Bio-Chemistry or Grocery Shopping?

I’ve submitted this to “Fight Back Fridays” at Food Renegade. Check it out here.

 

Would you eat something containing this?

a-thujone, a-pinene, camphene, b-pinene, p-cymene, a-terpinene, linalool, borneol, b-caryophyllene, thymol and carvacrol

There is an abundance of popular modern literature that admonishes us to know what we eat. As a nation we are becoming obsessed with label reading, but more often than not you need an advanced bio-chemistry degree to decipher the list of ingredients.

For example according to a Google search – “Camphene” is a kind of monoterpene from isomerizing process that is a white wax-like solid at normal temperature. Molecular formula: C10H16

That clears it all up, right?

Further research finds that it is a minor constituent of many essential oils and is used in the preparation of fragrances and as a food additive for flavoring. Its mid-19th century use as a fuel for lamps was limited by its explosiveness. (How exciting! Exploding food?)

Unfortunately, dragging the laptop up and down the aisles  is not conducive to efficient grocery shopping.

So exactly what is that list of complicated, frightening chemicals? I bet after reading that list you would have put the jar back on the shelf with a shudder. In actuality, it was the components of Thymus vulgaris, also known as common, organic, garden thyme; something both simple and unostentatious. Due to a list of scary words, you denied yourself something not only very tasty, but a food high in Vitamin K and that has a long history of use in natural medicine in connection with chest and respiratory problems including coughs, bronchitis, and chest congestion.

The reverse is also true. Extremely harmful ingredients, known carcinogens and other disease escalators are cloaked in the guise of “natural and artificial flavors” and hence legitimized by association with the word “natural.”

It is certainly frustrating. The average consumer is making a commendable effort to better know what is in their food, only to be bamboozled by scientific nomenclature.

How are we supposed to shop with confidence; without our own ignorance doing us in? My best recommendation is to buy things without labels. I know that sounds strange, but things without nutrition labels tend to be whole foods, in their natural state (such as fruits and vegetables and locally, farm raised meats.) The less processed, the less additives, the healthier foods are for us.

Say NO to labels and YES to good foods!

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