4 Most Harmful Ingredients

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4 Most Harmful Ingredients in Packaged Foods

Ninety percent of Americans' household food budget is spent on processed foods,

the majority of which are filled with additives and stripped of nutrients.

Discover which common ingredients in the foods you eat pose the greatest risk

to your health.Grab the broccoli with cheese sauce from the freezer, the box of

instant rice pilaf from the pantry, or the hot dogs from your fridge and squint

at the ingredient list's fine print. You'll likely find food additives in every

one.Is this healthy?

Compared to the foods our bodies were built to eat, definitely not.Processed,

packaged foods have almost completely taken over the diet of Americans. In

fact, nearly 90 percent of our household food budget is spent on processed

foods, according to industry estimates.Unfortunately, most processed foods are

laden with sweeteners, salts, artificial flavors, factory-created fats,

colorings, chemicals that alter texture, and preservatives. But the trouble is

not just what's been added, but what's been taken away. Processed foods are

often stripped of nutrients designed by nature to protect your heart, such as

soluble fiber, antioxidants, and "good" fats. Combine that with additives, and

you have a recipe for disaster.Here are the big four ingredients in processed

foods you should look out for:TRANS FATSTrans fats are in moist bakery muffins

and crispy crackers, microwave popcorn and fast-food French fries, even the

stick margarine you may rely on as a "heart-healthy" alternative to

saturated-fat-laden butter.Once hailed as a cheap, heart-friendly replacement

for butter, lard, and coconut oil, trans fats have, in recent times, been

denounced by one Harvard nutrition expert as "the biggest food-processing

disaster in U.S. history." Why? Research now reveals trans fats are twice as

dangerous for your heart as saturated fat, and cause an estimated 30,000 to

100,000 premature heart disease deaths each year.Trans fats are worse for your

heart than saturated fats because they boost your levels of "bad" LDL

cholesterol and decrease "good" HDL cholesterol. That's double trouble for your

arteries. And unlike saturated fats, trans fats also raise your levels of

artery-clogging lipoprotein and triglycerides.Trans fats will be listed on the

"Nutrition Facts" panel on food beginning in 2006. Until then, check the

ingredient list for any of these words: "partially hydrogenated,"

"fractionated," or "hydrogenated" (fully hydrogenated fats are not a heart

threat, but some trans fats are mislabeled as "hydrogenated"). The higher up

the phrase "partially hydrogenated oil" is on the list of ingredients, the more

trans fat the product contains.Replacing trans fats with good fats could cut

your heart attack risk by a whopping 53 percent.REFINED GRAINSChoosing refined

grains such as white bread, rolls, sugary low-fiber cereal, white rice, or

white pasta over whole grains can boost your heart attack risk by up to 30

percent. You've got to be a savvy shopper. Don't be fooled by deceptive label

claims such as "made with wheat flour" or "seven grain." Or by white-flour

breads topped with a sprinkling of oats, or colored brown with molasses. Often,

they're just the same old refined stuff that raises risk for high cholesterol,

high blood pressure, heart attacks, insulin resistance, diabetes, and belly

fat.At least seven major studies show that women and men who eat more whole

grains (including dark bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals, popcorn, cooked

oatmeal, brown rice, bran, and other grains like bulgur or kasha) have 20 to 30

percent less heart disease. In contrast, those who opt for refined grains have

more heart attacks, insulin resistance, and high blood pressure.Read the

ingredient list on packaged grain products. If the product is one of those that

are best for you, the first ingredients should be whole wheat or another whole

grain, such as oats. The fiber content should be at least 3 grams per

serving.SALTThree-quarters of the sodium in our diets isn't from the

saltshaker. It's hidden in processed foods, such as canned vegetables and

soups, condiments like soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, fast-food burgers

(and fries, of course), and cured or preserved meats like bacon, ham, and deli

turkey.Some sodium occurs naturally in unprocessed edibles, including milk,

beets, celery, even some drinking water. And that's a good thing: Sodium is

necessary for life. It helps regulate blood pressure, maintains the body's

fluid balance, transmits nerve impulses, makes muscles -- including your heart

-- contract, and keeps your senses of taste, smell, and touch working properly.

You need a little every day to replace what's lost to sweat, tears, and other

excretions.But what happens when you eat more salt than your body needs? Your

body retains fluid simply to dilute the extra sodium in your bloodstream. This

raises blood volume, forcing your heart to work harder; at the same time, it

makes veins and arteries constrict. The combination raises blood pressure.Your

limit should be 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, about the amount in

three-fourths of a teaspoon of salt. (Table salt, by the way, is 40 percent

sodium, 60 percent chloride.) Older people should eat even less, to counteract

the natural rise in blood pressure that comes with age. People over 50 should

strive for 1,300 mg; those over 70 should aim for 1,200 mg.Only the "Nutrition

Facts" panel on a food package will give you the real sodium count. Don't

believe claims on the package front such as "sodium-free" (foods can still have

5 mg per serving); "reduced sodium" (it only means 25 percent less than usual);

or "light in sodium" (half the amount you'd normally find).HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN

SYRUPCompared to traditional sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup costs less to

make, is sweeter to the taste, and mixes more easily with other ingredients.

Today, we consume nearly 63 pounds of it per person per year in drinks and

sweets, as well as in other products. High-fructose corn syrup is in many

frozen foods. It gives bread an inviting, brown color and soft texture, so it's

also in whole-wheat bread, hamburger buns, and English muffins. It is in beer,

bacon, spaghetti sauce, soft drinks, and even ketchup.Research is beginning to

suggest that this liquid sweetener may upset the human metabolism, raising the

risk for heart disease and diabetes. Researchers say that high-fructose corn

syrup's chemical structure encourages overeating. It also seems to force the

liver to pump more heart-threatening triglycerides into the bloodstream. In

addition, fructose may zap your body's reserves of chromium, a mineral

important for healthy levels of cholesterol, insulin, and blood sugar.To spot

fructose on a food label, look for the words "corn sweetener,corn syrup," or

"corn syrup solids" as well as "high-fructose corn syrup."