As part of eating a "Clean Diet" of real, whole, fresh foods and avoiding processed, fast foods, it's up to us - the consumer - to read and understand food ingredient labels. Here are a few of the most common additives and chemicals in the food manufactured on grocery shelves:

• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Soy Protein Isolate (processed soy extract that causes cancer in animals)
• Sodium and Calcium Caseinate (toxic dairy extract)
• Phosphoric Acid (dipotassium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate)
• Artificial Flavors (often containing MSG)
• Carrageenan (can cause leaky gut and inflammation)
• Colors and Dyes (yellow dye #5 or tartazine and others)
• Sulfites (cause allergies and inflammation)
• Nitrites and Nitrates (in processed and deli meats and causes cancer)

Remember - if you can't pronounce it and the list of ingredients is long (10+) it's not real food anymore but a chemically processed product!