Unjunk Your Junkfood - Book Review

We all love to eat junk food - me, maybe more than I should. I always feel guilty after a snacking session, not only because it's junk food, but I know processed foods are bad for you. The folks over at Naturally Savvy know this and have started an Edible (R)evolution and wants you to join! They even have a manifesto.

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a useful field guide on healthy alternatives to conventional snacks and stresses the importance of reading food labels - especially looking at the ingredients list before the Nutrition Facts panel. If a product has harmful ingredients, it is considered a bad choice, no matter how many calories it contains! There is even a handy tear-out list of the worst ingredients found in food products.

I took a look in my snack drawer to see if they contained any of The Scary Seven - ingredients to avoid at all costs!

1. High-Fructose Corn Syrup
2. Trans-fats
3. MSG
4. Artificial flavours
5. Artificial colours
6. Artificial sweeteners
7. Preservatives

Just typing out that list gives me the chills because we all know those ingredients are all associated with unhealthy eating! In my cupboards, I found Corn Flakes cereal, which contains preservatives (BHT), Chocolate Mini Wheats cereal (artificial flavour, BHT preservatives) and Chaokoh Coconut Juice (preservatives). Some snacks such as Kashi Pita Crisps and Larabar fruit and nut energy bar didn't have any of The Scary Seven ingredients, but I already knew they were "healthy" options. It was actually surprising how many food items contain the ingredients you should avoid.

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a very easy read and shows specific well-known brands of snack foods on one page, and better and healthier brand of the same snack on the facing page. This makes it easy to compare between the two options. No one is saying you should stop eating junk food, but just be aware that there are healthier options to your snacks, so look out for the list of ingredients on the food packaging.

You can purchase the book at Barnes & Noble (in stores and online), Amazon and other online retailers. Follow the Edible (R)evolution on Facebook and Twitter. You can have your cake and eat it too!

Disclaimer: The product mentioned above was given free of charge as part of Naturally Savvy Approved Bloggers program. The opinions expressed in this post are those of Seapotato and have not been influenced in any other way.