What Does "All Natural" Really Mean?

We shouldn’t automatically assume that food labeled “all natural” is good for us.

The term can be thrown around without any oversight, as witnessed by the Chinatown mini cake cart (photo, right). Sure, the cakes are made from a batter of natural ingredients (flour, sugar, eggs), but what does that really mean in terms of our health?

The flour is probably bleached, which leaves it devoid of most of its nutrients. The sugar is probably refined, which is metabolized by our bodies differently than unrefined sweeteners. And the eggs are probably from an industrial egg factory. I’ll spare you the details on that one, but Google “industrial egg farming” if you are curious.

Another example that "all natural" is not synonymous with healthy? Many Snapple drinks, more commonplace than Chinatown mini cake carts, are labeled “all natural”—which they ostensibly are—despite their roughly 25 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving.