What is/are your NOPE ingredient(s)?

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  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Seaweed. That stuff is nasty. Luckily sushi comes with an acceptable substitute of soy paper...
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    Anything with Gluten in it is off limits. I have Celiacs disease so I have to read every label on a new food very thoroughly before I buy it.
  • nuttynanners
    nuttynanners Posts: 249 Member
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    ahamm002 wrote: »
    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated fat

    ^this is the big one to avoid

    I also try and minimize stuff with carrageenan and food dyes. I may also start minimizing foods with the commonly used emulsifiers too.

    Bought something today that contained Xantham Gum. I've seen it used before, but this time I decided to research it. Turns out it's made from evaporated mold goo. Awesome....

    Supposedly the worst that Xanthan Gum can do (so far....) is cause digestive issues in some people, but I'm still kinda grossed out.

    Do you also avoid antibiotics?

    I'll take them if they are prescribed.... :)

    But I see what you're saying. I take a probiotic supplement... and I drink kombucha.... so I guess it's a similar thing... although I suppose that's why some people have problems with xanthan gum... their gut flora just can't break it down.
  • jhall260
    jhall260 Posts: 111 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Things that are really high in sugar (it just does not satisfy me!) or sodium. Other then that I will get anything, though I tend to get fresh ingredients and stuff because, well they taste better!

    Ah also sugar alcohols, mostly in bars or syrups. They do not do well with my GI tract. While I like the taste of them, I do this out of respect for others :D
  • tinascar2015
    tinascar2015 Posts: 413 Member
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    esjones12 wrote: »
    Stevia is from a plant. You have to research the product to find out if they are using the pure form of stevia. If so, it is a no calorie all natural sweetener. Problem is, most times it is not the pure form of stevia.

    Honestly I've been making small substitutions to my "go to foods" for the last two years. Constantly trying to switch to organic, more natural, less ingredient foods. I shy away from long ingredient lists that contain things I can't pronounce. My goal is to get around 90% whole foods or as least processed as possible. Leaving about 10% for the occasional indulgence or eating out.

    I make no apologies for using Stevia, and I think the word "toxic" gets thrown around way too casually these days. It's processed, which doesn't automatically make it toxic. I use it in a few things because I prefer to save my calories, carbs and sugars for more filling foods. Stevia doesn't give me a headache or leave an aftertaste, so I'm fine with it.

    I used to grow the stevia plant in my herb garden, and wow, all I can say is, thank goodness I can buy the processed stuff. I thought the fresh leaves tasted awful and left an aftertaste I could not shake.

  • nuttynanners
    nuttynanners Posts: 249 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    Beets...only beets.

    Send them to me! I LOVE beets. Problem is, so does DH, so they usually disappear from the fridge pretty quickly.

    Red beets... golden beets... chiogga beets... aw yeah. Good stuff.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
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    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated fat
    +1

    Should be labeled "crap that your body will instantly put into fat storage". Also high fructose corn syrup.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated fat

    This is really it for me.

    I'm much more concerned with the calories per serving, protein and serving size.
  • nuttynanners
    nuttynanners Posts: 249 Member
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    esjones12 wrote: »
    Stevia is from a plant. You have to research the product to find out if they are using the pure form of stevia. If so, it is a no calorie all natural sweetener. Problem is, most times it is not the pure form of stevia.

    Honestly I've been making small substitutions to my "go to foods" for the last two years. Constantly trying to switch to organic, more natural, less ingredient foods. I shy away from long ingredient lists that contain things I can't pronounce. My goal is to get around 90% whole foods or as least processed as possible. Leaving about 10% for the occasional indulgence or eating out.

    I make no apologies for using Stevia, and I think the word "toxic" gets thrown around way too casually these days. It's processed, which doesn't automatically make it toxic. I use it in a few things because I prefer to save my calories, carbs and sugars for more filling foods. Stevia doesn't give me a headache or leave an aftertaste, so I'm fine with it.

    I used to grow the stevia plant in my herb garden, and wow, all I can say is, thank goodness I can buy the processed stuff. I thought the fresh leaves tasted awful and left an aftertaste I could not shake.

    Wow! That's so cool that you've grown it before. :)

    I definitely don't think ALL processed foods are "toxic". I regret using the word, I forgot the stigma around it would disgruntle MFP lol.

    I should have just said "bad" or "unfavorable" and nobody would have cared.
  • tinascar2015
    tinascar2015 Posts: 413 Member
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    High fructose corn syrup, nitrates, anything called a flavor (vanilla flavor, butter flavor, etc) and I always check for where salt falls in the order of ingredients. I am also very wary of packaging that screams "all natural" across the front. I read those labels very carefully because I figure if it's truly all natural, it can only be found on the outer aisles of the store.
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    If I see low-fat anywhere, I'm out.

    If it contains the very non-specific "milk-ingredients" or "milk-products" I'm out, because I'm lactose intolerant.

    If I see sweetened with stevia, I'm out. The smell of stevia gives me a migraine, and I find it has a very prominent and unappealing after-taste. I prefer unsweetened products anyway.
  • spoonyspork
    spoonyspork Posts: 238 Member
    edited March 2015
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    And honey is bee spit... and artificial raspberry, strawberry, and vanilla can be extract of beaver butt! (okay; that one is only partially true as very little still uses said extract... but now I refer to my favorite raspberry jello as 'beaver butt jelly')

    I also liked Starbucks' strawberry drinks better when it was crushed bugs instead of 'red dye no. whatever'.

    The 'wax' on fruits is often shellac, which is beetle excretions.

    I may be an oddball though. I mean, I'd never like, take a handful of bugs and eat them, though I would a handful of fungus (mushrooms)! And things made of the dying breaths of fungus-like life-forms (wine, beer, bread) are awesome.

    Flavors are made of weird things sometimes, and that is glorious. Some flavors though... just... no.

    (please note I'm not making fun of you... but things are made of weird stuff! I love thinking about how these things came about too. Like... '*sniffsniff* This beaver's butt sack smells like raspberries! Let's put it in our food!' :D )

    *edited because apparently 'a * nus' used correctly is a bad word. LOL*
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    ahamm002 wrote: »
    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated fat

    ^this is the big one to avoid

    I also try and minimize stuff with carrageenan and food dyes. I may also start minimizing foods with the commonly used emulsifiers too.

    Bought something today that contained Xantham Gum. I've seen it used before, but this time I decided to research it. Turns out it's made from evaporated mold goo. Awesome....

    Supposedly the worst that Xanthan Gum can do (so far....) is cause digestive issues in some people, but I'm still kinda grossed out.

    Unfortunately thats old news. New research indicates that emulsifiers may be a lot worse than just that :(

    http://civileats.com/2015/02/25/how-emulsifiers-are-messing-with-our-guts-and-making-us-fat/

    Obviously the data is far from conclusive at this point, but it's definitely concerning.
  • nuttynanners
    nuttynanners Posts: 249 Member
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    High fructose corn syrup, nitrates, anything called a flavor (vanilla flavor, butter flavor, etc) and I always check for where salt falls in the order of ingredients. I am also very wary of packaging that screams "all natural" across the front. I read those labels very carefully because I figure if it's truly all natural, it can only be found on the outer aisles of the store.

    They now have this brand of chicken at Kroger that just screams all natural on the front, I think it's called Heritage Farms.

    One look at the ingredients shows it's anything but all natural.

    http://www.cleanandleanrevolution.com/what-are-they-injecting-into-your-chicken/

    My mom fell for it. Last time I was home she bought some. Bah humbug, it's not natural at all.
  • Kenda2427
    Kenda2427 Posts: 1,592 Member
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    Artificial sweeteners, for two reasons:
    1) they taste disgusting to me, so sickeningly sweet
    2) give me wicked headaches
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    I love when people try to gross me out by saying something I'm eating has a by-product of bugs. I'm Mexican, we have entire dishes and sauces made from insects. They're high in protein.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
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    Generally, anything with alternative sweeteners because I hate the taste of them. Except these Powercrunch bars that I bought because the manufacturer was sneaky and had both sugar AND sucralose in it..but put the sucralose at the end of the list....I tasted something "off" about it...and sure enough, there it was. But I got used to them now and like them so I'll keep 'em for the time being.

    I am not a fan of partially hydrogenated anything, HFCS, MSG clones...but I can't realistically avoid them 100% of the time.

    Now, apart from the alternative sweeteners, it is the nutritional data more than anything that makes me put something back on the shelf. If it doesn't give me enough nutritional bang for my buck, (i.e., amount of protein, fiber, etc) then I'll put it back and look for something better.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    High fructose corn syrup, nitrates, anything called a flavor (vanilla flavor, butter flavor, etc) and I always check for where salt falls in the order of ingredients. I am also very wary of packaging that screams "all natural" across the front. I read those labels very carefully because I figure if it's truly all natural, it can only be found on the outer aisles of the store.

    But But ... bulk rice and dried beans are in aisle 7 ..

    There's plenty of all natural things that are not in the perimeter.

    The only things I avoid are things with a significant percentage of your daily iron requirement. Damn toxic iron.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Anything along the lines of "bacon flavored" or "steak flavored" or "[whatever] meat" is an instant throw back on the shelf for me. I know better than to buy a product that will end up in the trash bin because I don't like the taste of these ingredients except in very limited known to me forms and recipes.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
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    High fructose corn syrup, nitrates, anything called a flavor (vanilla flavor, butter flavor, etc) and I always check for where salt falls in the order of ingredients. I am also very wary of packaging that screams "all natural" across the front. I read those labels very carefully because I figure if it's truly all natural, it can only be found on the outer aisles of the store.

    Except for rice, beans, steel cut oats, honey, maple syrup, herbal tea, ground coffee...