Day 4 of Turning Your Kitchen Upside Down: None of This! Part 2

Let's pick up where we left off and see the third category of additives we want to avoid...

Artificial Preservatives

According to Strickland:

A preservative is a natural or human-made chemical that is added to food products to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi, inhibit oxidation, and prevent changes in the food's color, odor, and taste.

There are two categories: Natural and Artificial
Good guys: salt, sugar and vinegar, and the processes of freezing, pickling, smoking, and salting.
Bad guys:  Most concerning are butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA).  "They are fat-soluble phenol compounds approved by the FDA to be used as an antioxidant food additive.  They're also used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products and embalming fluid"(Strickland).  Commonly found in cereal, chewing gum, and high-fat foods such as potato chips and shortening.

Bottom line: Beware of acronyms on your food products

Why are they on the no list?
Generalization of claims: promotes certain forms of cancer and tumors, various health problems, behavioral problems, respiratory problems, and aggravate ADD and ADHD symptoms in some children.

More quotes by Strickland to prove a point:

Artificial preservatives do affect your child.  A research study conducted in New York City Public Schools showed that when artificial additives, including preservatives, were eliminated from the school food program, the students' academic performance increased and disciplinary problems decreased. 

She goes on to say...

Many countries, such as Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia have banned BHT from use in foods, but the United States has not yet followed suit.  However, the United States has banned it from being used in baby foods.  Many food industries have voluntarily eliminated BHT from their foods and replaced it with the preservative, BHA, but there are also serious concerns about BHA.  After conducting animal studies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that it's reasonable to assume that BHA is a human carcinogen (cancer forming).  Researchers also suspect that people with dysfunctional detoxification systems (or whose bodies have trouble eliminating toxins from their system) may have difficulty processing both BHT and BHA.

Artificial Sweeteners

These human-made compounds that are much sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) and have been controversial for a long time in the medical community. 
There are three most people recognize by name.

Saccharin (Sweet'N Low)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal)

Bottom line: If you must have sugar, it should actually be sugar (more on sugar in Day 5's post)

Why are they on the no list?
Generalization of claims: negative affect on child's brain function, mood and behavioral problems

More quotes by Strickland to prove a point:

Though all of these artificial sweeteners are approved by the FDA, there's still much debate surrounding their long-term safety, especially for children who could potentially have decades of continued exposure.  It's important to understand that just because a food additive has been approved by the FDA as GRAS, this doesn't necessarily mean it's safe for our children.  Aspartame is a perfect example of this fact.  I urge you to be cautious and eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your child's diet.

Clearly, there's enough research just in this book - not to mention countless other books, research papers and information you can find online (see Day 3 of Turning Your Kitchen Upside Down: None of This! Part 1 for my favorite blogs on the subject) - to convince you to take a second look at your lunch today and ask, "what am I actually eating?"  A peach, or a can of peaches with a side of sucralose?  Did you have cereal this morning or corn, wheat and Blue 40 with a side of BHT?

How are you doing on eliminating additives?

We have made a great start but we're not done reading labels yet.  Be sure to check for Day 5 when we talk about the dreaded trans fat, highly processed foods and refined sugar.

This post is a part of a series.  To catch up, read:

Day 1 of Turning Your Kitchen Upside Down...in a good way!
Day 2 of Turning Your Kitchen Upside Down: Getting the Crew On Board
Day 3 of Turning Your Kitchen Upside Down: None of This! Part 1