Grace and I are learning more about these food chemicals and desire to warn others to be vigilant in understanding food labels. In this day and age, we have made so much progress with medical technology, however, our U.S. culture has prioritized convenience to the point we are making ourselves sick. So, we hope this is another trick to evaluate the treats for your Holiday season.
When you are examining all the options, if you can stick with homemade baked goods and foods that is your best bet.
The biggest objective is to fuel your body with REAL FOOD, so the less candy and processed cookies/cakes you can eat the better you will feel. So important for us as consumers to understand what these chemicals do and should be a wake up call to prioritize cutting this garbage out of our systems.
Here are the main processed food dyes/ preservatives to avoid this Holiday season.
This article lists the TOP 12 main food chemicals which cause disruption in our bodies but also many are found to be linked to various types of cancers. The more we take these seriously the better you will feel.
Of course for Halloween the top “Spooky” categories will be:
- Artificial Dyes-Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3–these are used for foods and sodas.
- Titanium Dioxide–color additive and potential DNA damage
- Artificial Sweeteners– simply put–stick with the sugar that our bodies understand how to metabolize–otherwise, we put artificial sweets which are much more complicated to break down. These can disrupt our hormones and overall metabolism which impacts maintaining a consistent weight.
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Another great article to read: Artificial Colorings from the Center of Science in the Public Interest
https://www.cspinet.org/article/artificial-colorings-synthetic-food-dyes
This article lists all the various key dyes we see on the back of food labels. Another benefit of avoiding these highly processed foods is also the fact that the majority are also low in nutritional value (candy, soft drinks, gelatin desserts, etc.). Our bodies are complex and with that they need foods RICH with quality ingredients.
If you know your energy levels are crashing, this is your body indicating that you are not fueling it properly. So, do your research and understand how to read and avoid these foods littered with garbage.
Another great News article is from CBS and uncovering the various additives in US foods compared to Europe. Link below: (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-food-additives-banned-europe-making-americans-sick-expert-says/).
“Potassium bromate. It’s a suspected carcinogen that’s banned for human consumption in Europe, China and India, but not in the United States.”
“There is evidence that it may be toxic to human consumers, that it may even either initiate or promote the development of tumors,” professor Erik Millstone, an expert on food additives at England’s University of Sussex, told CBS News. He said European regulators take a much more cautious approach to food safety than their U.S. counterparts.
Here is another list of ingredients that are banned in Europe but not the US: Titanium dioxide (also known as E171); Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) (E443); Potassium bromate (E924); Azodicarbonamide (E927a) and Propylparaben (E217).
Choose to steward your body well this Holiday season! I hope these resources serve as a caution and reminder that as consumers we need to be proactive in what we eat.
Sierra & Grace