Product Labels
Many people, when they first discover the world of health and wellness, become concerned or even obsessed with checking the contents of the foods they eat. Reading labels. And rightly so, as it is essential to know what you are putting into your body. But does the government mandated label really tell you the important values?
I believe that labels on food products do not adequately describe their content, because the really important aspects of food quality don’t even make it on the label.
It is hard to tell if a product is healthy just by looking at the label. Let’s say that one ingredient we find on a health food label is alfalfa. There are a number of questions we should be asking ourselves about this ingredient. Was it grown organically? Was it grown in a field rich with the minerals and nutrients? Was it harvested “at the peak of perfection?” Was the whole plant used, or only the selected beneficial parts? How was it preserved? Was it milled carefully to protect all enzymatic activity? The list of additional points about each of the ingredient could go on for a long time. The simple word “alfalfa” suddenly tells you next to nothing.
Some companies have even gone so far as to hide the ingredients they are using. Many people are now aware that MSG, a flavor-enhancing agent most commonly used in Chinese food, is not very healthy. However, I have become aware of companies advertising their products to be MSG-free, but simply mixing the MSG in with a spice or other ingredient. The same idea applies to foods with “zero trans-fats” that often contain twice as many calories because of it.
The biggest issue that is missing from the label is “vitality”. If you compare a bag of almonds that are raw and full of life force against a bag of roasted almonds, the labels will be identical. And yet, one will nourish you, and the other will be a health reducing bar-food (maybe barf-food).
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