FOOD ADDITIVESLearn What Food Additives Are and Why You Stay Away From Them!
Certainly, our food supply has become complicated due to our stress-wrenching days and craving for convenience. In return for those handy pre-packaged edibles, we need to learn labels to make sense of it all. Ironic isn’t it? We try our best to save time with convenient foods but then spend extra time having to learn what we are eating. Mastering the lingo can be difficult unless you’re a food scientist, nutritionist or chemist. Allow me to be your additive translator. We eat approximately 1500 pounds of food a year, of which about 150 pounds is food additives. As defined by the FDA, food additives are any substance that results from “producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food; and including any source of radiation intended for any such use.” With the average food traveling 1500 miles to your plate, you can only imagine the patchwork of additives your food has become by the time you take a bite. My first rule of thumb is to keep your foods SIMPLE. I like to call these “naked foods” or foods without the dressing of plastic, cardboard, Styrofoam, foil, or glass. These unlabeled, additive-absent foods include fruits, vegetables, eggs, seeds, mushrooms, and nuts, and are commonly found in the produce section of supermarkets and food co-ops, and in farmer’s markets. Next in line would be foods with minimal amounts of pronounceable food additives such as high fiber crackers, whole grain breads, low-fat dairy products, yogurt, and cheeses. And finally, no need to check out the doozies, or what I like to call “anti-nutrition” since they deplete rather than give anything to our bodies – items loaded with chemicals usually preceded by the adjective “artificial” or “partially hydrogenated”. You’ve seen lots of these before: unthinkable unpronounceables high in sugar and fat – soft drinks, candy bars, toaster pastries, pre-made cakes, glazed donuts. I think you get the drift. The food additive landscape isn’t too much different than a mine field. Most times, you don’t know what you’re in for, either health or harm. Some are healthy (e.g., added fibers and vitamins), others are neutral (e.g., phosphates and organic acids), and the remainder (e.g., artificial sweeteners and colorings, preservatives, white sugar) has little to be desired. TOP 3 FOOD ADDITIVES TO AVOID Here is a short list of the top 3 food additives to avoid:
Deanna Minich, PhD, CN, (www.foodandspirit.com) is a nutritionist who sees more to food than calories and macronutrients. She helps guide others in using foods and eating as tools for personal growth and nourishment for the soul. She has written three books on nutrition, on topics ranging from food additives to dietary supplements and even to the connection of food to spirituality. Her latest book, Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods that can Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit, invites you to open your heart, unravel your intuition, and take a journey to inner and outer bliss with every bite you take! |
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