These are found in boxes, bottles, packets, and cans lining the aisles of convenience stores as well as health food stores. They are identified by their primary ingredients: corn and/or wheat. Sugar is a staple ingredient in junk carbohydrates and may be listed as honey, molasses, evaporated cane juice, fructose, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup. Junk carbohydrates are very starchy and have a high glycemic index, which means they swiftly enter the bloodstream as glucose and elicit an exaggerated insulin response in people who are insulin-resistant. Junk Carbohydrates are typically tan and crunchy, but can be found in a dizzying array of shapes, textures, colors, and flavors. They have a very long shelf life and can take months to spoil. Some junk carbohydrates are: pasta, soda, energy drinks, granola, bread, performance drinks, white rice, candy, pastries, and breakfast cereals.
Almost all junk carbohydrates are touted as healthy foods because they can be made to be low in fat, low in sodium, and low in cholesterol. They can be enriched synthetically with vitamins and minerals that don’t naturally occur in them, and can be easily reworked to eliminate trans fats. However, the fact remains that they raise blood sugar and elicit high levels of insulin. They are central to the development of insulin-resistance, hyperinsulinemia (elevated insulin levels in the bloodstream), obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Junk carbohydrates:
- Account for most of the food products found in grocery stores (even health food stores), gas stations, and corner stores.
- Found in many restaurant foods
- Appear to be healthy, but
- Often have one or more red light ingredients [See Examples Below]
- Often have two or more yellow light ingredients [See Examples Below]
- Yoplait yogurt [HFCS]
- Kellogg’s Special K cereal [HFCS]
- Capri Sun juice [HFCS]
- Campell’s soup [MSG]
- Jiffy Peanut butter [hydrogenated oil]
- Wheat Thins [HFCS]
- Nutrigrain bars [HFCS]
- Fiber one cereal
- Sun Chips
- Cheerios
- Pop tarts
- Triscuit Crackers
- Full Circle Organic 100 calorie packs
High Fructose Corn Syrup [HFCS]
Monosodium Glutamate [MSG]
[partially or fully] hydrogenated oil
If you encounter a food that has one or more red light ingredient, you have found a JUNK FOOD, put the food back on the shelf and move on [hint: head to the produce aisle].
Here are some common “healthy foods” that have one or more red light ingredient:
[The word “organic” before any of these words doesn’t change it in any significant way”]
sugar
sucrolose ®, aspertime ®, splenda ®
anything “refined” or “enriched”
wheat flour or whole grain wheat flour
soybean oil
corn oil
peanut oil
sunflower oil
palm oil
vegetable oil
corn sugar, corn syrup
corn starch
sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate
maltodextrin
autolyzed yeast extract
natural flavor
artificial flavor
potassium chloride
modified [food, wheat, corn] starch
disodium, sodium, or potassium phosphate
mono and di-glycerides
phosphoric acid
BHA, BHT, TBHQ
Ice Restructuring Protein (ISP)
Polysorbate 80
emulsifiers
flavorings, flavor
mixed tocopherols
soy lecithin
polysorbate 80
Yellow light ingredients are not quite as immediately harmful as red light ingredients, but they are good indicators of low-quality processed food. If you encounter 2 or more yellow light ingredients in a packaged food, you have found a JUNK FOOD, put it back on the shelf and keep shopping [hint: head to the produce aisle].
Here are some common foods with 2 or more yellow light ingredients:
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