the push to eat whole foods and leave the world of trans-fats, packages, preservatives and processed ingredients has been in full swing for nearly a decade, yet we still get confused on what that means. this is due to slick packaging and savvy marketers who have twisted the meaning of healthy, low-fat, low-carb, all-natural, eco-friendly, fortified and many other terms that have been pasted on wrappers, bags and boxes to make the consumer believe the food is healthy, when in fact it is not. trends such as only shopping the perimeters of the supermarket while avoiding the aisles were taught to avoid these schemes, but this is only effective if you can cook three whole meals a day and don’t mind leaving certain kitchen conveniences, whole grains, spices, condiments and truly good for you snacks behind. so how do you choose what food to eat, trust the words on the box and feed yourself without starting your own farm? read the ingredients!
the front of the package is the world of marketing, but the back is the truth of the product. get in the habit of reading ingredient lists and get familiar with things that you may not understand but are not dangerous versus the things you can’t even pronounce which harm your body. pay attention to the order of ingredients as they are listed by quantity, meaning there are greater amounts of the first ingredients and gradually less until the last. so, if all the good foods are listed at the end, there aren’t many of them in the product! two primary package tags that you can trust and should look for are usda organic and non gmo project verified. these two stamps may be used for marketing and pricing, but they are also relevant and very important for your overall health.
let’s take a look at an ingredient label that gives you whole foods, flavor and convenience while leaving out all the junk your body doesn’t need.
iwon organics has worked hard to created protein-based snacks and cereals that feed you and your family whole food, usda organic, certified non gmo ingredients. founder mark samuel saw the wildly convoluted claims in the snack and protein industry and decided his family needed a better option. he then set out to give your family better choices too. the first ingredients are green peas, brown rice flour, navy beans and brown rice protein. why this particular combination? because when peas are combined with brown rice a complete protein is made, meaning you get all nine essential proteins in amounts that feed your body.
the second requirement every snack must have is great taste! that’s where sweet dijon, spicy sweet peppers, mesquite bbq, berries ‘n cream, cheddar cheese, cinnamon french toast and many others take center stage with combinations of fresh spices, sea salt, organic cane sugar and dried organic vegetables to create the taste you want with ingredients you need.
keep your snack bin full with puffs, chips, stix and o’s!
