Reading the fine print
Did you know that Campbell’s Tomato Soup is made with high fructose corn syrup? Yeah, seriously, go check the can in your kitchen cabinet.
I’ve been trying to eat a bit healthier by implementing small changes one at a time. Small changes lead to small victories here because I don’t have the self control for anything major. My first change, due to the high sugar content, is that I’ve considerably reduced the amount of soda I drink. I was watching Oprah and she had that hot Dr. Oz on and he said that my homework was to not have soda, including diet, so I didn’t. At that point I was drinking soda about 4-5 days a week so I decided to cut that to no more than once every week or two. The first week was hard, but I managed to go all of March without soda. I blew it yesterday because I had to have a Diet Dr. Pepper (yum) but that’s OK (my game, my rules) as long as I don’t go back to having it several times a week. Allowing it once in a while is the only way to keep this plan doable for me long term.
Anyway, yesterday I was reaching for my can of tomato soup because I love tomato soup and this is the Healthy Request version so it has less sodium and supposedly is healthier right? Well, I accidentally glanced at the ingredient list and front and center was the enemy. Yep, in what is supposed to be my sort of healthy supper (it’s not fast food) is high fructose corn syrup. Damn. I still had soup for dinner. I’ll probably still have soup for breakfast when it goes on sale (they sell tomato soup in a microwavable cup that you can drink directly out of and it makes an excellent breakfast that is warm and can easily be consumed in the car on the way to work), but I will never look at tomato soup the same way again.
I won’t be having tomato soup for lunch anytime soon because I only get two minutes for lunch and anything that requires heat or chewing or refrigeration or utensils just takes too darn long. Lunch is V8 time. Also low sodium, but no high fructose corn syrup. I checked.
Since I’ve been doing well with the soda thing I think that the next small change I ought to introduce is a massive reduction of high fructose corn syrup. I really thought I had already done this by eliminating soda, but clearly wasn’t looking close enough so now it’s label reading time. I think this one is going to be a much harder small change. If savory soup has this stuff what else is filled with the sweet devil? I wonder if I can find a tasty tomato soup similar to Campbell’s without the HFCS? This will be important as tomato soup is my comfort food and a staple to my diet that I really don’t want to remove at this point.
I’ve been trying to eat a bit healthier by implementing small changes one at a time. Small changes lead to small victories here because I don’t have the self control for anything major. My first change, due to the high sugar content, is that I’ve considerably reduced the amount of soda I drink. I was watching Oprah and she had that hot Dr. Oz on and he said that my homework was to not have soda, including diet, so I didn’t. At that point I was drinking soda about 4-5 days a week so I decided to cut that to no more than once every week or two. The first week was hard, but I managed to go all of March without soda. I blew it yesterday because I had to have a Diet Dr. Pepper (yum) but that’s OK (my game, my rules) as long as I don’t go back to having it several times a week. Allowing it once in a while is the only way to keep this plan doable for me long term.
Anyway, yesterday I was reaching for my can of tomato soup because I love tomato soup and this is the Healthy Request version so it has less sodium and supposedly is healthier right? Well, I accidentally glanced at the ingredient list and front and center was the enemy. Yep, in what is supposed to be my sort of healthy supper (it’s not fast food) is high fructose corn syrup. Damn. I still had soup for dinner. I’ll probably still have soup for breakfast when it goes on sale (they sell tomato soup in a microwavable cup that you can drink directly out of and it makes an excellent breakfast that is warm and can easily be consumed in the car on the way to work), but I will never look at tomato soup the same way again.
I won’t be having tomato soup for lunch anytime soon because I only get two minutes for lunch and anything that requires heat or chewing or refrigeration or utensils just takes too darn long. Lunch is V8 time. Also low sodium, but no high fructose corn syrup. I checked.
Since I’ve been doing well with the soda thing I think that the next small change I ought to introduce is a massive reduction of high fructose corn syrup. I really thought I had already done this by eliminating soda, but clearly wasn’t looking close enough so now it’s label reading time. I think this one is going to be a much harder small change. If savory soup has this stuff what else is filled with the sweet devil? I wonder if I can find a tasty tomato soup similar to Campbell’s without the HFCS? This will be important as tomato soup is my comfort food and a staple to my diet that I really don’t want to remove at this point.