Top 5 Chemical Additives in Your Food You Should Avoid Right Now

Following a diet of wholesome foods is ideal to achieve optimum health, and stay healthy.
We all know that foods that contain more than five or six ingredients should be consumed sporadically, because anything that has a shelf life… will most likely have the same effect in your body.

The longer manufacturers use these additives, the more we learn about the impact they will have in our bodies. While natural occurring preservatives used in foods are fine, there are certain additives that are harmful and cause everything from hives, asthma, nausea, migraine headaches, chronic diseases, change in children’s behavior to severe allergic reactions.

Here is a break down of what these chemicals are:

1. Canthaxanthin in Farm Fishing

Almost 90-percent of salmon sold in supermarkets today come from farms. The diet of farmed salmon doesn’t include crustaceans, which contains a natural astaxanthin that causes pink flesh in wild salmon. As a result, producers add a similar substance– canthaxanthin to farm-salmon diets for that fresh-from-the-water appearance. Without these colorants, farmed salmon would be an unappealing grayish-white color.

Try instead: A great alternative to these chemical additives in farmed salmon is to buy Wild caught salmon from supermarkets or companies that care about wild life, such as sustainably harvested Alaskan salmon and Northwest Pacific seafood and of course your well being. A company that I love and support is Tropical Traditions which exceedds the USDA standards -(and where I get my salmon/seafood at reasonable prices).

2. Aspartame

This sugar substitute is sold commercially as Equal and NutraSweet and was hailed as a savior for dieters unhappy with saccharin’s unpleasant after-taste. Unfortunately, one out of 20,000 babies is born without the ability to metabolize phenylalanine, one of the two amino acids in Aspartame. As a result, it’s not recommended for pregnant women or infants.

Try instead these healthy sugar alternatives:

alcohol free-stevia (Truvia isn’t really recommended. Read this article by Dr. mercola and the reasons why.
local raw honey (in moderation because it is still fructose)
coconut sugar (not a low glycemic sweetener)
Swerve

Important note: Keep in mind that if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, insulin resistance (pre-diabetes), cholesterol imbalances, or if you battle with weight (like a lot of us do), you are better off without any type of sweeteners including artificial ones, because any sweetener can decrease your insulin sensitivity.

3. Artificial Flavoring

This blanket term refers to hundreds of laboratory chemicals designed to mimic natural flavors. For example, some imitation vanilla flavorings are made from petroleum or paper-mill waste. In fact, a single artificial flavoring can be created from hundreds of individual chemicals. New studies suggest artificial-flavoring additives can cause changes in behavior. So, Why Flavor food? According to the EWG A great deal of scientific engineering and design time goes into crafting flavors for processed foods.

This specialized work is done by just 500 professional flavorists who are responsible for the majority of flavors in nearly all food processed in the U.S. How a food tastes is largely determined by the volatile chemicals in the food. Chemicals that give food a specific smell are extremely important because smell makes up 80 to 90 percent of the sense of taste. In processed food, this mixture of chemicals is called “flavor.” Read the full article on flavors here.

Try instead: To eat wholesome foods, and enhance your foods with spices and even super spices, home made broths. As far as baking, use organic coconut oil, organic extracts (vanilla, banana, mango, pineapple etc..), and real flavors from fruits and vegetables.

4. Artificial Colors

Researchers in the early 1900s developed many artificial colors from coal-tar dyes and petrochemicals. Over the years, the FDA banned many of these chemicals as proven carcinogens (cancer-exacerbating agents). Today, the FDA only allows 10 colors in foods, four of which are restricted to specific uses. (This restriction suggests some risks remain. Check out the color additives section of the FDA (www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ColorAdditives/default.htm nofollow) Web site for more information)

Try Instead: Beets, orange, elderberry or even blueberry juice to color cupcakes icing, cake decorations, and even your favorite pops. The frosting to these muffin’s was made with a healthier alternative to sugar — swerve (making them low carb). Egg white from pastured eggs, then added carrot juice to make it orange for a fall theme. I have made these fun and nutritious “elderberry gummies’ by wellnessmama for our family in the winter. I also make Ice pops in the summer like my healthy coconut ice pops which are gluten, dairy and no added sugars, or you can also make fruit juice ice pops, dried fruit, or fruit juice pops.

5. Methylcyclopropene

This gas is pumped into crates of apples to stop them from producing ethylene, the natural hormone that ripens fruit. Commonly known as SmartFresh, this chemical preserves apples for up to a year and bananas up to a month. Sulphur dioxide serves the same purpose when sprayed on grapes.

Try instead: Organic apples preferably from your local farms but if that isn’t possibly definitely go to the organic section in your super market and buy three apples vs six conventional apples that will potentially go bad in your fruit drawer. Also, if you can’t find organic, try low sprayed local apples.

Question: Were you aware of any of these quemicals in your food and have you taken any steps to remove them from your diet?

Other Great sources of information:

Sugar Substitutes—What’s Safe and What’s Not

Image Source Fish Farming

Comments

Margherite says
May 10, 2016 at 3:21 pm
Wow I wasn’t aware that those chemicals even existed. What’s with adding stuff to apples? Geezzz where are we going with food?
Thanks for posting this, a few more things to remove from my pantry. Your articles are always timely.
- Astrid says
  May 10, 2016 at 4:31 pm
  Hi Margherite,
  You are welcome! Aww I am glad you learned something new, and super happy to hear you’ll be doing a pantry make over. Yaaaas! Yes, it is pretty discouraging to know that chemicals are added to fresh fruits and vegetables to “preserve” them or give them a nice shiny color.