INGREDIENT LIST > NUTRITION FACTS
There is a lot of noise out there as it relates to what is really healthy...we get it, and that confusion is one of the primary reasons we started SANS - so we could provide awesome nutrition in a convenient, packaged format.
Ingredient lists are often long, and sometimes it feels like one needs a PhD to pronounce many of them. Since the 1960s we have been conditioned to count calories, monitor our sugar, carbohydrate and fat intake. While monitoring these things are not in themselves necessarily a bad thing, it is quite interesting that since we, as a society have become obsessed with monitoring such metrics, a few things have happened:
- We are getting fatter (obesity rates have increased by 160% since 1968)
- Diabetes is infiltrating our society (800% increase since the 1960s)
These statistics compel us to ask a key question - are we looking at the right information, as it relates to the food that we are putting into our bodies?
The answer to this question is clearly NO. Furthermore, what we should be putting into our bodies is nearly unanimous by all thought leaders on nutrition today, and it applies to all humans, whether you are vegan, paleo, or a multitude of other diets that are popular in our modern times.
The universal answer is extremely simple - EAT REAL FOOD.
“Eat real, unprocessed, whole foods” - Dr. Mark Hyman @drmarkhyman
“Avoid food products that contain ingredients that a third grader couldn’t pronounce” - Michael Pollan @michael.pollan
“Fruit is in fact the most important food group to consume in order to product you and your loved ones from chronic illness and a lifetime of unnecessary suffering” - Anthony William @ medicalmedium
It is really easy to eat real food, just look at the ingredients.
Let’s say you are in the middle of a busy workday and you are craving a mid-afternoon snack to help you make it to the end of the day. You consider two options that appear to be healthy -
- An apple
- A Cliff Bar (chocolate chip, which is your favorite)
The nutrition facts panel on a bag of apples at the store suggests that each apple contains 19g of sugar and the nutrition fact panel on the Cliff Bar says it contains 23g of sugar. From just looking at the nutrition fact panel, one may come to the very dangerous and wrong conclusion that these products are nutritionally similar.
Look at the ingredients! What is in an apple? Well, an apple! Full of fiber, vitamin c and various antioxidants, this food, which is grown from the earth is a wonderful food for us to enjoy!
What is in the Cliff Bar?
Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Toasted Oats (Organic Oats, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Vitamin E [Antioxidant]), Chocolate Chips (Dried Cane Syrup, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract), Organic Cane Syrup, ClifCrunch (Organic Oat Fiber, Apple Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Organic Milled Flaxseed, Psyllium), Organic Date Paste, Organic Soy Butter (Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soybean Oil, Salt), Organic Sunflower Oil, Molasses Powder, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Cinnamon, Vitamins & Minerals: Dicalcium Phosphate, Ascorbic Acid (Vit. C), Magnesium Oxide, DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate Vit. E), Beta Carotene (Vit. A), Ferric Orthophosphate (Iron), Zinc Citrate, Biotin, Niacinamide (Vit. B3), D-Calcium Pantothenate (Vit. B5), Phytonadione (Vit. K1), Manganese Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Riboflavin (Vit. B2), Folic Acid (Vit. B9), Sodium Selenite, Thiamin (Vit. B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vit. B6), Ergocalciferol (Vit. D2), Cyanocobalamin (Vit. B12), Chromium Chloride, Potassium Iodide.
Say what? This isn’t very hard folks - choose the apple.
At SANS, we promote the simple philosophy that we like to call “eatwithout”. To promote your overall wellness, we invite you to embrace the following principles so you too can eatwithout!
- Read the ingredient list
- If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it
- Embrace fruits & vegetables (real food)
- Reject ADDED sugars & chemicals (fake food)
- Support companies that share your values
