sick of stressing over labels....

bubsnoble
bubsnoble Posts: 20 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone else sick of stressing over GMOs, organic, or not organic blah blah blah.. sometimes I think maybe the stress over all this is what makes us sick?? I am not saying i won't watch my labels a bit but man I get so stressed I just want to EAT or get a headache ... I just like to watch what I eat.. if it has to be a FIBRE one bar vs a GMO free homemade one well then thats the way its going to be... sorry for the rant.. bad day lol

Replies

  • mundane_human
    mundane_human Posts: 11 Member
    I hear you. Sometimes it drives my wife to insanity when i get on my soap box, and then i have pretzel m&m's and the world just seems right again.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I don't stress over those issues............mine is sodium. Given that there are estimated to be millions of people with undiagnosed hypertension one would think there would be more attention paid to sodium intake.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Have you ever researched what the FDA labeling requirements are for each food group ?

    Claims of organic, no added nitrates, no hormones, all vegetarian diet, and others are a good tip off the manufacture has found a clever engineering way around the labeling requirement.

    Knowing what each labeling claim actually means is half the battle.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    I stress over none of those things. In fact, I'm pretty happy with my diet and food in general.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    oh lord, bubs, all the time. I was at a store and the first display I saw was for a whole series on "gluten free" whatever. Imagine Entenmann's makes a line of gluten free cakes and adds a new display. It was like that.

    Let's see if my memory goes back....

    I started to notice it with the Snackwells, the fat free cookies (yuck). It was fat free this and that or chips fried in Olestra that caused anal leakage. Then the sugar free ice cream and everything else. It's like ALL gum is sugar free now. I forget a few things (I was high a lot then). Oh, it was the vegetarian and VEGAN explosion. Everything is cruelty free, even purses and shirts. Then I noticed the Whole Grains. Whole grain Lucky Charms and Trix cereal, whole grain bars, whole grain yogurt. Then it moved to Organic and that took off like a bullet.

    Now it's the gluten free.

    Other labels. Vegan, Paleo, PTSD, COPD, AEIOU, 12345, Cardio Bunny, vEgetarian, Pescatarian, Locavore (grrrr I hate this one most of all, Scarecrow!)
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    and then i have pretzel m&m's and the world just seems right again.

    Oh yeahhhhhhhh!
  • independant2406
    independant2406 Posts: 447 Member
    Sadly most of the time if you think your purchasing "organic" its the same stuff you'd get anywhere else. The FDA seems to have no interest in improving the requirements to be "organic" so it actually means something. Unless you know the local farmer who grew it, or unless your paying top dollar for specific items at a store like Whole Foods (where they document the product origins and production/growing standards) its pretty hard to tell "organic" from "other stuff". Frustrating for sure!

    Even when you find a product created without extra junk, you have to watch out and make sure they don't get bought out and change their methods. I was super unhappy when I found out a small brand of yogurt I loved no longer contained the same ingredients because they were purchased by a big company and they started making it with the same ingredients and processes they use in "go gurt". :( Its just a way to get you to pay 4x as much for the same stuff.

    It shouldn't be so hard to know what exactly your eating and how its made... but it is. :(
  • bubsnoble
    bubsnoble Posts: 20 Member
    I GET people have reactions to these things but why make a big deal out of it.. I switch to diet pop and I have a friend that is all up in my face about aspartame and how "someone she knows" got sick from it.. ok totally sucks for that person but as for ME I have no adverse reactions to it.. I also don't drink as much of it as I would normal pop... and in that sense if someone has a bad reaction to strawberries should we be making a big deal about those too??? Social media is no help either.. always having those " ads" on FB about how bad this or that is for you.... I am telling you stress causes cancer too anything can cause cancer these days.. I lost my dad to lung cancer so i do not make light of cancer but I also want to LIVE life.. know what I mean??
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
    Honestly no, I don't stress over labels.

    - My grocery store states what products have GMO's and what don't.
    - They show on their labels for meats whether or not they have the antibiotics and hormones in them (hopefully soon this will be a mute point as we want to start getting our meats from a local farm)
    - I get raw milk from a farm which does not use any antibiotics or hormones on their animals and I use it to make yogurt
    - I was getting some awesome fresh eggs -- like so fresh that one day when we got them she sent her kid out to the coop and they were warm from the chickens butt! But lately they haven't had their eggs out and I had to get them from a different farm and they're not as good.
    - We had an awesome garden this year and will be eating all of the stuff that we have canned and froze from our harvest so I more than likely won't need to go to the store for produce for a LONG time
    - I go to one store for my groceries and I know what brands have what in them. I get minimally processed meat at the deli (when I get deli meat)

    So no. I don't really stress over it unless my store discontinues something THEN I have to go through the process of reading the label and finding something comparable.
  • tquill
    tquill Posts: 300 Member
    Ads are there to sell the competition... of course they'll tell you what you're buying now is "wrong."

    I drink diet soda every day, eat ice cream sandwiches everyday, eat non-organic GMO food nearly every day. I've done my own research and eat what I want. I suggest you do the same. If something works for you... don't worry about the complaining and scare-tactics of others.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I typically look at 'calories', 'serving size' and 'protein' and that's pretty much it :laugh:
  • bubsnoble
    bubsnoble Posts: 20 Member
    EXACTLY!!!!!! thats what I usually do too and will keep doing ....
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
    Nope.
  • ChefSteveUrso
    ChefSteveUrso Posts: 84 Member
    I don't stress over labels, I just don't buy or eat processed foods anymore. Being a middle aged man, I've had my health problems disappear and no more prescription meds because of it. It's a shame that we can't trust the food manufacturers, but it's the way thing are now. Sometimes I buy imported products from Europe or the Middle East and they don't have any of the crap that's in American processed foods.

    I'm completely happy and satisfied just eating fresh pasture raised meats and wild caught fish. I only eat 4-5 oz portions anyway. Gone are my days of eating a16-24 oz. Porterhouse stk. or rib eye. Also I love fresh vegetables and fruit and don't find it stressful at all. I drink herbal tea at breakfast, water all day, and a good German beer or glass of wine with dinner.

    Years and decades of eating chemical food additives, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, sugar in everything, is taking it's toll on the population. It's so obvious when you look at the numbers compared to 30-40 years ago. There's a health epidemic going on, and now even more kids are sick and obese. It's not solely because of lack of activity, the main stream food supply is toxic. Of course it's more convenient to deny that it's happening, I did for years until it came down to suffering with horrible health and waiting to die, or stop eating the poison. I stopped eating the poison and my health returned.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I find all that stuff distressing because, who do you believe? Is it a problem or isn't it?

    I just grow/raise/hunt most of my food and don't worry about the rest. Well, I try not to worry about it. But, yeah, it's still a little worrisome for me.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Nope, no stress. I don't care about the msg in the soup mix, the trans fat from the canola oil in the mayonnaise, the nitrates in the bacon, the soy in the tuna fish -- I don't even stress about the pepperoni that comes with an actual warning label it contains BHP or something like that. But I clearly remember being shocked that my tomato paste contained added sugar and trans fat when I first started here... tomato paste! I always considered that an ingredient, it never even occurred to me that there would be anything other than tomatoes in it so lesson learned.

    Processed food is processed food and I assume it's all bad -- or contains things I don't want to eat -- but probably won't kill me in small amounts. So I just aim to limit it as much as taste and convenience allows -- which ends up being a small number of products and a very small percentage of my diet. I don't even read labels anymore since I don't eat new, or new to me processed foods and just stick to the processed foods that are already part of my diet that I don't want to give up.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    Nope, I have bigger things to worry about than what is in my food.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
    The biggest GMO/Organic supporter I've ever met in my life eat's ice cream every night.

    She does buy ice cream with sugar instead of HFCS, but seriously, sugar, that wonderful GMO non-organic white goodness, she consumes it every. single. day.

    Don't stress, a lot of people give others a ton of grief for eating the same stuff they eat regularly.

    A huge percentage of them DON'T EVEN REALIZE IT.

    I think their heart is in the right place and they're moving in the right direction, but dang girl, don't organic/non-GMO me while you're eating that delicious ice cream, and while you're at it, pass that ice cream!
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I don't stress over labels. I do check them occasionally when buying new brands. For example, I like the natural peanut butter made with just peanuts and possibly salt. Sometimes when I look at an unfamiliar brand (because of a sale, or better price), I find something unexpected, so I end up getting a brand I am familiar with if I feel strongly enough about it.
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    Nope, don't stress at all. I eat frozen meals, prepackaged snacks, HFCS, GMOs, etc. There are studies being done on GMOs right now that so far indicate that they aren't this Earth-shattering thing that they've been made out to be lately. Of course, every study has at least one counterstudy so take it all with a grain of salt.

    I do check out the sodium on things here and there because right now my BP is spot on and I'd like to keep it that way. I also buy grass-fed organic beef and non-antibiotic cage free chicken just because these days it's so easy to do!
  • glasshalffull713
    glasshalffull713 Posts: 323 Member
    Boy do I ever know what you mean. I eat as processed free and organic as possible, but lately it seems like SUCH an effort. I partially decided to stop caring so much for a while and take it easy on myself, but then I made the mistake of watching 20 minutes of Food, Inc. and that made me rethink my plan to loosen up. (and don't worry I know that is essentially the far swing of the pendulum and I take some of it with a grain of salt)

    Aside from the ethical issues involved that are easier not to think about, I do believe that all these chemicals and pesticides and GMOs and preservatives will eventually catch up to your health. It is not "just" a diet coke or "just" one meal. We are exposed to toxins in the air and water from pollution, antibiotics from our meat & dairy and also our water supply, there are chemicals in our lotions and soaps and the list goes on and on. Don't mean to be depressing here, but I don't care if the FDA says it's a "safe" amount for consumption. I personally don't want to ingest chlorine and all sorts of crap. If the FDA says 1 gram is safe, those companies will make sure to put in .999999999999 grams. They don't care about our health or their impact to the environment, just about how to make a buck.

    Rant over. I just get frustrated because I feel like it shouldn't be so hard for us to make our own choices.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,268 Member
    I typically look at 'calories', 'serving size' and 'protein' and that's pretty much it :laugh:
    and fiber too
  • mundane_human
    mundane_human Posts: 11 Member
    I don't bring my reading glasses, and therefore it does not exist.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't really worry about stuff like that at all...I just try to eat a well balanced an nutritious diet. IMHO, "organic" is largely bull ****....

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