Nutrition Facts... or Fiction?

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Food labels and restaurant nutrition info have been under scrutiny lately because some of them are providing consumers with fictitious nutrition facts.

As a health-conscious consumer, it frustrates me to see such dishonesty stemming from slack regulations and missing moral compasses. But on the other hand, it just goes to show that we may need to rely less on others to do the cooking for us. Cooking from scratch cuts down on potential nutrition "fibs" and reduces the usage of mysterious ingredients since you're in charge of what goes into the pot.

Also, shopping the perimeter of a grocery store can help us steer away from caloric traps, salt mines, and chemistry labs that are situated in the middle aisles with attractive packaging. The center aisles are most likely where we can find chips, candies, sodas, ice-cream, and all sorts of frozen food-like substances. Fresh food- fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, breads, and other grains- usually line the perimeter of grocery stores.

While frozen entrees are convenient, they were still prepared in a factory by mechanical arms with mysterious ingredients to keep the texture and flavor intact after freezing, transporting, and reheating. To put it simply, I'm going to borrow a line from my food hero, Michael Pollan. "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't."