No Calorie "Foods"

Ok, this is weird.  I was at the store the other day looking for a more natural version of Caesar dressing (I ended up with Brianna's brand which is quite tasty) and I ran across a selection of calorie free salad dressings.  That is just a bit disturbing to me, calorie free?  How can food, made from you know - real food, be calorie free?  Everything has calories, minus water - but anything that you would need to make salad dressing will have calories.  So then what is this dressing made of???

I looked it up:  Walden Farms makes everything from spreads to sauces to dressings and they are all calorie free.  Though that might seem like a great idea, I'm here to tell you to stay away - it's NOT real food!  And what was even more disturbing is that some of the ingredients on their nutrition labels are foods that have calories, so what did they do to them to make them "lose" their calories?  Hmmm..

Here is a sample ingredient list for their Caesar dressing:

Triple Filtered Purified Water
White Vinegar
Cellulose Gel (cellulose is an indigestible fibrous substance found in plants - the reason it has "no calories" is simply because we can't digest them, and does anyone really know how they make it into a gel?)
Salt
Anchoives (which have calories)
Parmesan Cheese Flavor (non-dairy)
Romano Cheese Flavor (non-dairy)
Garlic (which has calories)
Onion (which has calories)
Black Pepper
Natural Spices (?)
Natural Flavors (?)
Lactic Acid
Xantham Gum
Food Color (made from fruits or vegetables)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Sodium Benzoate

And if that wasn't enough to raise an eyebrow, read over the list from their Calorie Free Mayo:

Triple Filtered Purified Water
Cellulose Fiber
Cellulose Gum
Salt
White Vinegar
Corn Starch (has calories)
Egg White (even dried versions have calories)
Xantham Gum
Beta Carotene
Egg Flavor (what's that made of?)
Mustard (calories)
Lemon Juice (real lemon juice has calories)
Food Color (made from fruits and vegetables)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Sodium Benzoate

Come on, people!  Are you really comfortable putting such a product into your body? 

My purpose in this message is not to say that the people at Waldon Farms are bad people.  They understand there is a need for foods that don't add to the average American waistband and want to provide people with options.  My purpose, however, is to say "WAKE UP" - this is not what our eating habits should look like.  We are so focused on eating whatever we please that we give into temptations that offer us "delicious taste" without the consequences (though there are still consequences for feeding your body chemicals).

Your body is is pleading for you to make some changes.  Stop eating the crap and start eating real food.  Food that comes from the earth is food your body was meant to digest and from which it receives the greatest benefits.  Yes, some of those foods are high in fat and high in calories but they also are full of necessary nutrients - so just choose to eat them in moderation.

But don't be fooled by chemically processed look alikes.  In the end, it's just not worth it.