Eating For Health

Walk through any grocery store and you’ll see packages shouting “All Natural!” or “Made with Natural Ingredients!” . Sounds healthy, right? 🌱 Many shoppers assume “natural” means wholesome, minimally processed, or free from chemicals. But ask a few friends what they think “natural” means, and you’ll get wildly different answers. So… what does “natural” actually mean on a food label? Short answer: almost nothing. And yes — consumers are being misled. 🏛️ What the FDA Says (and Doesn’t Say) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still has no formal, legally binding definition for “natural” on food labels. This has been true for decades. FDA’s informal policy says a food labeled “natural” must: ❌ Contain no artificial or synthetic ingredients ❌ Contain no added color , even if the color comes from natural sources like turmeric That’s it. No mention of: GMO ingredients Synthetic pesticides Ultra‑processing High fructose c...

Who knew that merely eating eggs might lower your risk of Alzheimer’s.   Recent studies suggest that eating eggs may be linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.   However, so far, the evidence shows association, not proof of cause-and-effect.   🥚 What does the Research Show?   Weekly egg consumption : Older adults who ate at least one egg per week had about a 47% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia compared to those who ate eggs less than once a month. Brain autopsy findings : People who consumed eggs regularly showed less buildup of amyloid plaques and tau tangles , the toxic proteins strongly associated with Alzheimer’s. Nutrient drivers : About 39–40% of the protective effect was explained by higher dietary choline intake , a nutrient abundant in eggs . Choline supports neurotransmitter production (acetylcholine), cell membrane integrity, and memory-related gene expression. Other nu...

Food dyes are in the news a lot lately.   Robert F. Kennedy wants to work with the food industry to get artificial food dyes out of our food including out of the National School Lunch Program.   My husband showed me an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, Removing Artificial Food Dyes Will Be Difficult .   Why?   Because artificial food dyes are in so many of our foods.             1 in 10 foods contain artificial food dyes           40% of food items containing artificial food dyes contain 3 or MORE food dyes The article notes artificial food dyes are in popular foods such as Pop-Tarts and Doritos.   And in foods that even I was unaware of.   I told my daughter that some pickles have artificial dyes.   She didn’t believe me, opened her fridge and looked at her jar of pickles.   Not one but two artificial yellow dyes in the pickles.   I pulled out our pickle relish and it...