Living in the United States provides so many luxuries for us that many citizens of other countries around of the world do not often receive. For instance, we have many freedoms guaranteed to us directly through our Constitution, from the freedom of speech to the freedom of religion; from the freedom to assemble peacefully to the freedom to petition our government for a redress of grievances. However, one freedom that is used on a daily basis is not guaranteed within our Constitution, but certainly applies to the grocery store. That freedom is your freedom of choice when it comes to selecting the foods that you are going to eat. Although sometimes, we do not feel like we even have that freedom, with all of the advertisements on television. Especially with the United States having the highest obesity factor in the world, it is time that you finally know what is in the foods that you are putting into your body, without all of the false advertising. This way, you can use your freedom of choice to make healthy choices for you and your family. Below are three facts about some of the foods that you may be buying, uncovered by Dr. Brian Wansink, the director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.

1. Be careful about energy bars. When people hear this term, they think of a low-fat, high-vitamin bar that gives the person a great amount of energy. However many times, these energy bars contain the same amount of saturated fat and calories, and sometimes twice the amount of sugar as a Snickers or a Milky Way. Therefore, read the ingredient labels and make sure that the energy bar is low in saturated fat and calories. Also, most definitely, check the sugar content. Most energy bars have loads of sugar to give you that rush of energy that they are guaranteed to do.

2. Watch the sodas. Not only is soda considered “empty calories,” filled with sugar and fluid-retaining sodium that causes dehydration, but also soda contains an ingredient that most people do not know about, called phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid acts like poison in the body in the sense that in one can of soda, there is enough phosphoric acid to wash the calcium out of your bones. Not only that but if you drink more than three cans of soda a day, you lose on average of five percent bone density.

3. Toss the frozen pizzas. Studies show that the average frozen pizza contains over fifty ingredients, many of which should not even be included, two of which are confirmed to be preservatives also used in jet fuel, embalming fluid, and eye shadow. Instead of eating traditional frozen pizzas, use the organic selections as an alternative, and pay close attention to the nutrition labels and the ingredients panel on the back.

Therefore, in light of this new research, conducted by Dr. Brian Wansink, the director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, you may want to think twice about the foods that you put into your body. Just remember the calcium leaking out of your bones when you chug a can of soda, the crash you will get after eating an energy bar, and the embalming fluid preservative that is contained within that frozen pizza when you eat it; you will probably never touch those foods again.