Week 3

Read ingredient labels.

Become informed.  Take this seriously and read every ingredient list on every label for every food you eat this week.  It will probably shock and amaze you.  I love ingredient lists like the one for these diced tomatoes shown in the photo.  Unfortunately, being able to read and pronounce all the items on the list and having less than three or so ingredients is very rare.  But not eating foods that contain man-made ingredients, which your body sees as toxins, is very important. 

A few things to think about concerning ingredient lists:

1.  Read the labels on foods already in your home as you use them.  (You might consider tossing those that contain some of the worst ingredients such as artificial colors and flavorings, MSG or hydrogenated oils.) 

2.  Read the labels on foods which you buy at the grocery store (I know this can take time, but it is worth doing).  If you don't have much time, then buy mostly unprocessed foods as given to us by God that don't have labels.  Produce, raw nuts, beans, grains, eggs, white cheese, etc.  These are the best foods to eat and cook with anyway.  Begin eating more and more foods without labels.  (Of course, meats also do not have ingredient lists, but there are other very important things to learn about obtaining good quality meats.)   

3.  Try to buy foods with a short list of ingredients, only things that you can pronounce and identify as a real food items, as shown with the can of diced tomatoes above.

4.  I have a list of ingredients which I never eat, and those which I minimize.  Use my list or make your own, and stick with it.

This week, I want you to become aware of what is in the food you are eating, and then I will guide you on how to make changes in the weeks to come.  The food industry, is just that, an industry designed to make money by selling food, and they spend lots of money researching how to make their foods addictive.  Become informed, read labels, and don't be a victim.

Advanced Challenge for those already reading labels:

Read ingredient labels. I am writing this to myself!  So many times, I stop reading labels of my favorite brands of items that I regularly buy and then by chance look at the ingredient list and find that it has changed (and always for the worse).  So my challenge this week for all of us is to read labels.  Any food item which you eat that has an ingredient label, read it.

If you are just beginning the weekly challenges, please be sure to read the posts under weekly challenge - in advance.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:32