What’s in our store bought taco seasoning?  Spices right?  Yes, spices, lots of salt, preservatives and unhealthy oils.  The worst preservative in taco seasoning is maltodextrin.  Maltodextrin is a preservative that rob our healthy gut bacteria and leaves our gut depleted and unstable. Maltodextrin is made from corn, rice, potato starch or wheat and is highly processed.  It’s added to prevent caking and for thickening our food. 

Not only does it harm our gut, but it spikes our blood sugar levels with it’s high GI level  (glycemic index), so it’s harmful to anyone watching their sugar levels AND anyone who wants to lose a little weight.

How can a preservative harm our gut?  

Research has shown that maltodextrin in particular impairs our body’s antibacterial responses and suppresses our intestinal antimicrobial defence mechanisms.  It’s even more harmful to people with impaired gut health such as Crohn’s disease, IBS and auto-immune disorders.  It’s actually robbing our gut of it’s healthy bacteria and leaving us with weak defences. It promotes the survival of salmonella which may be responsible for chronic inflammatory disorders.  

The crazy part of all of this science is that we’re talking about a simple spice mix.  One you can easily make in your kitchen.  The recipe I’m sharing today includes arrowroot flour to replace the maltodextrin to keep the mix from sticking together and to help it thicken your sauce.  You can skip this ingredient if you’re going to use the spice mix right away. Now let’s get started!!