Nutrition

by Breea Johnson, MS RD LDN, Pulling Down the Moon Nutritionist, April 23, 2010

It’s easy to gloss over ingredient labels. Names such as “potassium bromate” or “hydrolyzed wheat protein” make your eyes glaze over. But what is their purpose in food? Most people trust that they are just there as preservatives or to extend shelf life but have little impact on a person’s health.

As a nutritionist, I understand a lot of the ingredients at a different level – why they are in food and what purpose they serve was part of my education. And examining the potential ill effects they can have on human health was another part. As a result, one thing I always recommend to my clients is to reduce intake of preservatives and additives. As a general rule of thumb, I also recommend avoiding ingredients that you don’t understand as much as possible – because they can have a detrimental effect on your health.