Episode 27: Common Food Additives – Should You Avoid Them?

While of course living an 80/20 or even 90/10 lifestyle leaves room for the occasional processed treat that may contain a few additives, it is important to know what is in the food that you eat on a regular basis and how it can affect you. When you take the time to thoroughly read all of the ingredients on a food label, how many of the words that you see are familiar, or that you can even pronounce? In this episode, we break down some of the most common food additives, how the scientific community classifies them, and what you should know about how they can affect the human body.

Episode 27: Common Food Additives - Should You Avoid Them?

by Chris & Amanda Rocchio

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Show Notes

While of course living an 80/20 or even 90/10 lifestyle leaves room for the occasional processed treat that may contain a few additives, it is important to know what is in the food that you eat on a regular basis and how it can affect you. When you take the time to thoroughly read all of the ingredients on a food label, how many of the words that you see are familiar, or that you can even pronounce? In this episode, we break down some of the most common food additives, how the scientific community classifies them, and what you should know about how they can affect the human body.

 

In this episode you’ll learn:

-What artificial flavors are and how they affect your body 

-About preservatives and why companies opt to use them 

– How artificial flavors are made 

– About Diacetyl, the products it is used in, and how heat affects it 

– That flavored popcorn can have high amounts of Diacetyl  

– How Amanda and Chris make homemade popcorn

– What monosodium glutamate (MSG) is and how it can affect the body 

– About artificial food coloring and its common uses and effects

– About a few  common foods that have artificial food coloring 

– Details on some of the main artificial colors to look out for: red #40, blue #1, yellow #5 and #6, caramel color 

– How artificial food colors can affect your genes 

– What the FDA stamp of approval means 

– About caramel color and it’s possible health effects 

– That artificial food colorings can promote hyperactivity in some

– About the link between food dyes and hyperactivity in children 

– That there are some healthier choices when it comes to choosing sweets

– That food coloring may affect ADHD symptoms in children 

– What it means when an artificial food dye crosses the blood/brain barrier 

– How the EU handles artificial food coloring in their products 

– How the elimination diet can help if you want to test how additives affect you 

– About the preservative propionate and how it may affect blood sugar levels, insulin sensitivity, and more 

– How the additives sodium nitrate and nitrite are made, what they’re commonly in, and how they can affect the human body

–  About sulfites and their link with asthma 

– About the common preservatives BHA and BHT and how they have been shown to affect the human body

– How packaging additives like bisphenol can affect food and in turn, your body 

– What BPS is compared to BPA 

– Why it’s better to avoid heating items that contain BPS and BPA 

– About products that commonly contain phthalates and why you may want to avoid them 

– Some common prefixes for parabens to look for 

 

Studies:

For Diacetyl (2,3-butanedione)

 

For MSG:

 

Food Coloring:

  • International Agency on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans: Agents Classified by the IARC Mongraphs, Volumes 1-125

 

Preservative Sources:

 

For BPA & BPS

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816743/