The Yucky Fillers In Your Foods

Manufacturers use preservatives/additives in their foods to improve shelf-life, decrease the growth of mold, and enhance the appearance & flavour of the food. Chemical additives are in frozen meats to keep them from going rancid, in the packaging of your breakfast cereal to keep it from going stale, and sprayed on your oranges to make them look more ripe & appealing. These chemicals have no nutritional benefit to the consumer, and in fact, have been linked to all kinds of damage in the body - most commonly cancer, but also brain-nerve disruption, diseases such as Alzheimers & Parkinsons, and the leaching of important minerals & vitamins from your bones.

Try to avoid:
- BHA & BHT
- Aspartame (it turns into formaldehyde once it gets in your body or is in temperatures above 30 degrees, and was turned down by the FDA 6x over 16 years before it finally got approval - after some shifty job swaps on the board)
- Acesulfame-K
- Sodium Nitrite / Nitrate
- Potassium Bromate
- MSG
- Fake colours (made up of petroleum, acetone, & coal tars) - blue 1 & 2, red 3 & 40, yellow 6, green 3.

Here's some info. about the colourants (which you can find all over on the web):
Blue 1 and Blue 2: Blue 1, used to color candy, beverages and baked goods, may cause cancer. Blue 2, found in pet food, candy and beverages, has caused brain tumors in mice.
Red 3 & 40: This food coloring is used in cherries (in fruit cocktails), baked goods and candy. It causes thyroid tumors in rats, and may cause them in humans as well.
Yellow 6: As the third most often used food coloring, yellow 6 is found in many products, including baked goods, candy, gelatin and sausages. It has been found to cause adrenal gland and kidney tumors, and contains small amounts of many carcinogens.
Green 3: Has been linked to bladder cancer.

Go here for a more detailed explanation of the direct effects of some of the above mentioned additives (or google "dangers of food additives").

In everyday life it can be difficult attempting to avoid all of the above mentioned additives (we all seem to want food that is convenient, but it's tricky to find convenient, quick meals that aren't loaded with nasty crap), but making small changes (like choosing naturally-coloured Smarties instead of artifically-coloured Skittles as your treat du jour), can really make a big difference to the health of your body over time, and especially your children's. Read your labels & drink lots of water - this can help flush out some of the toxins that are sneaking by. So can eating your fruits & veggies - foods & drinks that fight free-radical damage can trap some of the nasties that preservatives & additives release in your body, and help them pass out of your system.

PS. Processed sugars could very well be referenced in this entry as well, but I spent an entire entry on it last time around! & I'll have you know I have been successful in greatly reducing my chocolate consumption -- so there's hope for any other guy or gal out there; give it a try!