Many of us consume genetically modified (GMO) foods without even realising it. Which leads to an important question -- how can we protect ourselves from food adulteration and misleading claims? asks Nikita Garg, nutritionist and founder of Entech Wellness.
You may be eating home-cooked food and assuming it is safe simply because it is prepared in your kitchen.
But while home cooking may feel hygienic, it does not automatically make a meal healthy or free from adulteration.
If the ingredients themselves are adulterated, your kitchen could unknowingly be serving it up on a plate.
Many of us consume genetically modified (GMO) foods without even realising it. Which leads to an important question -- how can we protect ourselves from food adulteration and misleading claims?
The first step is education.
Stop scanning food labels only for calories, protein and other macros.
Learn to actually read and understand them.
Look at the ingredients, additives, fillers and fine print.
Know what you are putting into your body and pay attention to what food companies may not be making immediately obvious.
Just because a meal is cooked at home, it does not mean it is healthy or safe. The quality of the meal ultimately depends on the quality and purity of the ingredients that go into it.
The goal is not to eliminate entire food groups but to replace low-nutrient, highly processed foods with wholesome, nutrient-rich and, where preferred, non-GMO alternatives that provide the body with the nutrients it needs.
Here are 10 common kitchen items you should consider replacing right away:
1. Analogue salt
This salt is not naturally mined or extracted from the sea.
It is usually refined, processed, bleached table salt that's made to look pure white; it also dissolves fast.
Analogue salt and refined salts are different; while the former are fake salts that are adulterated with white micro plastics, the latter lack important minerals.
Analogue salt is stripped of more than 80 plus minerals such as magnesium, potassium and calcium. It is almost 99 per cent sodium chloride. No wonder salt was made to look like an enemy when it wasn't.
Without balanced minerals in salt, it is obvious you will consume an excess of sodium which might cause blood pressures hikes. It also contains anti-caking agents such as sodium ferrocyanide so that it doesn't clump.
You can instead use sendha namak or pink salt or black salt, sea salt and pink Himalayan salt.
Salt that gives balanced minerals per teaspoon is the right salt.
Apart from processing of salt, adulteration of salt is the next big danger.
It is extremely scary because sometimes salt is adulterated with non-edible items such as chalk powder, sand, wood dust/sawdust, plastic particles and industrial non-food grade salt to increase its weight. While this increases the profit margin for the makers, it can also lead to kidney stones, stomach ulcers and heavy metal toxicity.
Using healthy salt instead can reduce your daily toxin exposure.
2. Unbranded, store-bought spices
If analogue paneer made us question dairy, have you checked what goes into your daily tadka?
Spices are the soul of Indian cuisine and also one of the most used items in Indian kitchens.
Spices add colour, aroma and flavour to our food. Unfortunately, they are also the easiest to tamper with because they are sold by weight and in powdered form.
Most spices readily available in the market are diluted, coloured and mixed with non-edible substances.
Haldi/turmeric is coloured with lead chromate or metanil yellow to make it look bright yellow.
Black pepper is adulterated with papaya seeds and light berries.
Hing/asafoetida is mixed with chalk, soapstone and coloured resin.
Coriander powder is blended with dung powder and starch.
Chilli powder may be mixed with brick powder, red dye and sawdust.
Replace with whole spices and grind them at home or buy from trusted brands.
3. Analogue ghee/Hydrogenated vegetable oil
Hydrogenation of vegetable oil increases the saturation of oils and makes them look and feel like ghee. However, the process of hydrogenation also makes them obvious source of trans fats. They turn rancid, carcinogenic and into highly inflammatory oils.
Replace vegetable oil and analogue ghee with cold-pressed oils.
Discard your vanaspati and other hydrogenated vegetable oils from the shelf. Get rid of all oils containing omega-6 more than 30 per cent.
4. Analogue avocado oil mayo
Most of the US-made avocado mayo has failed the health test because it is blended with cheap seed oils such soyabean, canola and sunflower.
Avocado pulp is mixed with hexane, bleached with activated clay (clay that refines motor oil) and blended with mayo.
Instead of analogue mayo, you can make mayonnaise at home using an oil rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) or lower in saturated fatty acids (SFA) along with egg, an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar and salt.
Alternately, you can replace it with hung curd-based dip with garlic, herbs and mustard.
5. Analogue bread
A lot of spongy breads you get in the market are engineered, not baked.
Breads must fall apart when soaked in water.
If they don't, then you might be eating dough conditioners like DATEM, calcium iodate, azodicarbonamide, ammonium sulphate, high amounts of gluten mixed with caramel colour to provide brown colour and calcium propionate for preservatives.
You can replace it with homemade bread made from flour, yeast, water and salt or switch to homemade chapatis and chillas.
6. Packaged fruit juices
Most packaged juices have no real fruit. If you read the ingredients, you will see it contains added sugar and no fibre.
It's flavoured sugar water containing acidity regulators, food colours, stabilisers, artificial flavours and sodium benzoate.
Eat whole fruits and use better hydration options like coconut water or salted lime water.
7. Artificially ripened fruits and vegetables
Ethylene gas is used to artificially ripen fruits and vegetables.
Your fruits/vegetables are picked raw and then gassed with ethylene so that they artificially ripen; they are then sold as organic and fresh.
To keep it healthy, source it from vendors that don't use such processes. Grow your herbs at home.
Additional safety precautions you must follow
Apart from food, there are three other immediate replacements that must be done -- your scrubber, your pan and your chopping board.
Don't ignore what touches your food.
Change your scrubber every 15 days and soak it in hot water daily to avoid infections and hidden toxins.
Switch to stainless steel, cast iron or natural clay cookware instead of aluminium or non-stick pans, which can be extremely toxic (especially the coatings on non-stick pans).
Avoid plastic chopping boards as the cuts can develop bacterial growth.
Therefore, food and what touches your food must be replaced immediately if they are adulterated and toxic.
Also, be aware of instant ready-made food like noodles that are loaded with MSG; replace them with home-made and naturally grown ingredients.
Making these replacements or swaps today will help you get healthier every day.
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