Labels are for cans.  And boxes.  And plastic containers.  And bags.

Health is as much as mindset as a physicality and most people don’t take that into consideration.  Keeping a healthy mind and a healthy diet will create a healthy lifestyle.  And what you eat affects more than just your diet.  Feeling good about what you put into your body is a huge component of a healthy attitude.

Inspired by FiveGirlsChiropractic’s post about Whole Foods’ Four Pillars of Healthy Eating, we present to you:

EATING WITHOUT LABELS

Eating foods without labels is the key to good health.  Chances are, if you’re eating food out of a box or a can, there is a label.  And with a label comes a greater chance that the food contains a fair amount of chemicals, additives and, of course, extra calories.

Think of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, nuts, beans and water.  Every one of them you can pick up without a label.  There are no labels because what you see is what you get.

We understand that eating without labels in this consumer-driven society is a daunting task, so if you find yourself needing to eat foods with labels, here are two quick tips to keep your choices on the healthy side:

Make sure that you can pronounce and understand every ingredient in the product.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or have no idea what it is, don’t buy the product.  This is just as dangerous as eating or drinking something while blindfolded.  Why take the risk of putting something into your body if you don’t know what it is?

Some labels only contain whole foods.  For example, Trader Joe’s has hummus ingredients listed as: garbanzo beans, tahini (ground sesame seeds), water, vegetable oil, garlic, concentrated lemon juice, salt, pine nuts, olive oil and spices.  All foods that you can recognize and so, when choosing, this hummus would be a good option compared to others.

Beware of hidden sugars.  Sugar is the Jason Bourne of additives.  In addition to being able to jump off buildings and land safely, it also has many faces and many names.  Today’s nutritional labels don’t distinguish between sugars from fruit, vegetables, etc. and manufactured, processed and added sugars.  One of the major tells that this sugar isn’t the kind you want to be eating is to check the ingredients list for the suffix “-ose” as in sucrose, dextrose and fructose.  For more of sugar’s many aliases, check out FitSugar’s guide.

So give it a try.  Even for a week.  See how you feel.