FitSugar

Label Able: Mono- and Diglycerides

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Reading ingredient labels has become a form of entertainment for me, weird I know, but I see a lot of ingredients I have never heard of, let alone can pronounce. I came across an ingredient so bizarre that it requires a hyphen: mono- and diglycerides. This food combination is considered one ingredient and can be found in beverages, ice cream, gum, whipped toppings, margarine, bread, and other baked goods. Just like partially hydrogenated oils, they're everywhere, and that's what makes me suspect.

To find out if they are healthy or harmful

Mono- and diglycerides are a kind of incomplete fat, but they really have no caloric impact since they're added to foods in such tiny amounts. These not-quite-whole fats are common food additives used to blend ingredients together that don't naturally blend well, such as oil and water. Think of processed peanut butter like Jif. It contains mono- and diglycerides to give it a creamy consistency, and to prevent the oil from separating and sitting on the top. My natural peanut butter separates and I really don't mind. Just like hydrogenated oils, mono- and diglycerides increase the shelf life of foods, but they are on the GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) list according to the FDA.

These fatty food additives may come from an animal source (derived from a pig or cow), a vegetable source (usually canola or soybean oil), or may be synthetically produced. Vegetarians and vegans should steer clear of them since manufacturers aren't required to list the source of their mono- and diglycerides. I'm not vegetarian, but I am trying to avoid processed foods so I'll be avoiding these incomplete fats because I think complete fats are just less engineered.

Meet Alpha Tocopherol, aka Vitamin E

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:30:00 PDT

If you eat processed foods, you eat food additives. There really is no way around that fact. Some additives are benign and might even be considered beneficial, while others you might just want to avoid. I recently came across the ingredients alpha tocopherol and wanted to know which side of the line it fell on. Here's what I learned.

Alpha tocopherol is a form of vitamin E that is added to oils to increase their vitamin E content and to prevent the oil from going rancid. It is found naturally in wheat germ oil, leafy greens, and egg yolks. You will find it most commonly added to vegetable oils like sunflower, corn and soybean or in nut butters.

So, although the name sounds intimidating, alpha tocopherol is A-OK to eat.

Source

Label Able: Malic Acid?

FitSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Another day of food shopping, another weird ingredient. What in the world is malic acid? I found it on the label of Dannon Fruit on the Bottom yogurt.

It doesn't sound healthy to me, but I may just be thinking this because it also contains high-fructose corn syrup – an ingredient I don't like to find in my yogurt. To find out, just

I found it interesting that this food additive is centuries old. Malic acid was first isolated from apple juice in 1785 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. He decided to name it "acide malique," which comes from the Latin word for apple, mālum. Malic acid is actually a natural compound that's found in tart or sour foods. Besides apples, it's also found in cherries, tomatoes, and grapes, and it can be found in wine. It's used as a food additive to give foods and candies a tart flavor. Sometimes it's added along with citric acid to foods such as Jolly Ranchers, SweetTarts, and salt and vinegar potato chips. It may also be added to dairy products, processed fruit, condensed milk, soups, beer, malt beverages, and processed meat. Be warned - if you eat too much, it could irritate your mouth.

Should You Avoid Modified Corn Starch?

FitSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:30:00 PDT

When I was checking out all the yogurts at the grocery store to do the yogurt breakdown, in the list of ingredients on many of the containers, I saw modified corn starch. Although it sounds super unappetizing and something I wouldn't want to eat anyway, I'm wondering, is it something that's unhealthy?

To find out

Modified corn starch (also called modified food starch) is an additive that's made by treating starch, which modifies one or more of its physical properties. This change may affect the texture, how fast it dissolves, or how easily it can be digested. The starch can come from corn (as stated) but can also be made from wheat, potato, rice, or tapioca. It's added to foods to act as a thickener, to acquire a certain texture, or to keep foods moist.

Modified food starch is typically added to processed foods such as sauces, pie fillings, and gravies. They're not healthy in the respect that they don't add any nutritional value to food, but they aren't harmful. People who have gluten allergies should stay away from this ingredient though, unless a food containing it is labeled "gluten free."

What Exactly Is Maltodextrin?

FitSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:00:00 PDT

You know I love my Cascadian Farm Oats & Honey Granola. I trust this company, and know the food is organic, but what's with the maltodextrin in the list of ingredients? It doesn't sound very natural, so what is it?

If you're curious to know then

Maltodextrin is an easily digestible carbohydrate made from rice, corn, or potato starch. It's a white powder used in a whole array of products from canned fruits to granola, as a thickener or a filler since it's fairly inexpensive. Also used in pharmaceuticals as a binding agent, it is also found in sugar substitutes like Splenda.

This food additive is made by cooking down the starch, and then acid and/or enzymes break the starch down even further, kind of like what the body does to digest carbohydrates. It's usually used in small amounts, so it doesn't have a significant impact in terms of amount of protein, fat, carbohydrate, or fiber. Every gram of maltodextrin contains only 4 calories, which is not really a significant caloric load. Although maltodextrin is processed and is not the healthiest thing on the planet, at least now we know that it's made from real food and not some nasty chemicals.

Fit's Tip: Celiacs beware! In the US, the FDA requires that maltodextrin be derived from corn or potato starch (so it's gluten free), but elsewhere it can be derived from barley or wheat. So it's always good to contact food companies directly just to make sure.

Label Able: Carmine

FitSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:30:00 PDT

As I was researching ingredients for the yogurt breakdown, the word carmine was on a few containers. Any idea what this is? You may not want to know.

It's actually a bright-red pigment that's obtained from female scaly insects such as the cochineal. It's used in food, artificial flowers, paints, makeup, and ink. Nice. Just what I wanted to be eating. I'm sorry, but last I checked, the strawberries in my yogurt were red, too. So why do they need to add insect pigment to make it even pinker? I guess they figure it will be more appealing to consumers. I'm sure they'd pass it up though, if they knew what was really in their yogurt. No thanks. I'll stick to foods that are naturally colored.

Fit's Tip: If you're creeped out about consuming pigment made from an insect then you should know that carmine is also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red 4, C.I. 75470 or E120.

Should You Avoid Carrageenan?

FitSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:30:00 PST

If you're a label reader, and let me tell you I sure am, you might have noticed carrageenan listed as one of the ingredients. When I first saw it listed on a Ben and Jerry's pint (yes, ice cream is OK when eaten in moderation), it brought up a couple of questions for me – What exactly is carrageenan and is it something I should avoid?

Carrageenan is actually extracted from red seaweed, and the name comes from a type of seaweed found growing on the coast of Ireland. It's used as a food additive and sometimes is referred to as kelp extract. It helps to stabilize, thicken, or emulsify dairy products, reprocessed meats (like sausages or beef jerky), dog food, toothpaste, pudding, salad dressings, and even shoe polish.

Carrageenan is a safe ingredient and should not be confused with poligeenan. This is a chemically degraded derivative of carrageenan, which is used for industrial (non-food) purposes. It was improperly named "degraded carrageenan" for a while which gave the true carrageenan a bad name. Research indicates that poligeenan creates unfavorable health effects, but food-grade carrageenan has no known toxicity or carcinogenicity, and is recognized as safe by the FDA.

So go ahead and enjoy foods made with carrageenan, especially Ben & Jerry's (in moderation of course).

Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer on Modern Dating and the '90s

Annie Scudder — Wed, 23 May 2012 02:00:50 PDT

Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer are gearing up for the June 5 season-two premiere of Franklin & Bash on TNT. The guys hold a special place in our '90s girl hearts, so when we got a chance to chat with them, we had to get their straightforward dating advice. And, of course, we brought up the '90s. How could we resist while talking to Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris and Clueless's Travis Birkenstock? Read more to find out what we learned.

5 Creative Ways to Utilize Cream Cheese

Lizzie Fuhr — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:16:06 PDT

While there's nothing tastier than a big schmear of cream cheese on a freshly toasted bagel, this tasty spread can multitask in some amazing ways. Whether you're going for something savory or sweet, cream cheese can add a layer of delicious decadence that won't go unnoticed by the people who love to chow down on your food. Ready to get inspired? Here are five creative ways to make the most of the cute cream cheese tub in your fridge.

Add it to a dip. The addition of some cream cheese to your favorite dip can give it a whole new depth of flavor. If you haven't added cream cheese to a dip recipe before, we're partial to these tasty mushroom goat cheese queso and caramelized vidalia onion dips, both starring cream cheese.
Create a creamy marinara. Throwing together a last-minute weeknight supper? Take your traditional marinara sauce to the next level by adding a heaping helping of tasty cream cheese to the pan when you're heating up your red sauce. This is an easy way to make your basic sauce a little more exciting to everyone at the table.

Keep reading for three more tasty ways to enjoy cream cheese.

8 Things You Think Are Good for Your Money . . . That Aren't

LearnVest — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:03:23 PDT

You may be wasting money when you think you're saving. LearnVest shares eight of the biggest money misconceptions.

Frugalista. Recessionista. In the past few years, people have coined a lot of silly words describing women and their approach to money, but the thought behind each of them is the same: You care about your hard-earned dollars and want to make them stretch.

That's true of most of us: We scrimp, we pinch, we try to feed our proverbial piggy bank as much as possible. Yet sometimes, in our excitement to be financial overachievers, we overreach.

It turns out there are a number of things that sound like they'd be doing good things for your money, and make you feel like you're saving more . . . when, actually, they're having the opposite effect.

Paying Every Debt Equally

When you have multiple debts to pay off (a credit card here, a student loan there) you might feel like a rock star simply for keeping up with them all and dividing your attention in a lot of different directions. Which, in a sense, you are! After all, you should always pay at least the minimums on all your loans.

But, if you have extra money to pay down your debts, you’re doing yourself a disservice by dividing it equally. The debts with the highest interest rates grow the fastest, so you should focus your muscle on the most toxic debts first.

Read on for more.