags it for destruction. These antibodies to gliadin also cause the body to attack thyroid tissue. This means if you have AITD and you eat foods containing gluten, your immune system will attack your thyroid.

Even worse, the immune response to gluten can last up to 6 months each time you eat it. This explains why it is critical to eliminate gluten completely from your diet if you have AITD. There’s no “80/20” rule when it comes to gluten. Being “mostly” gluten-free isn’t going to cut it. If you’re gluten intolerant, you have to be 100% gluten-free to prevent immune destruction of your thyroid.

So how do you find out if you’re gluten intolerant? Unfortunately, standard lab tests aren’t very accurate. They test for antibodies to gluten in the bloodstream. But antibodies in the blood will only be found in cases where the gut has become so permeable that gluten can pass through. This is a relatively advanced stage of disease. Blood tests will miss the many milder cases of gluten intolerance that haven’t yet progressed to that stage.

Stool analysis is far more sensitive, because it detects antibodies produced in the digestive tract that aren’t yet escaping into the bloodstream. Using this method at Entero Lab, Dr. Kenneth Fine, a pioneer in the field, has found that up to 35% of Americans are gluten intolerant.

In addition to the stool analysis, Dr. Fine’s lab uses a cheek swab to test for the genes connected with gluten intolerance and celiac disease. People with HLA DQ genes are more likely than the general population to have autoimmune disease, celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Dr. Fine’s research shows that more than 80% of Americans have one of these gene types.

When I first read Dr. Fine’s research, I was astounded by the implications. It suggests that 1 in 3 Americans are gluten intolerant, and that 8 in 10 are genetically predisposed to gluten intolerance. This is nothing short of a public health catastrophe in a nation where the #1 source of calories is refined flour. But while most are at least aware of the dangers of sugar, trans-fat and other unhealthy foods, fewer than 1 in 8 people with celiac disease are aware of their condition. I would guess that an even lower proportion of people are aware they are gluten intolerant.

One reason gluten intolerance goes undetected in so many cases is that both doctors and patients mistakenly believe it only causes digestive problems. But gluten intolerance can also present with inflammation in the joints, skin, respiratory tract and brain – without any obvious gut symptoms.

As much improved as Dr. Fine’s methods are, they aren’t perfect. In some patients with autoimmune disease, their immune system is so worn out they can no longer produce many antibodies.
Hashmioto’s, the most common autoimmune thyroid condition, is primarily a Th1 dominant condition. I’ll explain what this means in further detail in a future article. For now, what you need to understand is that in Th1-dominant conditions, the Th2 system is suppressed. The Th2 system is the part of the immune system responsible for producing antibodies. When the Th2 system is severely depressed, the body’s ability to produce antibodies is impaired. The levels may be so low that they won’t show up on a test. So, even if you have gluten intolerance, your test for gluten antibodies may be falsely negative if you have Th1-dominant Hashimoto’s.

This is why I recommend that you avoid gluten if you have AITD, regardless of whether tests show an active antibody response. This is especially true if you have one of the genes (HLA DQ1,2, or 3) that predisposes you to developing gluten intolerance. In my opinion continuing to eat gluten when you have a confirmed autoimmune condition simply isn’t worth risking the immune destruction it could cause.

In fact, the more I learn about gluten and its effects on the body, the more I think we’d all probably be better off not eating it. Mark Sisson has written extensively about the dangers of gluten and gluten-containing grains, so head over there and have a look if this is new to you. The short version: foods that contain gluten (both whole grains and flours) contain substances that inhibit nutrient absorption, damage our intestinal lining, and – as I’ve described in this article – activate a potentially destructive autoimmune response. What’s more, there are no nutrients in gluten-containing foods that you can’t get more easily and efficiently from foods that don’t contain gluten.

The good news is that if you have AITD and are gluten intolerant removing gluten completely from your diet will dramatically improve your health. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
by: Chris Kresser