How are food additives harmful in our body?

1. 61

   holy lorieposted 13 years ago

   How are food additives harmful in our body?
   
   what can be the inconveniences of additives when they are added to processed food on our digestive system?
   
   

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2. 60

   Monisajdaposted 13 years ago

   I am not an expert but it seems simple to me. If it is something I wouldn't pick at a farmer's market why would I put it in my body? I know that Americans are used to eating processed foods and don't even realize what is inside but to me it really makes sense to eat only foods that are as close to where they come from - nature. This way I am not putting at risk my health. I really saw a difference a pure diet of natural fresh foods can make on a 3 year old vs a processed food with colorants (especially red dye in foods is really bad for kids, it can make them run amok), additives and sugars. I am all against additives, they are supposed to keep your food from going bad or add some extra flavors, I think it is all wrong to put chemistry on your plate. So many times we hear how something considered safe 10 years ago is now carcinogenic. Why risk? If you want a flavor try natural herbs and spices, if you want fresh - don't rely on preservatives that keep your food in room temperature on a shelf in a store for weeks, this just is not a common sense. Stick to old fashioned but healthy eating.

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3. 60

   FitnessTomposted 13 years ago

   Unfortunately, this is a vague question, through no fault of your own. There are simply so many additives that each harm you in different ways. I will try to generalize though.
   
   Most additives are linked to various cancers, weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression, sleep apnea, etc. The list really never ends.
   
   Most people might shrug that off thinking everything is linked to all those conditions, but the reality is, most of the time those conditions occur from your diet, not other factors. They affect you throughout your life, not just when you are older. -- Wish I could  that.
   
   Take a simple additive like High Fructose Corn Syrup. Going into detail about HFCS is beyond the scope of this answer, but feel free to read at http://midsectionfat.org/what-is-sucrose/
   
   Another excellent resource that really gets into all the different types of additives and diffrentiates the safe ones from the harmful ones: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

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4. 61

   holy lorieposted 13 years ago

   Thank you Monisadja and Fitness Tom for your contribution they really helped me and I hope that they will help anyone else who was in dark in what concerns additives .And the links helped to enhance my knowledge about HFCS and Sucrose.Thank you very much.It's just that natural foods are becoming scarce these days!!!I wonder whether there could be a way of stopping the use of additives or at least reduce them...

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5. 0

   Temirahposted 13 years ago

   Not all food additives are harmful - some are natural ingredients that are added for flavour or preserving.  Ascorbic acid's is a food additive.  Its E number is E300 and is otherwise known as Vitamin C - it's an antioxidant.  Salt and sugar are other examples.
   Chemical ingredients that the body can't fully process and get rid of are harmful to it because they can build up and become toxic.

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