Our No No Ingredients List

Better Health Market has a No-No List of ingredients never to be sold in our products. They include 78 unacceptable ingredients! Our philosophy here is to provide better, which means we are all about quality. If there is a clear danger or even a question as to whether an ingredient can be harmful to you, our customer, then we eliminate it from our offerings.

Let’s look at three of the ingredients we ban from our market.

1) Artificial dyes. The most commonly used dyes are Blue 1, Blue 2, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. These can be found in candy bars, breakfast cereals, baked goods, candy, drinks, canned fruit, yogurt, some food supplements, bread and frozen waffles. Some cereals, ice cream and toaster pastries contain all six of these dyes.

Why do we ban them?

Artificial dyes have neurotoxic chemicals and have been linked to some health risks, including allergic reactions and food hypersensitivity, worsening of asthmatic symptoms, abdominal pains, diarrhea and vomiting. They have also been linked to mental health issues and behavioral issues.

The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency in 2007 did a study of about 300 children that showed that the consumption of food containing dyes could increase hyperactive behavior in children.

Other studies have linked yellow food dye with sleep disturbance and red food dye #40, in combination with the preservative sodium benzoate (something else we ban), with making non-ADD/ADHD children hyperactive.

And children with autism, who, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, are naturally sensitive to the taste, smell, color and texture of foods, may become overstimulated after ingesting them.

Alternative: Natural food coloring.

We carry natural food colorings by Watkins, Color Garden and Color Kitchen. Those food dyes are from pigments from vegetable juice, beets, turmeric, spirulina extract and other natural ingredients to color the cookies or cakes you make in honor of birthdays or holidays.

2) Bleached flour. Bleached flour is used for baking. After flour is milled, it has an off-white color. Flour manufacturers tap into a variety of about 20 chemicals to achieve that snowy-white look that many of us expect. However, nutrients are lost in the process and need to be added back in.

Why do we ban it?

Because of the chemicals used in the bleaching process, which can include benzoyl peroxide, chlorine dioxide and azodicarbonamide, a chemical which has been banned in some countries. These remain in the bleached flour and can have adverse effects on the body.

Alternative: Unbleached flour. There is unbleached flour, which actually whitens once exposed to oxygen, although perhaps not as consistently as when bleached. It has better baking qualities than its bleached variety, since the gluten proteins are formed in a stronger way.

Of course, at Better Health, we only offer unbleached flour for sale and only use unbleached flour in the bakery section of our market, which offers muffins, fruit pies, homemade Keto-friendly brownies, scones and seasonal items.

3) High-fructose corn syrup. Also known as glucose-fructose, isoglucose and glucose-fructose syrup. Compared with sugar, it is cheaper and sweeter and more quickly absorbed into the blood stream, and can be found in processed foods, cereals, baked goods and soft drinks.

Why do we ban it?

Eating too much high-fructose corn syrup can lead to insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Alternative: Natural and low-carb sweeteners.

We are not in short supply on sweeteners, both the natural and the low-carb variety! Our selection of natural sugars includes cane sugar, honey, coconut sugar, coconut palm sugar, maple syrup and brown sugar. And, if you’re on a Keto diet, we also have a range of low-carb sweeteners, including monk fruit extract, erythritol and Stevia, in both liquid and powder form.

If you would like to see all 78 ingredients on our No-No List, go to our website https://betterhealthmarket.com/nono-list/ to see the full listing, arranged in alphabetical order to make things easier. See? We believe in doing things better!