For the healthiest year yet, I recommended in 2012 that you commit to reading the labels of ALL the food you eat. And, better yet: if it doesn't have a label (i.e. its a food entity that stands on its own like broccoli or free range organic chicken) you typically don't have to worry about the ingredients. But, let's face it, we all buy packaged goods from time to time.

The big no no's on the label are:

1. Anything SOY. Soy protein isolate, soy oil, soy flour, soy flakes, soy lecithin. Of course, if you've been following me for a while-you know my beef with soy, but if you'd like more information on this topic, read here.

2. High Fructose, Corn Syrup, Fructose and Sucrose. Check out this link for the most common names of hidden toxic sugars in your food.

3. Refined flour, refined whole wheat flour, enriched wheat flour or bleached flour. Read here for reasons why refined flour is bad for your health.

4. Low fat anything. Here's a great article explaining why “fat-free” or “low-fat” anything is the opposite of healthy for you.

5. And, basically avoid anything that doesn't sound like a food. These substances are typically more than one syllable and are chemicals, for example: aspartame, calcium stearoyl lactylate and malodextrin. Check out this link for the most common food chemicals and the health conditions they are linked to.

Ok, that's a good place to start. More information to follow.