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Scary Food Additives Part 1 is today. 

We will then move on to Part II + Part III. I could go on and on, but we’ll just stop right there for now.

It’s Halloween.

Scary looms everywhere.

Yesterday as I was skimming through the latest Safeway weekly ad, my eyes were immediately drawn to this one:

Of course, it’s not gluten free, but more than that, all I could think about was how perfectly Hostess named it: Scary Cakes.

There is nothing un-scary about the nastiness that goes into a product like this. It’s so nasty that the truth is I couldn’t even find the ingredients in this product. If you want the Hostess product ingredients, I think you have to contact them. This, by the way, is absolutely ridiculous to me.

I didn’t contact them because I don’t care. I won’t eat their scary products.

But it reminded me that I’ve been meaning to research and write more about food additives.

Scary Food Additives Part 1

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What is a Food Additive?

Simply put, a food additive is a food label ingredient that would take a Chemistry degree to pronounce.

The FDA describes food additives as, “any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result — directly or indirectly — in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food.”

In other words, a food additive does exactly what it describes: adds to food, but not necessarily in a good way.

What is the difference between a Food Additive and Food Preservative?

A food preservative is just a group of food additives.

Preservatives preserve food. Some are natural and okay (think: sugar and salt for canning).

Others are unnatural and additives (think: nitrates and sodium chloride).

Why do I have to avoid Food Additives if I have Irritable Bowel Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Many (not all) food additives are chemicals. Chemicals can and will irritate the digestive tract. Food additives will not only slow your gut-healing progress, but they will make it even worse as you develop a leaky gut (to counter, 31 specific things to heal a leaky gut).

If you aren’t already intolerant of or allergic to certain foods, continuing to eat food additives will likely cause a food intolerance to develop. Why? Because food intolerance can be triggered by food chemicals which cause reactions by irritating nerve endings in different parts of the body, rather in the way that certain drugs can cause side-effects in sensitive people.

Those who have IBS and/or IBD can even be affected by the direct (vs. indirect) food additives like Xanthan Gumand Carrageenans.

That’s it for today. Sounds so common sense; so simple, right? It is.

Knowing is only half the battle, though.

The other half is taking action.

Noodle on it. I’ll be back tomorrow with specific scary food additives.

p.s. Need some quick ideas for Tricks Not Treats? Check THESE out. Better yet, peruse my TREATS.

Xox,
SKH