Your body is a natural organism that expects natural foods to fuel it. Unnatural additives alter its natural balance by bombarding your body with foreign elements that it recognizes as toxins. Determine how the toxin affects your body. Read the ingredient list on food products to see if simple, straightforward ingredients are contained within that you know are healthy to eat.
Cancer and Allergic Reactions
Food additives like artificial sweeteners -- such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose -- are linked to causing tumors in rats. Most chemically based food additives are not healthy to eat. Usually if the ingredients list is long and contains artificial ingredients with names that only a chemistry teacher would recognize, it is likely unhealthy. According to "Clinical Pediatrics," synthetic food colorants are usually labeled as "Blue No. 1 Lake" or a similar term. Different colors and numbers are linked with allergic reactions, especially in children, and long-term effects are not yet confirmed. The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine notes other types of food additives that are unintentional and not found on a product's ingredient list: antibiotics, insulin-like growth factor or IGF-I, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins, which are found in non-organic dairy products.
Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
"The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" states that certain food additives, such as high-fructose corn syrup or corn sugar, may lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Corn sugar is added to several different types of processed foods, from sodas to condiments to canned foods. It contains a high level of fructose that is unnatural. From 1970 to 1990, the U.S. consumption of high-fructose corn syrup rose over 1000 percent and is considered one of the factors in the American obesity epidemic. To avoid this additive, eat unprocessed or organic foods.
Neurological Disorders
Other types of food additives are on non-organic produce; they are synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. According to What's On My Food?, certain pesticides and fertilizers are known to cause neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, autism, attention deficit disorder and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Buy organic produce to avoid these additives, and wash before using.
References
- PubMed.gov: Dietary Sensitivities and ADHD Symptoms: Thirty-five Years of Research
- PCRM Your Health: Health Concerns About Dairy Products
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Consumption of High-fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play a Role in the Epidemic of Obesity
- What's On My Food?: How Much is Too Much?
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