Processed foods contain many food additives, including artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, sulfites, nitrites, MSG, benzoic acid, food stabilizers and emulsifiers. These additives add color and flavor to foods, keep their quality consistent, preserve nutrient value, provide leavening and keep foods from spoiling or becoming contaminated. Some people do not wish to eat a lot of additives, and feel better when they consume an additive-free diet.
Features
A well-known additive-free diet is the Feingold Diet. On this diet, you avoid all artificial colors, preservatives and flavorings, as well as aspartame and foods containing salicylates. Not all people respond to this type of diet, so you can try removing these additives to see if you feel better, and then adding them back one at a time to see if they make any symptoms reappear.
Possible Health Benefits
Additive-free diets may improve children's behavior, decreasing temper tantrums and the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A Southampton University study of schoolchildren found significant improvements in behavior and sleep patterns in the children who followed an additive-free diet compared with the control group. The benefits from an additive-free diet in ADHD treatment tend to be less than those from ADHD drugs, and not all kids benefit from these diets. However, an additive-free diet is also free of the side effects associated with ADHD drugs.
Food Additive Safety
Even those without ADHD may benefit from an additive-free diet. Some food additives may be linked to cancer, allergic reactions and other adverse health effects, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The center recommends avoiding aspartame, acesulfame-K, caffeine, food dyes, olestra, saccharine and sodium nitrite.
Considerations
It can be hard to plan and implement an additive-free diet, because so many processed foods are filled with additives. Purchase fresh food and organic food to avoid many of these additives, though you still need to check labels carefully. You may need to do a lot more cooking at home as well, because it is hard to know exactly what ingredients are used in restaurant meals.
References
- "The Telegraph"; Twin Outshines Brother on Additive-Free Diet; Nicole Martin; April 29, 2003
- MedlinePlus: Food Additives; Paula J. Busse, M.D., et al.; June 23, 2010
- Center for Science in the Public Interest: Diet & Behavior in Children; David Schardt; March 2000
- Feingold Association of the United States: Overview of the Feingold Diet; March 4, 2010
- Center for Science in the Public Interest: Chemical Cuisine
