Dorito Dangers

Doritos

Well, looky here! I read that the CEO of Frito/Lay describes Doritos as a ‘healthful snack.’ Well, I had to check that out. Who knows? Maybe I could start eating Doritos.

So off to the web! Holey Moley! It takes a special kind of dictionary to describe Doritos as healthful.

Let’s a quick look at just some of the ingredients, in the order listed on the label, and you’ll see what I mean.

Whole corn: Well, that sounds okay. Except for one thing. Nearly 90% of corn comes from genetically modified seeds. Since Frito/Lay goes through a gazillion tons of corn making its wares, they have to use GMO (genetically modified organisms) corn.

You don’t get GMO foods by tweaking the seeds just a little. You have to create a whole new organism, one not seen in nature. And pretty much untested, so eating it makes us guinea pigs.

Animal tests show that GMO foods damage DNA. Offspring of GMO eaters experience greater-than-average fertility issues, and their grandchildren are sterile. And in people? Check back with me in thirty years or so–after it’s too late.

Governments around the world seem to think that’s just fine and dandy.

Vegetable oils: Vegetable oils cause internal inflammation, which leads to chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune, and on and on.

And soy oil is one of the oils listed. Yikes! Why not just shoot your thyroid? Plus, we mustn’t forget soy’s bogus estrogen and the damage that does. Or the fact that soy strips away our minerals. And leads to kidney stones. And on. And on.

Cheddar cheese: What can possibly be wrong with good old cheddar? It’s made from factory-farm milk complete with antibiotics, hormones and pus, although the government limits the pus level. Reassuring, eh?

Maltodextrin: Maltodextrin comes chock-a-block full of the amino acid, glutamate. Glutamate’s whole purpose in life is supercharging our brains. Other aminos keep things balanced, but glutamate alone, as in maltodextrin, revs up the brain to toxic levels. So we’re talking brain damage.

Whey: Whey often comes from soy. I know, I know, some people say soy promotes health. Well, no.

MSG: Spelled out, we’re talking monosodium glutamate. There’s that glutamate word again. The excitotoxin that beats up on our brains.

Buttermilk solids and Romano cheese: Like the cheddar cheese above, this comes from factory farms.

Partially hydrogenated oils: In case regular vegetable oils don’t do enough health damage, Frito/Lay shoots hydrogen through them–which multiplies the problems.

Disodium phosphate: Adding to your munching excitement, eating a lot of Doritos may bring the unhappy result of diarrhea. Perhaps getting the Doritos out of your system quickly is the healthful part.

Dextrose: In processed foods, this usually means corn syrup, a health enemy–especially to the liver. It can cause depression and fatigue, perhaps because it slurps up your body’s B vitamins.

Natural and artificial flavors: Usually from soy.

Artificial color - Yellow 5: Yellow 5 can spark hay fever and rashes. And anybody allergic to aspirin should avoid it.

Sodium caseinate: Our buddy, MSG, rears its ugly head again in this milk protein.

Disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate: Categorized as purines, these two trouble makers can aggravate gout big time. Adding to the merriment, they usually come from soy.

Then come more milk solids, more whey and more corn syrup.

This is healthful?

On the bright side, Doritos have garlic powder and bell peppers in them. Maybe that’s what the CEO had in mind when she described Doritos as healthful.

Bottom line: Like Doritos, most of what we see on store shelves is bad for us. But rather than point fingers, we have to realize that store shelves hold what our dollars tell food companies we want. If we didn’t buy it, they wouldn’t make it.