WHAT ARE THEY PUTTING IN OUR FOOD?

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WHAT ARE THEY PUTTING IN OUR FOOD?
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No time for breakfast? How about a pop tart and a glass of fat-free Instant Breakfast?
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Only have half an hour for lunch and you've got to run to the Post Office? There's always canned soup or you could nuke a couple of slices of frozen pizza in the office microwave. Maybe just some peanut butter crackers from the vending machine. You can eat them in the car.
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Late getting home from work and the family is waiting for dinner? Open a box of macaroni and cheese and throw some hot dogs in a pot of boiling water.
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This sounds like a fairly healthy menu, doesn't it? Well think again. All of these items are highly processed foods and as such, regardless of what has been added to or subtracted from them, they are not consistent with what nature intended to be for human consumption. Additionally, they frequently contain large quantities of substances that should be limited in our diets.
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Look at a typical can of soup for example. Unless you buy the low-salt variety, you will probably find that there are between 800 and 1100 mg. of sodium per serving. That's about twice as much as a healthy adult needs and enough to literally blow the lid off a person with high blood pressure.
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The next time you go to the grocery store, read the ingredients labels on the boxes of convenience foods like Hamburger Helper, macaroni and cheese or Rice- a-Roni. You'll find that sugar and salt are among the main ingredients. (Ingredients are listed in order of percentage of content, by weight.) Even if you're not diabetic, an excess of sugar will, after an initial burst of energy, suppress white blood cell activity and deplete the body of essential vitamins and minerals. In addition to excess salt being dangerous to people with hypertension, it also increases the risk of kidney disease and osteoporosis.
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Now study a package of hot dogs or a frozen "TV dinner". Notice the salt and fat content. What percentage of the RDA for these nutrients is contained in just one little hot dog or a, not very satisfying, TV dinner? Some brands, of course, are better than others, like Healthy Choice and Smart Ones, but they still can't compare with freshly made food.
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Furthermore, these products are almost invariably made with bleached flour, highly processed sugar, white rice, and other processed grains. Yes, but they're enriched, you say. There is strong evidence that the vitamins and minerals added back into food that has been stripped of them, is not as well absorbed by the body as the naturally occurring variety. Also, trace elements, such as magnesium and zinc are lost in the processing and these are usually not added back in. While we may only need small amounts of these substances, we do need them. Fiber is also removed from processed grains and fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet.
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Hydrogenated oils are another highly processed element in many of the foods we eat. Hydrogenation converts liquid oil into hard fats by adding hydrogen. The most common examples are shortenings, margarine* and partially hydrogenated vegetable fats used for frying and in processed foods. Food producers like hydrogenated oil because it improves the shelf life, spreadability and texture of fat. It also increases the melting point thereby allowing for high temperature cooking such as deep frying and stir frying. However, one result of hydrogenation is the creation of trans fatty acids. Mono- and polyunsaturated fats that have been hydrogenated are still technically unsaturated fats but they can no longer perform the critical function of these nutrients. Trans fatty acids can interfere with the formation of the essential fatty acids, increase the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease the production of HDL (good) cholesterol. Since trans fatty acids are listed along with monounsaturated fats on nutrition facts labels (a misleading practice), it's best to check the ingredients list and see whether the product contains hydrogenated oil.
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Hydrogenated oils are just one of the thousands of additives and preservatives that may be added to processed foods. The Consumers Dictionary of Food Additives** lists eleven different ways in which your food may be processed including preserving agents; irradiation; "fresh refrigeration"; addition of acids, alkalies, buffers or neutralizers to control PH; moisture content controllers; coloring agents; flavorings, physiologic activity controls; bleaching and maturing agents or bread improvers; processing aids and nutrition supplements. It is estimated that approximately ten thousand different chemicals are used in the food processing industry. While the Food and Drug Administration attempts to regulate what goes into our food, it is an enormous task and only a small percentage of food additives have been thoroughly tested for long and short term effects on our health.
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In addition, some individuals, can have severe allergic reactions to food additives. Some of the most common additives that may wreak havoc in the lives of a few people are aspartame, benzoates, BHA and BHT, dyes and colorings, monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrates and nitrites, and sulfites. If you are among the handful of individuals who are highly sensitive to one of these sub-stances, the results can be devastating. The problem is that it can be so hard to track down what has caused a reaction when the processed foods we eat contain so many ingredients. Just start studying ingredients labels and you'll be amazed to find that some of the most common foods we eat contain dozens of components.
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As for MSG in particular, it's probably a good idea to avoid it as much as possible. MSG is the monosodium salt of glutamic acid. It occurs naturally in seaweed, soybeans and sugar beets. It is used in a concentrated form to enhance the flavor of a wide variety of foods including meats, condiments, pickles, soups and baked goods. Chinese restaurants have traditionally used a lot of MSG in their cooking and a group of symptoms including headache, chest pain, nausea and numbness has come to be known as "Chinese restaurant syndrome."
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Tests of MSG on laboratory animals have resulted in brain damage and reproduc-tive dysfunction. This may have con-tributed to the recent decision on the part of baby food manufacturers to remove the additive from their products. MSG is on the FDA's list of substances that need further study, even though they have declared that it does not demonstrate a hazard at current levels of use.
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One of the concerns with additives like MSG and coloring agents, which are in so many of the foods we eat, is the potential for a significant cumulative affect over the course of the day. Once again, the best option seems to be to eat a simple diet, containing mostly fresh fruits and vegetables and unprocessed grains. It's just as easy to grab a banana and some grapes in the morning as it is to take a pop tart out of the box. And you don't even have to toast them. How much trouble can it be to make a sandwich of multi-grain bread, fruit spread and all-natural peanut butter for lunch. And instead of that macaroni and cheese for dinner, how about some whole wheat pasta with a nice mushroom tomato sauce or some brown rice and red beans. Add some fresh greens to either of those dishes and you've got a healthy, well-balanced meal.
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* Many nutritionists now believe that butter is better for you than margarine.
** See Recommended Reading section for a review of The Consumers Dictionary of Food Additives

This article is intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this publication is intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical diagnosis and advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or health-care provider before starting any new diet or procedure involving your health. Prompt professional medical guidance is recommended for any health problem.