If It’s Enriched, Should I Eat It?
You know the old saying “When life hands you lemons, made lemonade?” Well this week, I have made gallons of the stuff!! LOL I have been handed some pretty big lemons since Friday and it’s been a bittersweet weekend thru today! So the good news – the tree is bare and there are no more lemons due for a while. The bad news – I didn’t send you more information on “enriched” and “fortified” foods as promised and that I have to apologize for. Life’s funny that way – unexpected twists and turns with good and bad endings! It’s been a chaotic path this week however now that I have vented and used some pretty applicable analogies, here’s what you’ve been waiting for.
What does “Enriched” and “Fortified” mean when reading the ingredients of our favorite rice, crackers, pastas, cookies and snacks?? Here’s a simple way to look at it. The most common foods where you’ll see “enriched” on the label will be breads, cereals, pasta, noodles and other wheat or grain based products. In a nutshell, during the manufacturing process the wheat germ is broken down and striped of all of the fiber and nutrition. In order to provide a product that appears to be so called “nutritious” the vitamins are replaced by, you guessed it, “enriching” them into the food. Mother Nature’s goodness and vitamins are removed and replaced with Man Made synthetic vitamins and sold as being “fortified” and nutritious. This process is not reserved only for white bread, which is about as nutritious as cardboard.
There are tons of WHEAT breads, snack products, cookies; etc that will show enriched ingredients. These products are not as harmful as hydrogenated foods but they provide little nutritional value and can wreck your hormonal balances.
Quick example would be when you eat fibrous foods (apples or whole grains) your body releases chemical signals to your brain to indicate that you’re full, a win for fiber and whole grains. If you’re eating a processed, refined food the same chemical signals are not sent, a loss for processed, “enriched” foods. The end result – you eat and eat and eat and NEVER feel full. Processed foods are so harmful to fat loss because they don’t produce the natural hormonal responses in your body telling you that you’re full. Oh and P.S. – Enriched products signal your body to store fat – not a good thing.
So…. eating whole grains and fruits, not “enriched” or “fortified” food will provide long-term energy and signal your body that fuel is available so excess reserves (body fat) can begin to be released.
