Day 6: INGREDIENTS:

CITRIC ACID
SILICON DIOXIDE
SORBIC ACID
SODIUM BICARBONATE
XANTHAN GUM


For the past 7 days, Brett and I have been spent an embarrassing amount of time hunched over the backs of boxes, cans, and cartons laboriously sifting through the words that follow "INGREDIENTS:" trying desperately to make sense of it all. When we began this adventure, we agreed that if we didn't recognize every last word in that daunting paragraph we were to immediately return the item to the shelf and push it from our minds. These days, it is getting hard to forgive and forget. Whether it is innocent curiosity or desperate hunger, I am not sure, but we are beginning to wonder (hope) that maybe just because we don't recognize some words doesn't mean those ingredients aren't "natural" or quite healthy. During another painful attempt to explain to a friend what it was that we were doing, he replied, "I mean thats cool and all but I figure it has to all originally come from the earth. So what if a couple scientists have to fuse some of it together in lab. Its all natural, right?" Honestly, I don't know. It is becoming clear that some research is required to cure our blatant ignorance when it comes to the stuff that is in our food.

I have listed above 5 common ingredients that keep popping up in the foods that I so desperately want to add to my diet. What follows is my attempt at some brief research regarding each one. Yes, I will be Wikipedia-ing. Please forgive me, Research God.

CITRIC ACID: Well I already feel dumb. Citric acid is a naturally occurring preservative found in most fruits and vegetables. If I were to put back a item that listed this ingredient, I would also have to return all my fresh fruits and veggies. It is used in powder form when adding a sour taste to foods. It is in almost all sodas, for instance. Maybe a good rule with ingredient would be to say YES if it naturally occurs in a fruit or veggie that is in the product and NO if added as an independent ingredient in foods that do not contain fruits and vegetables.

SILICON DIOXIDE: This one is a little more tricky. Silica is a necessary element required for healthy bone growth. Silica mainly occurs naturally in the form of silicon dioxide. This common ingredient is prevalent in everything from glass to non-purified drinking water. It is often found in powdered foods and used as an anti-caking agent. Also, most chips and snacks contain silicon dioxide in the spices used to enhance taste. Sounds like the same deal as citric acid. If used via fruits and veggies in food items, go for it. If used as an taste enhancer or in cement and electronics, eh. Probably not.

SORBIC ACID: This ingredient is another naturally occurring preservative that was fist isolated from a Rowanberry (not going to pretend to know what that is- different wikipedia adventure for a different time). Sorbic Acid is the number 1 preservative found in next to everything. It prevents the growth of mold, yeast, and fungi in our favorite foods. In my humble opinion, consuming something that would have gone "bad" days before but is hanging on by a fake freshness thread due to sorbic acid probably isn't natural. God made mold to idiot proof our food. Avoiding it for our convenience just seems...idiotic.

SODIUM BICARBONATE: aka BAKING SODA!!! Gosh learn something new everyday. You will find this in almost anything that requires dough to rise. Can't really get around that one. Plus its a salt. My favorite food.

XANTHAN GUM: As far as I could find, this is a compound that absolutely requires a lab, some chemicals, and a scientist. Generally Xanthan Gum is used as a food thickening agent. It is pretty unavoidable for vegans and people with gluten allergies as it is an almost perfect gluten and egg substitute. Xanthan Gum is also used in large quantities as to thicken drilling mud. Yummy. Since this ingredient cannot really hurt you, it isn't a huge problem. However, we are trying to be the Natural Couple, so I think for the next few weeks it gets the boot.

In summary (if you have managed to read through this obnoxiously long post), it is probably true that some of those scary words used in our food are found naturally and normally in fruits and vegetables. It is also true that the same ingredients, when taken out of their natural context and used independent of their mother fruits and veggies, can be very unnatural.

I am beginning to believe that all healthy food trails undeniably point to fruits and vegetables...nature gave it to us plain and simple. Can we take the hint?