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Are you still feeding your kids dyes and processed foods? Are you still eating that way, too? Now that September is here it is a great time to tweak your nutrition practices and incorporate some healthier choices into your daily lifestyle. Based on feedback I received from July's newsletter, I am going to run this one again....
Ever wonder about chemicals in our foods and what effects they have on our kids? Maybe you should.
In 2007, the UK's Food Safety Authority conducted a research project known as the Southampton Study which examined the effects of a certain mix of food dyes and a preservative called sodium benzoate on children. This study led to big name US companies voluntarily removing artificial colors, preservatives and aspartame from their products in that country, yet, not in the US. As a result, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (US) filed a petition in 2008 banning 8 different food dyes found in almost every food kids enjoy such as macaroni and cheese, cereal and juice. Dyes targeted for banning include Yellow 5, Red 40, Red 3 and Blue 2 among others. Did you know that even plain white marshmallows have blue dye in them? It's true. Michael Jacobson, the Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest stated that, "dyes exist to trick consumers and to make products attractive to young children."
The result? The FDA, in March of this year, voted 8-6 that manufactures don't need to put warning labels on products containing artificial colors but they did recommended that the FDA should continue to study the relationship between some added colors and hyperactivity. (MSNBC/CNN health). Huffingtonpost.com writers Laurie David (environmentalist, producer and author) and Robyn O'Brien (founder of Allergykidsfoundation.org and author of "The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick" and "What We Can Do About It") write in a recent blog, "for goodness sake, no more research necessary. Let's stop poisoning our own kids. Let's start assuming chemicals are dangerous until proven safe, not the other way around." They go on to encourage consumers to "support companies who use dyes derived from actual real food sources such as beet juices or powder, turmeric, berries, carrots and chlorella."
Andrew Weil, M.D., writes in a chapter of Spontaneous Healing that his concern with toxins, (environmental, pesticides and others) have to do with "long term compromise of the healing system and increased risks of cancer, immune dysfunction, and a variety of chronic ailments like Parkinson's disease."
It certainly makes you think when big name US companies voluntarily remove these toxins from products overseas due to research findings. I have done experiments in my own home and have found that when my kids eat or drink products containing chemicals, it has a direct impact on one of my children with regard to behavior and on my other child with suppressing the immune system and increasing susceptibility to environmental allergies and sickness. The good news: my kids notice it now, too. Does that mean they never eat these products? No. But when these products are removed from their diet, (and as they get older I encourage them to make their own choices in the matter), we notice their immune systems is stronger and that their behavior is more in balance when not interfered with from chemical overload.
Try your own experiment at home with your kids (or with yourself) this Fall. At the very least, it teaches our children life skills by listening to their bodies and noticing when they feel out of balance due to certain foods they may be eating.
Happy September!
Jill
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