Why Reading Labels Could Save Your Health.

Hidden Ingredients, Hidden Impact: Why Reading Labels Could Save Your Health. Taking time to read ingredient labels may be a huge improvement to feeling better. It could even be imperative to your overall health and well-being. It doesn’t take much of a hidden ingredient to make a person sick. Small ingredients can have massive health consequences.

Starting around 1988, I dragged my son, who is now 40 to a series of pediatricians trying to figure out why he was suffering with chronic ear infections and strep throat. He had not yet started school. His face was always snotty, chapped and dirty. A Pig Pen.

When I’d give him the antibiotics he was prescribed, he became worse. Around age 3, a doctor advised putting tubes in his ears. His hearing improve slightly since his ears weren’t so plugged up, but the infections didn’t stop.

The Pig Pen look continued and he was pretty cranky most of the time. Truly a child only a mother could love. Around 1991, another mom suggest a doctor (I’m still grateful to you Colleen). What a difference! Our life changed nearly overnight. It was determined our ornery, dirty-faced son was severely intolerant to a very short list of foods.

Why Reading Labels Was About to Make a Difference

On our first visit, what truly amazed me with Dr. Lepor, is he nailed Jesse’s issue pronto. He identified Jesse was extremely intolerant (allergic) to corn. Explaining that the antibiotic was making him worse, I wasn’t crazy. Corn starch and corn sweetener are ingredient fillers used in many antibiotics, especially for children. The other foods were not as big a deal for him, but ridding his diet from corn was imperative.

Solving the Mystery, a Solution About to Unfold

Corn? I was dumbfounded. In those years, like many people, including most medical professionals, food allergies were not much of a consideration. Cows milk maybe for young children; but foods that made people sick were spoiled, or had not been stored properly. A person might get food poisoning from eating potato salad at a summer picnic. That was the major extent of foods causing illnesses.

Within a few days, after removing corn from my son’s diet, he became a sweet boy. After about a week, the snot stopped, his chapped, dirt-caked cheeks cleared up. His puffy red-ringed eyes were clear and bright. He became pleasant to be around.

Being Taught Reading Labels Could Save the Day

Doc Lepor had to educated us about corn, as corn is more than corn on an ingredient label. Corn has lots of different names. There are many by-products of corn and at an early age I had to teach my son it was a MUST for him to read labels. He had to take responsibly to be sure he wasn’t eating corn flour, cornmeal, cornflakes, cornstarch, corn oil, high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup. The word “corn” was easy, but it also included:

• Dextrins
• Maltodextrins
• Dextrose
• Fructose or crystalline fructose

I don’t think a box of cereal exist that doesn’t contain one of those ingredients; a box of anything for that matter. Most all products on the store shelves from cookies to katchup has corn in it. The refrigerated section and frozen foods department are no exception, yogurts, ice cream, most prepared meals, many canned and products in jars; all forbidden.

My son didn’t starve. We had to learn to read labels and eat better. Making our meals from scratch. All of us in the household were better off for it.

Why I Share my Story as to Why Reading Labels Could Save Your Health

Seeing customers face to face, I meet many people—young and old—who may not realize that the foods they’re eating could be making them feel lousy or sick. They’re suffering and their quality of life sucks. Even foods that they think are healthy. Gluten-free has become a big issue today and for good reason.

My daughter is a conscious healthy eater. In her young 30’s; about 10-years ago, she discovered she had become very intolerant to gluten. She spent many, many sick stricken days suffering due to what she was eating until she discovered it was gluten that was making her ill. Once she figured it out and removed gluten from her diet, it was a game changer for her.

The Changes in Our Food System and the Need of Reading Labels Could Save Your Well-being

Listed ingredients can be hiding the truth. A simple single ingredient may not be so simple. Corn has many names, gluten is in products you may not suspect, such as soy sauce. The impact of gluten along with other hidden ingredients has really impacted our food system in the last 40-years. Finding out what may be causing you issues could save your health.

When we began selling hemp seeds in 2009, gluten free was not even in people’s vocabulary. Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten – a protein in wheat, barley and rye; and was rarely diagnosed. When I created our Gluten Free Hemp Protein Pancakes & Waffle Mix in 2014, the recipe focused on providing complete protein, good nutrition, taste and texture, gluten free was just a bonus. At that time I had no idea how gluten would become a health issue.

What has triggered these sensitivities with our foods?

Here’s an Example of How Reading Labels Could Save Your Health

Cottage cheese – it’s a healthy food choice; right? It’s an excellent protein source. However, let’s take a look at these 2 different brands of cottage cheese. Compare what’s in each of them.

3 ingredients, plus live & active cultures

The ingredients in cottage cheese could make a big difference in your health and well-being. Turning a good-for-you food into something that may not be so healthy for you. Certain ingredients may not be cooperating with your body.

13 Ingredients, including a corn by-product maltodexrin -and no live cultures

Maltodextrin is a byproduct of corn. Guar gum and locus bean gum are used as a thickener and sticky component in foods. Keep in mind, a lot of dairy products, including ice creams have these gum ingredients – a consumer trick, which helps the ice cream to keep its shape longer so it doesn’t melt down as fast.

Those gums may be playing havoc on your digestive system causing you upset. You may be thinking you have a dairy intolerance, but maybe its the other stuff that’s being put in the dairy that’s causing the issues. The same for yogurts. Taking the time to read ingredient labels can make a big difference in how you feel.

Becoming Aware of What to Look For While Reading Labels Could Save You

It was Dr. Lepor who helped me to realize that even kids vitamins (all vitamins for that matter) can actually be harming your body if you have a food sensitivity to some of their ingredients, such as soy and corn. Doc turned me on to the need of consuming cold pressed flax seed oil too. I’d never heard of it; and trying to locate flax oil in 1990 was a challenge. He explained to me, we all need essential fatty acids in our diet for healthy body function. Especially Omega 3 for a healthy brain and heart. His advise helped to repair my mitral valve prolapse, which I was left with after having scarlet fever as a kid.

The power of the foods we eat, good and bad

In those years hemp seeds weren’t around. Hemp foods didn’t become legal in the United States 1998. I personally didn’t find out about hemp seed nutrition until around 2008. Once I was introduced, I was hooked. After being focused on nutritional needs for so many year, this food was impressive. The magnesium in hemp protein powder caught my eye.  Further, hemp seeds are considered a low allergen food and are an excellent source of omega 3.

Why Have People Become so Hypersensitive to Ingredients

In moving from the 1990’s to present day. Our food system has changed dramatically. My kids are not alone with these food sensitivity issues. It’s a very real problem within our food system today.

GMO’s are common. Round-up ready, patented seeds came from the labs and were planted; putting demands on farmers that they were now basically owned by Monsanto’s. In looking at all this today, I question, did my son actually have an allergy to corn or was it the poisons from the genetically modified seed that produced pest resistant corn?

What has all this done to our wheat production and other crops? How has this impacted our soil and water?

Reading Labels Could Save You From Eating GMO’s

GMO stands for genetically modified organism. Meaning, the seed of a crop has been genetically engineered and manipulated changing the organism’s DNA. This has been done in effort to improve crop yields by making them more pest and disease resistance. The most common GMO crops are corn, soybeans and cotton. Food ingredient labels are not required to disclose whether a product contains genetically modified (GMO) ingredients.

If a food is labeled GMO free, then you should be able to be assured a genetically modified organism has not been used to make and package the product. Organic labeling should be free of GMO’s. Hemp seed foods are not GMO. Most countries outside the United States, do not allow GMO foods in their food system.

The Chemical Impact on Future Generations

My husband, the dad of our children, is a combat veteran who served in Vietnam in 1968 during the height of the War. He was exposed to high levels of Agent Orange. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and Agent Orange, was developed by Monsanto—the same company that manufactured Agent Orange and patented GMO seeds. There is evidence the dioxin contamination from Agent Orange can pass to offspring. Many children of U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange have suffered severe illnesses and even birth defects.

For the most part, our children are healthy. But this chemical builds up in the body. Was their dad’s exposure to Agent Orange the catalyst that triggered our kids sensitivities to certain foods, especially GMO’s?  Our daughter must be very careful with what she eats. Our son, who has lived in Japan since 2008 doesn’t have food sensitivity issues today.

For the children of Vietnam, Agent Orange left horrid scars. It’s very sad.

I’m not trying to be the grim reaper. Contrary, our bodies are incredible machines and have the capability to heal when given proper nutrition. As Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Thank you Dr. Lepor for coming into our lives when you were needed. Your great wisdom and insight helped us. I know you’ve not only helped me and my family but lots of other people with improving their quality of life.

Eating better is a journey, feeling better is your reward.

Eat Better Feel Better. You’re Worth It!

Share this information with someone you care about. It may help them improve their quality of life.