So I was having this great run and was thinking what I was going to eat after to help nourish and strengthen these muscles and bones of mine that allowed me to have such a great run. Protein was the first thing that popped into my head. When I got home I saw I had this protein bar I had gotten from a tradeshow. It was perfect because I didn’t have much time to eat. But I wondered what was in it too. Let me list the ingredients (you might want to pull up a chair):
Protein blend (soy protein nuggets, (soy protein isolate, rice starch, brown rice flour), whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate), yogurt coating (maltitol/lactitol, palm kernel oil, calcium caseinate, nonfat yogurt powder, palm oil, soy lecithin, titanium dioxide color, oligofructose, fructose, acesulfame K), maltitol, lemon pieces (inulin, fractionated palm kernel oil, oat fiber, citrus oil, citric acid, soy lecithin, acesulfame K, turmeric extract (color), glycerin, cocoa butter, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin and mineral blend (d-Calcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, ascorbic acid, d-Alpha tocopheryl acetate, niacinamide, zinc oxide, dextrose, copper gluconate, d-Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, sodium selenite, cyanocobalamin), high oleic sunflower oil, gum, corn syrup solids, citric acid, soy lecithin, potassium sorbate, sucralose.
Phew…so that got me thinking…I’m going to count ingredients instead of calories these days. Do you really think my body was going to jump for joy with a lot of these ingredients? It more was going to scratch its head and go, “Huh? What the…? Okay, I guess I’ll just do…this.” And “this”, your body’s very next reaction, is always, always bad news to your hormones.
So please read the food labels of the foods you buy and lets start counting ingredients, processed and chemical ingredients, instead. You’ll be amazed at what you don’t know you’re eating and will want to eat whole fresh food again.
Here is what I ended up eating instead of that protein bar which only took maximum 5 minutes to make:
Yes, only 8 ingredients and I know what each one of them are…amazing right? 😉
I have never worried too much about what I ate, in terms of ingredients, but am finding that the better I eat, the less processed food I eat. Basically it is all fruit, vegies, and meat. As a result I am inadvertently starting to think more about processed foods, and agree with you. It is so much better to do as much as we can ourselves – much better for us and less packaging too!!