7 food ingredients to avoid

Most of conscious consumers look for fat or calorie content on the nutrient facts of the food product. However, many disregard looking at the ingredient list which might be more important that total calorie content.

According to author Andrea Donsky that has recently released a book called "Unjunk Your Junk Food: Healthy Alternatives to Conventional Snacks", there are 7 ingredients that should be avoided:

1. High-fructose corn syrup: sugar linked to obesity, insuline resistance and cardiovascular problems
2. Trans fats (or hydrogenated, shortening) : it's a type of bad fat that raises the bad cholesterol (LDL)
3. MSG (Monosodium glutamate): a common flavor enhancer
4. Artificial sweeteners (this includes aspartame, Splenda, Ace-K)
5. Artificial colours (any type of artificial dyes such as Yellow #5, Red #1, etc.)
6. Artificial flavours
7. Preservatives 

According to the author,  "while it's nearly impossible to avoid these ingredients completely, especially if we eat out, shoppers should learn to look for these ingredients and avoid them as much as possible"

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NO more bugs: Starbucks will reformulate its drinks

Starbucks Corp. says it will stop using a red dye derived from crushed bugs in its drinks and food items. The cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, is widely used in foods and cosmetic products. Items made with the extract include the strawberries and crème Frappuccino, strawberry smoothie, raspberry swirl cake, birthday cake pops, mini donuts with pink icing and red velvet whoopee pies. For the drinks, the red dye will be replaced by lycopene, a tomato-based extract. The company still didn't decide the replacement  for the other food items but will transition away from the use of cochineal extract.

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Can lack of sleep make you fat ?

According to the latest research published in the American Journal of Human Biology, lack of sleep not only can make you fat but also increases your risk of diabetes, heart diseases and many health problems. Apparently, sleep restriction de-regulate appetite leading to an increase in energy consumption and hence to weight gain. Moreover, other findings also showed that as the number of hours of sleep drops and normal biological rhythms are disrupted, your body physically changes in ways that can help set the stage diabetes.

The above couldn't be better reasons to start getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night as it is essential and vital to health.  

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Fast food salt levels vary around the world

We all got used to seeing the different fast food restaurants wherever we travel, and the Big Mac that we eat in France is supposed to be the same that we eat in Canada or any other country. Apparently if your living in Canada or the U.S. you are more likely to be consuming a higher salt intake in your fast food meal. In fact, a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at the salt content of food items from 6 known fast food chains: Kentucky Fried Chicken; McDonald's; Domino's Pizza; Pizza Hut; Burger King; and Subway. Their result showed that fast food in Canada and the U.S. contained much higher levels of sodium than those in the U.K. and France. For example,in Canada, McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, contained 600 mg of sodium per 100 g serving, compared to 240 mg sodium in U.K. similar-sized servings !

A high salt intake is linked to high blood pressure and it's a risk factor for heart disease and stroke related deaths. A change of the formulation with a reduction of salt is a must to improve the population's health. According to the author, "if reductions were made incrementally over several years, fairly large cumulative decreases in salt content could be achieved without consumers being aware of the changes in the products' formulations ".

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Bugs are on the menu

On the menu of the "Specktakel" restaurant in the Netherlands you would find words such as insect crumble, crispy crickets, cake with candied worm topping...You would think no one would be willing to try these dishes, your wrong, apparently hundreds of people wanted to be part of two special "bug buffet" which were sold out ! Above all every plate cost more than 70 dollars.

While the owner of that restaurant is trying to make bug eating an exotic and expensive experience, scientist on the other end, are trying to make eating insects a normal and cheap food source. In fact, the European Union is even investing more than $4 million to research the use of insects as a protein source for humans. According to the head of Wageningen's entomology department and one of the world's premier experts in entomophagy (eating insects),  the rising price of meat will help in changing diets. "If your Big Mac is going to cost about $100 and your Bug Mac is going to cost only $4, people will change to a Bug Mac".

Get ready to see the first bug sandwich on the market coming soon !


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