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5 Common Poisons in Everyday Prepackaged Foods
Photo credit: bigstock
Prepackaged foods are a major convince for modern life. You might think that you are safe because you read food labels, but there are so many things that food labels either don’t tell you or try to hide by using other words that you may not be familiar with.
You most likely believe that most prepackaged foods are safe to eat, but nothing could be further from the truth! Even if the food is safe, frequently the packaging is filled with toxic chemicals that leak out and get transferred into your food. Here is a list of the top 5 offenders you should avoid, which make up an almost unbelievable 70 per cent of our diet.
1. Food Dyes
Food dyes are found in almost every food you can imagine. If it’s packaged, it most likely contains one of the following dyes: blue1 or 2, green3, yellow 6, and red 3. All of the above dyes have numerous research studies proving that they are the cause of kidney problems, cancer of the bladder, thyroid disorders and many others.
Dyes can also be the underlying cause of ADHD and other behavior problems in children, promoting the European Union to ban foods that include these dangerous dyes.
Photo credit: bigstock
2. Aspartame
If you don’t know, this is an artificial chemical non caloric sweetener. It is found in diet sodas, and most other diet foods. Aspartame has also shown up in milk products designed for children.
Studies show that these artificial sweeteners confuse the brain into thinking that it has not consumed sufficient calories causing many people to overeat. Aspartame has been linked to numerous diseases including leukemia, kidney failure, and various cancers.
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3. Benzoates
This is a popular food preservative, meant to keep sodas from growing mold, but both sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate, are well known carcinogens that are associated with thyroid cancer. These cancer causing agents can build up when exposed to heat, light, and over time, can leach into the product inside the container.
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4. Vegetable Oils
In order to obtain oils from vegetables, companies must use a chemical process that involved hydrogen. This process turns palm, corn, and soybean oil into Trans fats. These are then used a preservatives that allows packaged foods to stay “fresh” for months, possibly even years.
Trans fats are well known to increase the risk of heart attacks, and blood clots.
Photo credit: bigstock
5. White Flours, rice, and pasta
White flour is highly chemically refined, and sometimes even bleached, whole grains. After this process, what was once a wholesome grain, no longer has any nutritional value to it, not even fiber! White flour foods are also quickly processed by the body into a high blood sugar level, which can be a root cause of diabetes.
!!! As if the cancer causing additives in prepackaged foods weren’t enough, the packaging itself is also dangerous. Most contain a chemical called bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA, and/or another chemical makeup, phthalate, more commonly known as DEHP. These are well known by researchers to interrupt the hormonal system and leads to fertility problems and brain disorders, not to mention heart disease, and various cancers. The chemical makeup of these packages transfers to the food inside, which is then transferred to our bodies.
The only sure way to avoid these dangerous and toxic additives is to cook fresh foods for you and your family and avoid packaged containers, including boxes, bags, or cans at all costs. Yes, this takes more time, and effort, however, isn’t your health, and the wellbeing of your family, well worth the trouble?
C.Jones
Apr 6, 2014 at 7:08 am
1) 4/5: its specified as HYDROGENATED oils when you must avoid it. regular oils are fine
2) RICE is not bad and should not be grouped with white flours and pasta…its actually a plant. you grow rice, you dont grow noodles. in fact, people SHOULD choose rice, espescially over white flour pastas. if someone is to cook homemade meals for their family and dont use even rice, then there isnt really many options for necesary grains.
Sharen
Apr 9, 2014 at 1:54 am
White rice is a high glycemic food and can raise insulin levels. Brown rice or forbidden (black) rice is much more nutritious and higher in antioxidants and fiber. And may I correct you about the fact that there aren’t many options other than white rice. There are other whole grains such as quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, teff to choose from nowadays.
C.Jones
Apr 9, 2014 at 6:19 am
yes, you are right about the rice, (I should have specified), but quinoa is really the one that most often is easily acsessible in some parts of the States (due to the way people are overtly obsessing over health foods as a fad and not becoming properly educated on it), and its actually not even a grain! (its a seed! I was shocked to learn that)