June is here and with it Farmer’s Markets are open, CSAs are getting started, and fresh local produce is available. Here in Minnesota, we had a very cool spring with the weather just now starting to warm up. It seems like this spring it was either fairly...

This is the third post in my series “What is in Your Food?” You can check out about xanthum gum and guar gum if you missed the first two posts.

In this post, I will share about carrageenan which is another thickening agent and stabilizer used commonly in processed foods. It is often used as a substitute for fat in non- and low-fat foods, stabilizer in dairy replacements products, and a vegan alternative to gelatin. It can also be found in canned pet food, cosmetics, and toothpaste.

Recently I have been sharing about some potentially negative foods in our diet, guar gum and xanthum gum. In this post, I am going to share about goji berries which is considered a superfood.

So what is a superfood? A superfood is defined as a food that contains a high level of essential nutrients and additional compounds that may benefit your health. An additional component is they are low in calories. Some may feel this is important, but I am more about the nutrients. You can check out this post about counting calories if you would like to learn more. Anyway, think of superfoods as nutrient dense and calorie sparse.