If you continue to go meatless, you’ll start to notice that you’re becoming more aware of the things you eat and use.

Candy isn’t just candy, and body spray isn’t just that. And that tea mix you love? Nope check again.

Labels lie…or have a special way of lying that the average consumer isn’t properly interpreting, because they believe the fancy splash graphics on the front. Or because it’s the latest ‘trend.’

For instance, a brand name smoothie I used to drink constantly, recently got into a lawsuit due to the labeling that was deemed a false claim. Anything that is labeled ‘all-natural’ or ‘100% juice,’ you need to learn to take a second look. In terms of bottled smoothies, there are different ways to process the ingredients and certain brands are ‘better’ due to less pesticides and more nutrients present. 

From a very beneficial post from The Food Babe.com that helped me nix my favorites and experiment with the good stuff (it was very hard as I love the sweet stuff), she touts the smoothie or juice brands that are better and other ways companies attempt to ‘legally lie.’ 

Bottled juice wasn’t the only thing I learned to be more aware of. The teas I make from store-bought tea bags were also re-examined after reading the above blog and others. Anything with ‘soy lecithin’ or ‘natural flavoring’ I learned to stay away from. Again, pesticides and sometimes bugs…Gross!

Learning what certain ingredients really mean is also important. If I didn’t understand what it meant, I did a trip to the search engine. If I felt icky after reading up, then I ditched it. Numerous body sprays with BHT I’ve stopped using. Water and ingredients I can get myself are important to me. And they smell much nicer too!

Pay attention, and happy nomming & living!