What are you eating?
In the modern food processing methods, nutrients, flavors, and colors are lost. Textures are changed.
The end result is something very unappealing and tasteless to eat.
So, synthetic vitamins and minerals, food additives, preservatives, and bright artificial colors are added back in.
Most of the flavorings and colors are synthesized from raw materials obtained from either coal or petroleum. Yum!
Food Flavorings
Vanilla extract comes from vanilla beans, but the process takes a lot of labor and land to produce, so chemists have gotten crafty in the materials they've used to make synthetic vanillin in a lab.
German chemists Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann found they could replicate vanilla by using chemical compounds from coal in 1874.
This was a huge innovation for the flavor industry - which would grow to the $25 billion industry that it is today - because it meant scientists could make a synthetic form of vanilla by using something other than the vanilla bean. By the 1930s, artificial vanillin became mainstream in US households.
In 2006, Japanese researcher Mayu Yamamoto figured out how to extract vanillin from cow poop. She was awarded the Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize at Harvard University for this development.
Wow, what an accomplishment! Now that will surely give us all a better peace of mind with our food supply!
Why would anyone consider such an outlandish idea and use their time and energy or resources to strive for it?
There should be outrage - not commended by a prestigious school.
Studies suggest that artificial flavoring can cause nervous system depression, dizziness, chest pain, headaches, fatigue, allergies, brain damage, seizures, nausea, genetic defects, tumors and cancers. There are over 3,000 different types of artificial flavorings. Aspartame (NutraSweet), one of the most dangerous food additives on the market, consists of three components, with one of them being methanol (wood alcohol). Methyl alcohol, after it is taken up by the body into susceptible tissues like the brain, converts rapidly into formaldehyde. This causes severe damage to proteins and DNA that can contribute to many chronic diseases.
According to Dr. Woody Monte, professor emeritus at Arizona State University in food and chemistry, if methyl alcohol is removed from aspartame - as easily happens when drinks sweetened with it are exposed to higher temperatures- it no longer tastes sweet.
This is precisely what happened to most of the diet soda sent to the Middle East for US troops. They received non sweet sodas that were loaded with dangerous levels of methanol which is more or less like drinking straight poison when it's in this already broken down state.
Aspartame increases lymphomas, leukemia and brain tumors, even in small doses.
The FDA recently approved a new high-intensity sweetener, Advantame, which is made from combining aspartame with the artificial flavor vanillin. It's 20,000 times sweeter than sugar.
The FDA does require label information about aspartame to warn individuals about its presence in foods, but they do not require this with Advantame.
Sucralose (Splenda) is sugar bonded to chlorine, making it a toxic chlorocarbon. It causes neurological side effects of headaches, migraines, dizziness, brain fog, anxiety, depression, and tinnitus.
Sodium Benzoate is a water soluble preservative salt found in many soft drinks, energy drinks and other processed foods.
The combination of sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), creates benzene - a highly carcinogenic linked to leukemia and lymphoma. Diacetyl, a compound that gives popcorn the artificial butter flavor.
It causes “microwave popcorn lung” - lymphocytic bronchiolitis.
Diacetyl is a neurotoxin able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
It would be labeled as “artificial butter flavor” or “natural flavors.” Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a dangerous flavor enhancer and preservative. It is ubiquitous in processed foods, hidden under "code" names the FDA allows because they do not have to label ingredients that contain free glutamic acid, even though it's the main component of MSG.
There are over 40 labeled ingredients that contain glutamic acid.
In some foods glutamic acid is formed during processing and so, the food labels will not give you information.
Hidden names:
glutamate, glutamic acid, natural flavorings, spices/seasonings,
hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, gelatin,
calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, yeast nutrient,
textured protein, autolyzed yeast, and hydrolyzed oat flour
These can contain or create MSG during processing:
natural chicken flavoring, natural beef flavoring, bouillon, stock,
anything enzyme modified, maltodextrin, anything protein fortified,
soy protein isolate, soy protein, anything ultra-pasteurized, malt
flavoring, and malt extract.
In the 1960's, neuroscientist Dr. John Olney found that MSG not only destroyed retinal vision cells, but also parts of the brain. Not only does it cause brain damage and lead to nervous disorders, but it also causes radical hormone fluctuations.
A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that adults who consumed the most MSG were most likely to be overweight.
Common adverse effects linked to regular consumption of MSG, include: obesity, eye damage, headaches, fatigue and disorientation, depression, rapid heartbeat, tingling and numbness.
According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, an author and neurosurgeon, there is a link between sudden cardiac death, particularly in athletes, and excitotoxic damage caused by food additives like MSG and artificial sweeteners. Excitotoxins are a group of excitatory amino acids that can cause sensitive neurons (brain cells) to die." Benzoyl peroxide - bleaches flour - research shows it can cause liver damage in lab mice.
Potassium Bromate is an additive used in bread doughs to increasethe volume and produce a fine crumb structure.
Bromate is a carcinogen that has been banned throughout the world, except for in the United States and Japan.
BHA and BHT - are used to keep oily foods from going rancid.
They can cause organ system toxicity. National Toxicology Program says BHA is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," but the FDA says the small amounts it permits for use in food are safe.
Sodium Nitrite (Sodium Nitrate) is a preservative, coloring and flavoring in many pork products, luncheon meats, corned beef, smoked fish and other processed meats. It can lead to the formation of nitrosamines - carcinogenic chemicals.
Other food additives to avoid: propyl paraben, propyl gallate, theobromine, acesulfame-K, olestra, and hydrogenated vegetable oil/trans fats.
Food Dyes
In 1973, Dr. Benjamin Feingold presented an article that pediatric
hyperactivity and learning problems were due to certain foods and
food additives. Based on his own clinical observations, he believed
that his patients were often sensitive to foods containing natural
salicylates, AFCs, and flavors, and he devised a diet free of these
substances. Feingold also eliminated 2 preservatives (butylated
hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole, which he thought also
led to hyperactivity and claimed that 60 to 70 % of the children he
treated improved.
Of course, his work was generally criticized by the medical and
pharmaceutical fields.
In 1994 a Rowe study examining food dyes’ effects on 200 children and found that 75% of parents noticed an improvement in behavior and attention once dyes were eliminated from their child’s diet.
In 1997 Dr. Neil Ward, a chemist, measured the zinc excretion of children and determined that upon exposure to food dyes, ADHD children excrete zinc excessively. Deficiency of this important mineral is related to behavioral problems such as seen in ADHD.
A 2007 study commissioned by the British Food Standards Agency linked a mix of food dyes with increased levels of hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder and lower IQs in typical/ordinary children.
According to the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, artificial food coloring and food dyes have been found to cause damage to DNA.
The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl - known carcinogens.
Another dye, Red 3 (Erythrosine) , was acknowledged in 1990 by the FDA to be a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs.
And yet it is in sausage casings, oral medication, maraschino cherries, baked goods, and candies.
Does this make sense?
The Lancet conducted a study that concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate - found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings - do in fact, cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible. **The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes do as much damage to children's brains, as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.**
In 2009 "Prescrire International" published a paper that found that artificial food coloring increased hyperactive behavior in already hyperactive children. In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded:
“Exposure to food and food components, including artificial food colors and preservatives, may be associated with adverse behaviors, not necessarily related to hyperactivity, in certain susceptible children with ADHD and other problem behaviors, and possibly in susceptible children from the general population.”
The FDA still maintains that the artificial food coloring currently permitted for use meets safety requirements.
Never assume - Florida oranges & their juice are not what you think:
Citrus Red #2 is a yellow/orange color additive, or food dye, approved for use by the FDA in 1956 in orange peels. It is allowed to be used for the orange peel because early in the season, some oranges might not be "orange" enough. It's typically added to juice oranges.
Once the juice is squeezed, it is then put into aseptic storage in gigantic vats, stripping the juice of oxygen, a process known as “deaeration,” so it doesn’t oxidize in the vats in which it can be kept for upwards of a year. This also removes the natural orange flavor.
So juice companies hire flavor and fragrance companies, the same ones that make perfumes for Dior, to create these “flavor packs.”
Any taste difference between Minute Maid and Tropicana is therefore due to the specific flavor pack the company uses. Since these flavor packs are made from orange byproducts, they don’t have to be considered an ingredient, and therefore are not required to appear on food labels. This is despite the fact they are chemically altered.
The packs added to juice earmarked for the North American market tend to contain high amounts of ethyl butyrate.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Hazardous Substance fact sheet:
Ethyl Butyrate is a colorless liquid with a pineapple-like odor. It is used in flavorings, extracts and perfumery, and as a solvent. It can affect you when breathed in and by passing through your skin. It can irritate the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. Overexposure may cause headache, nausea, vomiting and make you feel dizzy and lightheaded. Higher levels can make you pass out.
It says 100% juice, but it's still 100% artificially flavored.
Industry insiders say the formula for fresh orange flavor is as elusive as the formula for Coke.
Just a side note: Tropicana is owned by PepsiCo and Minute Maid and Simply Orange are owned by Coca-Cola.
Citrus Red #2 is toxic to rodents at modest levels and causes tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs.
Arizona and California banned the use of this in their oranges.
Former FDA employee, Kent J. Davis, wrote in an internal FDA memo:
“Citrus Red 2 then becomes an intolerable human health hazard if only from the amounts consumed from fingers after peeling oranges treated with this dye.(Some additional dye may be ingested with peel or orange.)
The continued certification and use of this color may also be a violation …of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as amended which prohibits use of any carcinogenic color additive for uses which may result in ingestion of part of such additive.”
It doesn't stop with our food supply either as dyes are found in personal care products such as shampoos, soaps, lotions, toothpastes, and laundry detergents, over the counter medicine products, clothes, etc. Combine that with the other numerous chemicals in many of these products like parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, Quaternium 15, and toxic fragrances to name just a few, gives you an idea how one's health can be under constant assault.
You should always be reading labels and able to understand what the ingredient lists state. If you cannot and/or there is a long list of ingredients, then you should seriously reconsider the purchase.
Our "convenient" world is playing havoc with our health.
The basics of eating a healthy diet is essential and should not be displaced in value to the many "wants and desires" of the world.
Contrary to popular philosophy, growing older does not mean that one is to grow decrepit.
z'"And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died:
his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated"
Deut. 34:7
"I am this day fourscore and five years old (85yrs). As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in".
Caleb speaking in Joshua 14:10-11
We live the "law of harvest" daily. You may not see the results at this moment, from poor diet choices, but they are cumulative. It's easier to prevent a disease than to treat one.
A priority, of taking the time and putting forth the effort of making wholesome, nutritional meals, should be at the top of everyone's list.
The unity and fellowship of sharing those meals with loved ones is essential as well.
I hope this was beneficial to you. My goal is to help provide the information that you need to make wise lifestyle choices.
Ramona