I am a compulsive label reader at the grocery store. Now that I have to wear reading glasses it's even more of a process than it used to be. This is especially true when I forget my glasses in the car. I am such a compulsive label reader that I have gone so far to humble myself to ask nearby shoppers to read the labels for me. The first thing I look for is high fructose corn syrup. Then I look for MSG (mono sodium glutamate). Anything with these two items gets put right back on the shelf. It takes a lot of time and self education to learn what all those weird words mean. I used to think xanthan gum came from some exotic tree in the Caribbean. But no it's somehow chemically mass produced from corn. More corn syrup.
But label reading can be trick and time consuming. So I came up with a simple test:
The Pinky Test: If the list of ingredients is wider than the width of your pinky, put it back.Now that's simple!
The second tip comes from my chiropractor's wife and it's even simpler.
When you go to the store, don't go down the center aisles!: This saves even more time.
Around the outside perimeter of most stores you will find meat, produce, dairy and eggs. These are the things that evolution has designed our bodies to eat. These are the items your great grandmother would recognize as food.Happy shopping!
I like the pinky rule. It's simple.
ReplyDeleteAs much as possible, I'm trying to eat foods that don't HAVE an ingredient list. Lettuce. Carrot. Pear. Garlic. Milk. The more time I spend looking at labels, the more my brain gets stuck thinking about what I DON'T eat... and that makes me feel all sad and deprived... which usually leads to chocolate.
If I can consider who I AM - instead of who I am NOT - I stay more centered and healthy. (We're still talking about food, right?)