The Dangers of Processed Foods, an Article Commentary

Today, another article from DeepRootsAtHome crossed my screen on the dangers hidden behind the term “natural flavour”, sharing how Chemical Flavorists ensure “you can’t eat just one”, admitting that what they create literally is addictive.  They shared how they create these flavours in the lab.

I would add to what she shares on the “natural flavours” front, that sometimes, the “natural flavour” isn’t lab-created, it’s stolen from other foods! I will never forget the supposedly vegan chicken cutlets left in my freezer after our boarder left, and deciding to eat one, thinking that because there’s no chicken in it, I won’t have a reaction. When I had the same reaction to these supposedly “vegan” cutlets, I was angry! For two reasons!!! One: They lied to their buyers, maintaining the levels of enzymes necessary to break down animal products in the digestive system by including animal products in their vegan fake food, and TWO: They hid the lie under the term “natural flavouring”. Nevermind the rest of the ingredient list that makes these things “highly processed foods”.

Now that my adult son has developed a sensitivity to pecans, and pecans get used in such treats as Turtles and the like, I made an executive decision about a package of various flavoured cocoa mixes we were given, one of which is supposed to taste like Turtles. “Natural flavouring” is all they will say. so not knowing if it’s lab-generated, or the real thing, I’ve told my son not to touch those packets.

We’ve learned that real ingredients get hidden under nebulous names so they don’t have to tell Health Canada everything that is in their products! Preparing to sell my daughter’s teas, some of her wildcrafted ingredients can only be listed under “flavourings” because they are not deemed by Health Canada as being actual foods! Peppermint for example, is considered a flavorant, not a food.

Food colourings have already developed a history of hyperactivity in children going back to the 70’s growing up (my brother as a kid) and maybe earlier than our lifetimes.

Then there is the subject of MSG, monosodium glutamate. Would you believe it was only back in the early 70’s, when MSG was actually being promoted as healthy??? It was a paper in my professional reading recently, in a 1974 journal, where this was being discussed! The discussion was around various forms of glutamate, glutamic acid, glutamine, and somehow, levels of MSG that would make me black out, were listed as beneficial!!! Knowing what we know now, and what I’ve personally dealt with as a result of MSG, I beg to differ! It’s far healthier on that note alone, to go with foods containing glutamine, NOT MSG!

The food list the author gives in her article is by no means complete, but she wants you to start label-reading, reading those ingredient lists in a more careful, educated manner, so that you can avoid many of the health pitfalls for yourself and your kids. These ingredients are why Mercola tries to steer you away from shopping in the middle aisles of the grocery store, and spend more time around the outer edges.

Having said that, when you reach the dairy aisle, skip the coloured cheeses. Cheese is not normally orange, that’s a food colouring additive that you don’t need! In the meat aisle, be careful of ingredient lists that mention colour or added flavour in processed meat products (such as the image above). Skip the bread aisle and head to the bakery aisle instead, and learn to make your own bread stuffs at home, whether that’s yeast breads, flat breads, wraps, etc. If you buy in the bulk section, check for any ingredient lists there too for things like maraschino cherries and other coloured dried fruits. Check for flavourings in the trail mix blends and perhaps instead, buy the raw/roasted items separately to blend your own trail mix, party mix, etc at home. Just don’t do the cereal party mixes unless you actually have products on the shelves that don’t contain flavourings, colourants, preservatives, etc.

Not only have additives made people’s palates more “discerning” shall we say, or more picky in reality, but they’ve also made people turn their noses up at the real thing when they eat it. The real thing in some cases isn’t as flashy or flavour-bursting when made at home. But when it comes to produce, the wild versions are often a stronger flavour than what you find in the produce section at the store, although we find personally that Desert Parsley is a gentler flavour than domestic parsley sold in-store. Wild strawberries are literal flavour bombs however! What you grow in your garden or forage in the wild is often less sweet than what you find in store as well. Sugar, colour, and flavour sell! If you can choose to retrain your palate away from sweet, your body will thank you, and your food options will expand. Expanded food options are necessary as processed food plants get sabotaged. You don’t need what they create anyway, to be honest. But for everyone who refuses to take their food choices and their personal health seriously, those plants being destroyed will come home to roost in coming months, big time!

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