Food Additive To Avoid

Food Additive To Avoid

Being concerned about my health I always promote eating fresh. While I recognize that organic food is the best because there is no pesticide, and the products contain more vitamins and minerals because of the way they have been grown any fresh food will limit your intake of food additives.
I would also advise you to drink water and use soft-drinks only for parties which will limit your food additive intake to a more reasonable level.


On this page I decided to focus on the food additives dangerous for our health and not banned by the FDA yet. Did you know that eating less than 20 chips containing olestra could be dangerous?

You will find here the 14 most dangerous additives and their potential effects on your health. Are you sure you want to eat them without knowing or do you wish to learn "who they are" and be able to preserve yourself from their dangers?


ACESULFAME-K

Used as a sugar substitute in packet or table form, in chewing gum, dry mixes for beverages, instant coffee and tea, gelatin desserts...
Tests indicate that this additive causes cancer in animals. It had been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits and dogs.Acesulfamine-K was also associated with lung tumors, breast tumors, and several forms of leukemia and chronic respiratory disease in rats studies even when less than maximum doses were given Another effect would be the stimulation of insulin secretion in a dose dependent fashion aggravating reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar attacks)


Artificial Colorings: Blue 1

This chemical was inadequately tested and there is a suggestion of small cancer risk.


Artificial Coloring: Blue 2

The largest study suggested but did not prove that this dye caused brain tumors in male mice.
Artificial Coloring: Green 3

A 1981 industry-sponsored study gave the hints of bladder cancer.


Artificial Coloring: Red 3

There is evidence that this dye cause thyroid tumors in rats.


Artificial Coloring: Yellow 6

It may cause allergic reactions. Also industry-sponsored animal tests shows that this dye causes tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney.


Aspartame

In some reports aspartame has been linked to various neuropsychiatric disorders, including panic attacks, mood changes,visual hallucinations, manic episodes and isolated dizziness. A 1970 study suggested that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats. In 2005, researchers at the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy, conducted a study which indicated that in rats who were first exposed to aspartame at 8 weeks of ages aspartame caused lymphomas and leukemias in females. In 2007, the same Italian researchers published a follow-up study that began exposing rats to aspartame in utero. This study found that aspartame caused leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer.


Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)

Some studies shows that it causes cancer in the forestomach of rats, mice and hamsters . Humans do not have a forestomach but a chemical that causes cancer in at least one organ in three different species indicates that it might be carcinogenic in humans.


Olestra (Olean)

Olestra has an avidity for certain fat-soluble substances and will remove fat-soluble nutrients from your body.It is linked directly to olestra being a non-absorbable lipid-like substance.
Olestra will cause a dramatic depletion of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids. Olestra depletion of carotenoids is a great concern because evidences indicate that they may confer important health benefit, like lowering risk of cancers (lungs, esophagus, pharynx, mouth, stomach, colon, rectum, and bladder). Olestra is highly effective at reducing serum level of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Supplementing olestra with those vitamins would not completely solve the problem which means that blood clotting, bone formation in fetal development and childhood and retention of bone in older women could be affected. A more immediat effects would be diarrhea, fecal urgency, and more frequent and looser bowel movements as well as anal leaking. Olestra gastrointestinal effects are comparable to those caused by eating larger amount of dietetary fibers except that you body will adapt to increased fibers but won't adjust to olera. The only way to stop the intestinal effect of olestra is to stop its intake. Risk of macular degeneration and possibly cancer and heart diseases are also associated with olestra.

Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Trans Fat)

Vegetable oil, usually a liquid can be made into semi-solid shortening by reacting it with hydrogen. Partial hydrogenation reduces the levels of polyunsatured oils also creating trans fats which promote heart diseases.The Institute of Medicine has advised consumers to eat less than 2 grams a day. Beware of the marking on the boxes: 0g trans fat are permitted to contain 0.5g per serving while no trans fat means none at all.


Potassium Bromate

Potassium bromate is used to strenghen bread dough. Bromate was first found to cause cancer in rats in 1982. Subsequents studies on rats and mice confirmed that it causes tumors of the kidney, thyroid and other organs. It had been banned virtually worldwide except in the US and Japan. In 1991, California declared bromate a carcerigen under the state's proposition 65. Baked good sold in California would have to bear a cancer warning if they contain more than a certain level of bromate. As a result most California bakers have switched to bromate-free processes.


Propyl Gallate

Propyl gallate or propyl 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate is an ester formed by the condensation of garlic acid and propanol. It is an anti oxidant added to foods containing oils and fats to prevent oxidation. As a food addictive it is used under the number E310. Recent studies show that propyl gallate mimic oestrogen similar to other xenoestrogens. This may result in male developing female traits. Increased estrogen load is often associated with increase risk of developping cancer in estrogen-sensitive tiissues such as ovary, breat, prostate...


Saccharin

Saccharin is 350 times sweeter than sugar and is used in diet foods or as a tabletop sugar substitute. Many studies on animals have shown that saccharin can cause cancer of the urinary bladder as well as cancer of the uterus, ovaries, skin, blood vessels, and other organs. Other studies have shown that saccharin increases the potency of other cancer-causing chemicals. The best epidemiology study (done by the National Cancer Institute) found that the use of artificial sweeteners (saccharin and cyclamate) was associated with a higher incidence of bladder cancer. The industry acknowledges that saccharin causes bladder cancer in male rats, but argues that those tumors are caused by a mechanism that would not occur in humans. Many public health experts respond by stating that, even if that still-unproved mechanism were correct in male rats, saccharin could cause cancer by additional mechanisms.


Sodium Nitrite, Sodium Nitrate

Sodium nitrite stabilizes the red color in cured meat (without nitrite, hot dogs and bacon would look gray) and gives a characteristic flavor. Adding nitrite to food can lead to the formation of small amounts of potent cancer-causing chemicals (nitrosamines), particularly in fried bacon. Several studies have linked consumption of cured meat and nitrite by children, pregnant women, and adults with various types of cancer. Nitrite is used primarily in fatty, salty foods, consumers have important nutritional reasons for avoiding nitrite-preserved foods.


Preserve Yourself

The best way to preserve yourself from these additive is to eliminate them from your diet. The less you will eat of them the better it will be for you. If you can't stop just try to limit your intake to the minimum possible.