the top five ingredients you avoid

I grow much of my own food. I do my best to avoid processed foods. Which eliminates much of the following.

GMO
partially hydrogenated anything.
unnatural things that aren't even food at all (additives, preservatives, MSG, natural flavoring, food coloring,etc) If it doesn't grow in the ground or from food grown naturally in the ground I simply don't want it.
big ag meats who led inhumane lives & are pumped full of antibiotics & other nasty things.
the dirty dozen (basically soft fruits loaded with pesticides) unless I grew them or they are certified organic.

My newest food related pet peeve is microlized cellulose. Essentially sawdust ground up into tiny pieces. Not in my peanut butter!!! YUK

So called natural flavorings may technically be natural but not all natural things are meant to be eaten. An excretion from the anal gland of beavers for example. It's an approved natural flavoring.

Recently a friend turned down some store bought cookies someone offered her. They asked why. She replied they have too many ingredients. I like that answer. Saves explanation to people who don't want to hear it.

I try to eat strictly organic. Not 100% successful for many reasons but when it is a realistic option that's my preference.

https://youtu.be/lUh9Djcxgjs

I don't have a list of five, just one, anything enriched with fake-o vitamins. The vitamins we add to enriched foods are not bio-identical to the vitamins in your food and require your liver to methylate them in order to be processed. This means your liver is working way harder than it should be. This can also result in difficulty absorbing the real versions from the food you eat. Folate and folic acid are NOT the same, don't be fooled.

Interesting list. I don't have a list of five, because there's a whole lot more on my list.

Basically, anything that makes me feel poorly. Certain foods make me ache, be a bit nauseous, give me a headache, make my mouth sore or itch, or I just don't feel "right" afterward. That includes most bananas (there are two local varieties I can eat with no problem), walnuts, corn if I eat it in excess, all store bought granola, all multi grain breads and crackers. I have reacted to commercially made Mexican and Indian foods in that past, but do fine with homemade versions, so I don't know what exactly was the problem.

I avoid the vast majority of commercially made or processed foods. (I grow much of what we eat.) Thus I avoid so many of the things already mentioned -- MSG, preservatives, artificial coloring and flavorings, high fructose corn syrup, etc. I do buy apples and grapes via the supermarket, sourdough bread made by a local neighbor using better quality commercial wheat flour, Fage yogurt, butter, a few meals at a local restaurant, and occasional meal-stuffs made by neighbor's and friends . While much of my milk comes from a local source, I do buy some store milk when the local stuff isn't available. About once a month I eat local made pizza or local made sandwiches (these are served for lunch at the spay/neuter clinics where I volunteer) and I don't feel very peppy the next day. Thus I'm not totally avoiding the system, but I've eliminated the most of it. I'd venture to say that I've eliminated 90% of the commercial food that I use to always eat, perhaps even more than 90%.

I avoid all ag chemically sprayed foods (except those grapes I buy), even if grown locally. Zero chems. Yes, make an exception for the grapes.

No commercial spices and herbs. No commercial sugar. No commercial salt. I produce my own without the binders, anti-caking chemicals, etc.

Seafood-wise, I eat local fish...... Ono and Opelu. And usually once a month treat myself to wild Alaskan salmon.

People mention that they avoid soy, but I find that eating the cooked fresh beans to be fine. I do avoid tofu, soy sauce, and soybean oil because I don't feel right afterward. The fresh beans don't cause a problem.

My meats are either home raised, local grass fed, or wild caught. All raised as chemical free as reasonable.

I don't grill my food, fry it in oil, use much sugar (I press my own cane juice as a pick-me-up after a hard stretch of farm work.)Thus no soda or sweet drinks, other than my fresh pressed cane juice watered down and flavored with a spritz of fresh lime.  

Zero alcohol, basically because I don't like the taste. But I also don't like the "buzz" either.

Could I do better? Sure. But I'm not ready to eliminate grapes and pizza!

1 meat
2 dairy

I am a vegan.  I do go off target sometimes (like today).  I follow roughly an Engine 2 diet, after watching a DVD "Fork over Knives".  Been loosing weight though never over weight, and on no medicines!  I do east sardines in water on occasion and make my own home brew too.