Marketing is everything.  For someone just starting to join the Food Revolution and eat healthier, a food product with the word diet seems appealing.  Trust me, I fell for it too, in my early weight loss days.  For a long time ‘sugar-free’, ‘diet’ and ‘low-fat’ reeled me in.  I bought products that contained these labels religiously.  I thought I was doing myself and my family a favor.  I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t losing weight.

Then I learned that there are no free calories.  There is an inherent costs to chemical substitutions.  We think we are eating healthy by choosing low-fat, sugar free options, but in reality they are more harmful than their original counterparts.  If one ingredient is taken out, another equally bad component is usually added in so the flavor isn’t jeopardized.

As consumers, especially consumers trying to purchase healthy consumables, we need to get in the habit of reading labels.  My rule of thumb is to try to buy as few products with ingredients that I am not familiar with.  I love the Dryer’s commercial with the child trying to pronounce ingredients off of another brands ice cream label.  Such chemicals are not in our everyday language, because we don’t know what they are.  Food companies don’t want us to know.  If they were good for us, we would know.  They would be advertising the benefits.  I have never seen an ice cream commercial, organic or not, educating the population about healthy benefits.  My thought is, if I am going to eat something that isn’t healthy I might as well not poison myself too.  So, yes, I will eat the full fat version with the best ingredients, in moderation.  Preferably home-made.  (Home-made ice cream is the BEST!)

My point is, living a clean diet is all about knowledge.  Look for people and brands that support a clean, healthy way of living and learn from them.   Don’t get trapped by the buzz words that make you think you are living healthy.  Double check labels that contain these words:  low-fat, sugar-free, fat-free, reduces cholesterol, helps digestion, natural, reduced sodium, etc.  Make sure they do what they claim before you sabotage your goals.

What are some of your favorite truly healthy brands?