Jul
31
2011
BEST CHOICES – BACON, COCONUT CREAM & DRIED FRUIT
Best choice bacons.
BACON
It’s challenging to find bacon without added sugar or preservatives like nitrates.
Most contain nitrates and nitrites, and specifically E249 – 252. Nitrites are precursors of nitrosamines (possibly carcinogenic), which are formed in the stomach from nitrites and proteins.
They also contain mineral salts 450 and 451 (not known to cause problems).
Nitrate and additive free bacons:
- Henderson’s 100% free range dried cured middle bacon.
- Henderson’s handmade original dry cured bacon.
- Freedom farms, naturally cured nitrate free bacon, which is also free range.
If you know of others, please post to blog comments…
Both however do contain some sugar:
Henderson’s has .4 grams per 100 grams bacon – about a pinch, and Freedom Farms has 2.5 grams per 100 grams – about ½ teaspoon.
Best choice dried fruits.
DRIED FRUIT
Dried fruit can have added sugar and preservatives, typically sulphites E220 – 228 or SO4. Sulphites can trigger asthma in susceptible people. There are a number of dried fruits at the supermarket with NO added preservatives. Fruit world stocks Nutra Foods brand which also has many ADDITIVE FREE dried fruits. However – you do need to check all labels for added sugars and preservatives.
Dried fruit is incredibly calorie dense and high in natural sugars – so limit consumption especially if your goal is fat loss. A few members have suggested adding dried fruits to curries and main meal dishes: er on the side of caution that you are not adding tons of hidden sugars to your diet unnecessarily. 1 cup of fresh apricot halves has about 74 calories and 14g sugar, 1 cup of dried apricot halves packs over 300 calories and 70g sugar. To chose fresh or dried is a whole topic in-itself, I recommend reading the below article which sums it up pretty well.
[What's the deal with dried fruit? Too much sugar or healthy choice?]
Best choice coconut cream.
COCONUT CREAM
Coconut cream is a great paleo fat, containing primarily medium chain fatty acids which are readily digested and used for energy.
However if you have looked at a can of coconut cream you might have noticed on the label:
Additives E466 – Carboxymethylcellulose, and E412 – Guar gum and preservatives E223. It may also list thickeners like guar gum.
Guar gum can cause gut issues in some people, who may think that the coconut cream is causing the problem when in fact it is the additive. Some people are also sensitive to natural substances called FODMAPS which can trigger irritable bowel syndrome.
Unfortunately the other issue with coconut cream is that the cans are lined with plastic containing a toxin BPA. This plastic is linked with a growing number of health issues. BPA is not banned in New Zealand and many are unaware of its’ widespread use.
This article by Chris Kresser is excellent “Three Reasons why coconut milk might not be your friend”
Kara brand of coconut cream comes in a tetrapak, which is not lined with BPA, it does however contain guar gum as a thickener.
All other brands are in plastic lined cans, which you should assume may contain BPA.
2 additive free coconut creams:
- Gata and Ayam are found in the international section of the supermarket. (Unfortunately in plastic lined cans).
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