Comments | casadeivanova: Fed up with additives

casadeivanova

Fed up with additives

Jun 03, 2009 13:03

A few years ago, George and i started thinking more carefully about the quality of food we ate...so, amongst other things, we started looking more closely at the ingredients list of packaged processed foods.

( A lengthy rant about food additives... )

life observations, health

Comments 19

Hum anonymous June 3 2009, 04:23:31 UTC

so the Domestic Engineers sayings of "fresh is best" and "everything in moderation" might apply here. Be sure to check the advice you got on the above site with another source - the aspartame one sounds a little over the top to me, I'll try and track down the source for that as Dr Karl did a story on it that I read recently.

Sorry, I wasn't logging in on the laptop before... krin723 June 3 2009, 04:33:53 UTC

the above was me...found the reference www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp - hope its still there. I can also scan and send you the pages later when I'm on the main computer

Re: Sorry, I wasn't logging in on the laptop before... casadeivanova June 3 2009, 04:52:00 UTC

i wondered who the mystery commentor was!
Yep, the link was still there...and i have to say it scared me even more than my info source did! Yes, the article is claimed to be false...and i agree it is majorly over the top, but i'm not willing to simply accept the one liners "safe for the general public" either. More or less safe, yes, i'm sure. But add that to all the other rubbish additives people pump into their bodies unaware and its the cocktail that worries me more.

In the 1950s average male sperm count was around 100 million. These days the average count is around 40 million (and below 20 million is considered to be sub-fertile). You have to wonder what has happened in the last 50 years. Well, highly processed food with all these additives is probably a start.

You're right...fresh is best and all things in moderation.

Re: Sorry, I wasn't logging in on the laptop before... backpacka June 3 2009, 05:31:01 UTC

I'm confused - which article is claimed to be false?

One of the other, less publicized problems of food additives is that they can and frequently do alter the body's ability to absorb the normal nutrients we get from the food we're eating. I can't think of a specific example off the top of my head - but I have a couple of very good books on the subject (books that reference the clinical studies in which these things were discovered). Sometimes the additives act on the food so that the nutritional benefits are negated or can't be absorbed by the body.

Unfortunately, some times it just seems we should go back to growing our own food and cooking it ourselves - but if we did that, none of us would have time to work!

Re: Sorry, I wasn't logging in on the laptop before... thinarthur June 3 2009, 05:42:23 UTC

and if you grew your own food how would you water it these days?

Thread 9

thinarthur June 3 2009, 05:40:52 UTC

Apart from chemical nasties (SULPHUR DIOXIDE was also a major constituent of the London killer fogs of the 50's and when mixed with water becomes the powerful Sulphuric Acid) you'll also find some really dumb additives. Most table salts have sugar in them, Peanut Butter has added oil (like there's not enough oil already??), tomato puree has added salt, etc etc. People hypersensitive to allergies have a terrible time with these products, the worst of it being it's very difficult to work out the ones actually causing you trouble.

casadeivanova June 3 2009, 23:08:16 UTC

It's scary when you start looking at just how much extra salt, sugar and manufactured oils are added to processed food.

twillek June 3 2009, 09:20:22 UTC

I got a handy bussiness card sized card with a list of additives to avoid from the Baby show last year. It's advertising for the site www.lowtonoadditives.com. Not sure if you can get one from the site, haven't really had a look.

twillek June 3 2009, 09:22:09 UTC

Missed a bit on the card, also advertising for www.hopper.net.au

casadeivanova June 3 2009, 23:19:27 UTC

Couldn't find the card on the site, bugger. Did you buy their book? i presume it is just like any other cook book, but makes a point of using whole foods rather than any processed stuff. Which we do anyway, for the most part. G has even taken to making his own breadcrumbs.

twillek June 3 2009, 23:39:43 UTC

The card is on the Hopper site, under Kid's Health, Additives to Avoid

kaths June 3 2009, 10:52:28 UTC

Hmm, I really need to get more educated about all of this. I've been reading some stuff about MSG (you might have referred to it somewhere), and it's frightening, particularly with the one that's like MSG but you wouldn't know to read the contents.

I'm not worried about aspartame though, there's no actual evidence that there are any issues with it, and I wouldn't have much of it as I think the main source for people is diet drinks. If it did cause all of those problems (the fact that there are so many suggested symptoms and diseases is a red flag), it would have been pretty clear by now.

For me actual sugar is more of an issue as it gives me a rash (as do chocolate and tomatoes).

casadeivanova June 3 2009, 23:24:21 UTC

It's a bit overwhelming when you get into it. That is why we use those 12 nasties list as a simple guide to follow...if we can mostly avoid those, we figure we're making a difference. I like the idea of my girls not consuming too much of any of those additives, if i can help it. Did you know that the 5 colours on that list are on the list of 12 colours that are being permanently fazed out of food in great britian? So why are they still so easily found in our aussie foods?
And yes, a lot of people react to natural foods too. But i sometimes wonder if the exposure to so much artificial stuff has made us more sensitive to natural stuff too?