Healthy & Organic Eating: How to Avoid the Hype

The Culinary Arts is one of the original occupations; gaining most of its recognition and the beginnings of its acknowledgments during the age where Kings, Queens & Empires rules the world.

Over the past ten to fifteen years or so, mainly due to the endless amount of information on the Internet, rising popularity from the Food Network and the even more recent cooking reality shows such as featured on Bravo. Food and the preparation of, has grown significantly in its popularity and as an industry.

Due to this influx of information, we the consumer became more educated. We expanded our ingredient lists, upgraded our menus and have impressed your guests. From all this antioxidants, natural flavors, organic; words like these have certainly crept into your life one way or another. Whether by choice or simply because almost every major brand now has some sort of "antioxidant rich" or "organic made" line in addition to their "normal" (?) products.

We now have these key words or phrases stuck on our heads. "Low carb", Low fat", "Fat free", and the now infamous "No trans fats". We grab the correct packing and go. It's unfortunate that our "Nutritional Facts" area posted on the majority of purchased food does not always reflect the true values. Some of the before mentioned key words or phrases actually carry negative attributes.

A good example would be the "Low fat" or "Fat free" products. If you compare that product to the original version, you will see that in the fats place, the carbohydrates have gone up. Carbs turn into sugar, which then turn into body fat. In some cases, more chemically sounding ingredients will be the aiding factor. With this information, in my opinion, your body may process the "Full fat" products easier. Milk is a great example of this, as it goes from a heavy cream (higher fat lowest carb count in the line up) down to the skim milk, which has the highest carb count and the obviously least fat.

Speaking of chemical sounding ingredients, it is important to read labels and to understand the ingredient meanings. For instance with the "No trans fat", it is important to know what it means. In "About Professional Baking" by Gail Sokol, the definition (glossary page 581) of "Trans Fat" is:

"A liquid fat such as oils, that are partially hydrogenated to a solid state or partially solid state at room temperature. The chemical structure of the fat is such that the hydrogen atoms sit diagonally across the double bond. Trans fats are associated with an increased risk of heart disease and certain cancers." (source: About Baking by Gail Sokol, glossary pg. 581)

What this is stating is that trans fats are partially hydrogenated oils. Certain products that list 0% Trans Fat on the nutritional value chart, do list partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient. I recently saw a commercial stating this very fact. So it is important to understand the meanings of the ingredients, and unfortunately can't always trust the advertising for the product. Several products listed with "all natural flavoring" or "organic", when you read further down to the ingredients you may notice unhealthy ingredients (cheaper ingredients) or the vague description of "natural flavorings and/or colorings".

Take sports drinks. We need our electrolytes.....right? True, but we don't necessarily need the rest of the packaging with them. This is another fine example of reading the ingredient list, rather than buying into the hype. What is the most common ingredient among sports drinks, and mostly the main ingredient? High fructose corn syrup. Recently "they" have been releasing commercials which make note that this modified ingredient is the "same" as sugar....with the same caloric intake as sugar....that like sugar is good in moderation. This in my opinion is false. It isn't sugar anymore, no matter which way you slice it. We will get into sugar a bit later though.

I have in front of me a major brand sports drink. There are a total of twelve ingredients, I recognize seven of them:

Water (#1), High Fructose Corn Syrup (#2), Sucrose Syrup (#3), Natural Flavor (#5), Salt (#6), Yellow 6 (#11), and last Mono Potassium Phosphate (#7).

Quick overview, the numbers in parenthesis represent the order in which the ingredients are listed on the container. The first ingredient on the ingredient list is the most dominant, and the last being the smallest amount used. First we have water (#1). Understandable. Second we have the high fructose corn syrup (#2), which the word is very familiar in our every day lives. It is another modified version of the already modified granulated sugar. Next is sucrose syrup (#3). Again is familiar, but less heard. This item is more often read in the ingredient list (that is if you have already been reading). This is defined as:

"The chemical name for table sugar or granulated sugar; derived from the sugar cane or sugar beet plant. Sucrose is composed of two simple sugars - glucose and fructose - bound as one molecule. (Source: About Baking, Gail Sokol, glossary page 586)

So what this is basically saying is that sucrose is another modified form of two simple sugars (the glucose and fructose) bound together as one bond to form one new modified sugar.

So far we have water and two different varieties of modified sugars........why the modified sugars instead of sugar? Well the sad truth is cost. It can be stretched like adding water to your newly emptied soap container. You can make thinner down soap and stretch the usage. Ok next. Natural Flavor (#5) Oh, the wondrous natural flavoring.....for what exactly do you mean? Yet on this very sports drink, above the nutritional facts chart, it states: "NO FRUIT JUICE." But, my flavor is orange? I can't figure out how my orange, naturally flavored drink obtained its flavor without using the fruit itself. Next ingredient is salt (#6) which is reasonably considering the amount of sugar in this recipe. Yellow 6 (#11) is next, to which we don't really know what it is, but we understand that it is the coloring. Last recognizable ingredient is the Mono potassium Phosphate (#8) which is the source of the electrolytes.

So out of the ingredients mentioned already that are in the least recognizable don't seem so great already. Now lets finish stating the remaining items on the list for this "believed to be healthy for you sports drink".

Citric acid (#4), which I am assuming is a modified/chemical form of lemon or citrus juice. A common ingredient found in almost everything. Sodium Citrate (#6) which again I will assume is a modified/chemical version of salt. Next, Modified food starch (#8). Well from the title we know that is has been modified from its original form, and it must be similar to a corn starch. Second to last is Gylcerol Ester of Rosin. Wikipedia defines this as: "A food additive used as an emulsifier and stabilizer, to keep oils in suspension in water. It is common in soft drinks, lemonade's, Squirt, Full Throttle citrus and guava Rockstar energy drinks, Hawaiian Punch Brand juices, Fresca Peach Citrus sparkling flavored soda, Raspberry flavored Lucozade, Eyeliner pencils, Fierce Grape Gatorade and Gatorade "Tiger" Quiet Storm. It has E Number E445. It is water-soluble and leaves the body through urine."

Lastly is Sucrose Acelate Isobutyrate. SAIB is an emulsifier and has E Number E444. It is commonly used in beverage emulsions as an weighting agent, and also maintains clarity. Color cosmetics and skin care, flavorings, fragrance fixative, hair care products as well as ink and paper production. That sounds like some thing we would all want another cup of! (sources: www.cac.cn/sucrose-acetate-isobutyrate.htm , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose_acetate_isobutyrate)

(What's an E Number you say? E numbers are number codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the European Union. The numbering scheme follows that of the International Numbering System (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius committee. Only a subset of the INS additives are approved for use in the European Union, the 'E' prefix which stands for Europe. In casual language in the UK and Ireland, the term "E-number" is used as a pejorative term for artificial food additives, and products may promote themselves as "free of E-numbers" even though most of the (natural) ingredients contain components that also have an E-number (e.g. Vitamin C (E300) or lycopene (E160d), the color in tomatoes). To have a diet without any components that also have an E-number is basically impossible. Free of E-numbers thus refers mainly to the use of additives, not to the absence of components with an E-number. (source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number )

E numbers are also encountered on food labeling in other jurisdictions, including the GCC, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. The "E" prefix is omitted in Australia and New Zealand. They are increasingly (though still rarely) found on North American packaging, especially in Canada.)

So what was the purpose of me going through the ingredient list on a major brand sports drink? To show you that even though it is being promoted as healthy for athletes as a great way to hydrate your body, it is not exactly what it seems. Sugar is not a hydrator. So while shopping one day at Whole Foods Market, I found that they made a product called Electrolyte water. I read the ingredient label and not really to me surprise, it was simple.

"Deionized water and electrolytes (potassium bicarbonate, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride)".

Written exactly like this. I purchased the bottle of electrolyte water and it looked and tasted just like water. Clearly this was the way to go. I then looked at the nutritional facts chart and it had no calories, carbs or anything, Just like Water! (I later then added freshly squeezed lemon juice and added raw sugar for a refreshing lemonade or made fresh green tea for a nice iced tea...both with electrolytes! The major brands don't offer that!)

We have all heard that refined white flour is the "worst" as it is the hardest for us to digest, and from that it turns to sugar because in the delay in turn over. The flour originally started from the whole grain form, which is at the opposite end of the health spectrum. It is widely known that whole grain in great for digestive and colon health. Why? The whole grain has all the nutrients and good carbs that work with out systems to break down the food we eat to turn it into energy for us to utilize and waste it out. This enables our metabolism to work properly. Refined flours have had all the nutrients removed (refined) to where our bodies have a harder time breaking down these modified molecules. The delay in time then starts the process of turning the products into sugar (then to body fat). This is similar to the milk and the removal of fat in substitute for carbohydrates. Our bodies don't register these man manipulated food products as easy. We don't gain what food is supposed to give us. Its causing our systems to not work at 100%.

Another area where we hear "refined" is our sugar. Granulated sugar is refined sugar. Raw sugar on the other hand is pure, natural crystals that are larger than the granulated counterpart. It is also a tan color as it still has molasses in it. This sugar is the "whole wheat" of sugar. It still maintains its nutritional value, and gives off no chemical after effects. It also dissolves faster than granulated sugar as well. It's pure. It is a good example of how our bodies breakdown raw or whole food/materials vs. refined or manipulated food/materials.

So what does all this information mean? For starters, it may be a contributing factor to the obesity problem in the United States. But that is a whole other story. Is it that this may give clues towards the overwhelming amount of digestive problems also affecting us? Possibly, but the point I am trying to get across is that there is a marketing team working for every product. Food is an essential part of our everyday lives. What we eat is extremely important, and we know this. We have all heard the example of our bodies being referred to as a car or machine, we this is actually an excellent example as our digestive system is a series of pipes that need to have a clean steady flow. When we eat food that isn't pure and it just site in our system for longer than it would be intended to, our bodies try to figure out how to break it down.

Food is meant to be easily broken down, then move through and then be wasted. Being wasted out is the main guiding force for this process. Picture is as the rotation process at the supermarkets. The new stuff will only move through if the older ones are purchased and removed, for the newer item to move into its motion of the removal process. This process should be regular, and often times more often then the average person goes. This fluidness of motion creates a healthier environment for your immune system, which in turn makes for a healthier you.

We all want to be healthy. No, I don't mean dieting at this moment. Just by simply eating healthier products. To be able to understand what is going on, and what everything means. To at least be able to decide for your self, rather than taking the promotions word for it. For example, if two manufacturers make a cookie. Both (since in competition with each other) have rather similar if not identical nutritional charts, so you now read the ingredient lists. One used partially hydrogenated oil and the other didn't. You should now make the healthier choice and pick the cookie without the trans fat.

So unfortunately it takes a bit of time to read labels. It is a timely process to then picks which products will service you better. Notice I said "service" you better, as if you are that car. You are a machine, that should be treated as a top of the line model.

"Whole" foods (milk, sugar, bread, flours, grains, ect.) are better for your body's rotation, and it better for you from a nutritional stand point as well as a digestive. Knowing what you eat makes you know your inside.

Sources:

Internet
www.cac.cn/sucrose-acetate-isobutyrate.htm
(Taken from the China Aroma Chemical webiste; http://www.cac.cn/default.aspx)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose_acetate_isobutyrate
(Taken from the Wikipedia website; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Book
"About Baking "
written by: Gail Sokol
Pages Referenced: Glossay; pages 581 & 586)
Link to her website: http://www.chefgailsokol.com/books.htm