How can you sustain a New Year’s resolution of better health? Aside from trying to lose weight, being conscious of what’s in your food can make a big difference in your health. You’d be surprised what you’ll find on that little label of food ingredients. There are several thousands of food chemicals, many of which can be detrimental to your health. Let’s look at a few of them.
#1 Aspartame
Aspartame was initially developed as an anti-ulcer medication. Because of its sweet taste, it started to be used as a sugar substitute in diet drinks. However, it has been linked to 75% of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA, such as headache, indigestion, and rashes. Aspartame and other sweeteners have been found to increase sugar and carbohydrate cravings while preventing the fat burning process.
#2 Artificial Food Coloring
Most people aren’t aware that food coloring is actually made from petroleum, which is probably something you don’t want in your body. Red, found in Kool Aid and other food products, is reported to cause adverse side effects, like allergies and asthma complications. Decomposed Red 40 can also be carcinogenic. Be aware that most processed foods contain artificial food coloring.
#3 Titanium Dioxide
Titanium dioxide is used to make food products look whiter, such as coffee creamer. This chemical has actually been banned in some countries because of possible toxicity. Although there is no clear evidence that titanium dioxide is harmful to humans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted its amount in any food or product to 1% or less.
#4 Monosodium Glutamate
MSG is used to induce obesity and diabetes in lab animals in order to conduct obesity studies. So what does it do to humans? Probably the same thing. Watch out for terms like yeast extract, textured vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast extract, and sodium caseinate. These food chemicals are used interchangeably with monosodium glutamate (MSG).
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