Covers our over consumption of meat, the fact that we eat enough animals to line them up end to end to the moon and back! FIVE TIMES!

Its a fantastic talk and recommended viewing for everybody that eats.

This site will continue to host videos, articles and information related to nutrition, fitness and wellness. In fact there is some cool new things coming to this very place quite soon.

So check out the new site, its free to become a member. It is designed as an interactive hub, so take part, ask questions, post videos or blogs of your own,help inspire.

For most of us label claims have fallen into the background. Have no fear though, studies from marketing companies advise food manufacturers on the best placement of the claims for maximum effect. So the question then becomes, what do they mean? Let’s look at the term ‘Natural’, or ‘Natural Ingredients’ or ‘Natural Flavours’. They all mean the same thing, nothing!

Here is a short list of SOME of the things Health Canada considers a natural process to your food.

• Fumigation
• Treatment with toxic gases (with no chemical change)
• Smoking (with chemical addition)
• Tenderizing (with chemical addition)

“The status of enzymatic flavours, processed flavours, reaction flavours or nature-identical flavours has not been established under these guidelines.”

All from Health Canada website

As you can see (especially if you go to their website) it’s all a word game, and in some cases no guidelines have been established. Knowing what you can trust and what you can not becomes tricky.

This was just a small example of what is permitted. Join me on Sept. 29th for a workshop on deciphering label claims, we will cover everything from how to read the label, how ingredient lists are structured, what label claims really mean and how they hide harmful and/or poor ingredients from excess salt and sugar to hidden MSG.

Tickets can be purchased directly through me, here online, at the door (rsvp exhalemike@gmail.com or Facebook )

Pre-registration will get you a free subscription to our new online video series starting next week titled 1 min to Wellness 1 minute tips ranging from food, wellness, fitness, stretching and more to help you make incremental positive changes to create a new lifestyle. Pre-registrants will also receive a video copy of the workshop.

Sept 29th @ Expressionz Cafe 9938 – 70th Avenue

How can 98% fat free be claimed when it’s actually over 30% fat

Cyanide is used in “Natural Flavours”

How many different ways are ingredients such as sugar or MSG hidden?

What do health check and organic logos really mean?

These questions and more will not only be answered, but you will learn how to decipher claims and make better choices for your family.
September 29th 630 pm at Expressionz Cafe 9938 – 70th Avenue edmonton
$20 here http://www.eventbrite.com/event/831941359

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=124167147632006

For the most part when sending a lunch to school we look for convenience, so for the sake of this article we will just be covering a few of the foods that we would take somewhere. So lets cover a few of the typical foods.

Chocolate milk: As the advertisement says, as much sugar as a glass of juice. A glass of juice has a lot of sugar, nearly as much as a pop. Just because juice is a natural drink doesn’t mean its not high in sugar. Juice is not the same as WHOLE fruit. Whether it’s real juice, flavoured “drink” or chocolate milk it’s loaded with sugar and should be limited.

Lunchables: These are the packs that usually have some crackers with “meat” or a fajita etc…I’m sure I could write a book on why these are absolutely horrible but the short version is, sodium, fat, synthetic ingredients, cancer causing additives. I know some have the health check logo, this scam will be covered in the workshop and is covered in a previous article HERE

Fruit cups: Seems like a decent snack, it’s fruit. The problem here though is twofold. One is the amount of toxic metals, yes toxic metals that are present (article here). The other issue is that they are usually packed in sugar, typically labeled as juices or syrup. Fruit is one of the most convenient go anywhere foods out there. Just take a whole peach, orange, apple etc…if you want a fruit cup type blend it takes 5 min. to chop up some fruit, toss it in a few cups/baggies and you have fruit cups for the whole week.

Sandwich: Since peanut butter is already off the table lets examine lunch meat. The nitrites and nitrates in lunch meat are now thought to be more carcinogenic than cigarettes. They are sky high in sodium; sometimes a days worth. They also are high in fat, even the ones that claim 98% fat free. Another topic to be covered in the workshop is comparing apples to apples. When they say 98% fat free they are comparing WEIGHT, not CALORIES. 2g of fat is equal to 18 calories. The 100g serving of lunch meat has a ton of filler ingredients that have no caloric value, the typical calorie count is around 60. That would mean it is nearly 1/3 fat….do not be fooled by “natural selections”…cancerous nitrites and nitrates are in the liquid smoke product. Just because it says no added nitrites and nitrates does not mean they aren’t there. These additives are easily and legally hidden.

Obviously I can’t cover every possible lunch scenario (I left out chips and other junk food hoping it’s an obvious no no), I also left out the disaster that is school cafeteria lunches. That is  a whole separate article. The most important thing to understand is that label and box top claims are not what they are cracked up to be. Which is a big reason for the workshop, it will be Sept. 29th at 7pm at Expressionz Cafe in Edmonton. Full details will be posted later in the week.

Do not sacrifice convenience for health. If you have any questions about any of this or related subjects please send an email. I’ll do my best to answer any and all questions.

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2008/01/23/hyping_health/