Apr

28

Do You Know What’s In Your Food?

Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition, Research 

There’s a new poll out from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The poll asked 500 people about the calorie contents of their food. Care to guess the result? If you guessed that most people don’t know what’s in their food, you’d be right. You can find the article on the CSPI site here.

Don’t Eat What You Don’t Know

I don’t go to restaurants unless I know what I’m eating.  For local restaurants, that means asking them what they put in their food and how they prepare it.  For chain restaurants, it means not eating there unless they publish their nutritional content on their premises.  On premises means right there where you eat the food, not on the website.  Website nutritional info is great mostly for regretting what you just ate and doesn’t really help you make an informed decision when you order.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

If there’s a restaurant that does not publish nutriotional information then tell them you won’t be eating there anymore and then tell them why.  Enough of these opinions will make a difference.

Make Your Vote Count

I’m not a fan of big government.  I don’t think government should tell us what to do or how to behave.  I do however believe that governments have a role to play in making sure we have enough information to make an informed decision.  So I support government efforts to force restaurants to display nutritional information.  Let you congress man or woman know that you’d appreciate this sort of information and that your health is more important than lobbyist dollars.

Read Those Labels

Once you have the information, don’t forget to use it.  Information is useless if it’s not used.  Read it and then base your food decision on it.  If enough of us make healthy food choices, maybe restaurants will offer more healthy options.

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I know people who will spend hours researching the best shampoo for their pet or the best school for their kids.  Why not spend a little of that time researching what you’re eating?  The results may surprise you.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Do You Know What’s In Your Food?”

  1. Robin Plan on April 29th, 2008 8:16 am

    This is a great article and I hope it reaches many people. I do not eat out often at all, not so much because of calories, or fat etc. I don’t want to eat feedlot beef and veggies that have more chemicals than nutritional value. I agree many people spend more time picking the best (pet) shampoo, (if they are looking for organic shampoos for pets and their family it’s good) than they do about the food they eat. This is why Americans remain so sick.

    Food heals if it’s real food.
    Thanks for the great article.
    Robin Plan

  2. Stephanie Quilao on May 9th, 2008 1:39 am

    I love Jack LaLanne’s philosophy, If man made it, I don’t eat it.” So simple, and look he’s in his 90’s and still works out everyday.

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