The FDA is out there to look after our best interests, or are they? When you take a look at some of the food that many Americans are eating but other countries have outlawed, you may wonder why those toxic choices are still available. Are you eating anything on the following list? Your diet may just need to be adjusted.
1. Artificial food dyes – you will find these in many different types of foods from cereal and baked goods to sports drinks, macaroni and cheese and candy. Although they might make your food look appealing, they are created using chemicals derived from petroleum. That’s right, you are putting the same thing in your body that you are putting in your automobile’s gas tank.
2. Farmed salmon – we are constantly told that the omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon are good for us. That is true, but only if you are eating wild-caught salmon. If you are eating farm-raised salmon, you are eating fish that is being fed antibiotics, grains and a variety of drugs. The fish ends up with gray flesh, but it looks pink because they inject it with synthetic astaxanthin. Yummy.
3. Brominated Vegetable Oil – you can find this in citrus-flavored soda and sports drinks. It is made of many ingredients, including a poisonous chemical that is corrosive and toxic to the body. It is well known to cause organ system damage, schizophrenia and birth defects.
4. Olestra – fat-free French tries and potato chips are good for us, right? Actually, the oil substitute, Olestra is often used and it can keep your body from absorbing vitamins.
5. Azodicarbonamide – you can find this chemical in many of your frozen dinners, boxed pasta, packaged baked goods, and various breads. It allows flour to be bleached quickly. You often find it in foamed plastics and it could cause asthma.
6. Synthetic Hormones (rBGH and rBST) – leave it to the dairy industry to include these hormones in milk and dairy products. Synthetic hormones are bad, and I think all of us realize that fact by now. Why in the world are they still legal to use in the US? When cows are treated with those hormones stay develop inflamed udders and become infertile. Those hormones are also linked to breast, prostate and colon cancer.
7. BHA & BHT – find this yummy addition in butter, meat, cereal, gum, and mixed nuts. You would think they were good because they keep the food from going bad but the chemicals have caused cancer in rats and may just cause it in humans.
8. Arsenic – if you eat poultry, you are likely eating arsenic. It promotes the growth of chicken when it is put in the feed and improves pigmentation, making the flesh look pinker. Although it may look healthier, it’s not healthier because arsenic is a human carcinogen according to the EPA.
9. Potassium bromate – you will find this in flatbread, bagel chips, wraps, rolls and bread crumbs. Underneath, it’s the same chemical as brominated vegetable oil. Brominated flour decreases cost and baking time but it could cause kidney damage, nervous system damage, and cancer.