7 days to better health

tip #2

ditch the dye

the subject of synthetic food dye has come up with several different people this week, so i thought that this was a sign to talk about it!

it is a good idea to stay away from foods with any synthetic additives in it. artificial colors are actually pretty easy to avoid, once you get used to looking in the right areas for snacks. some feel that artificial coloring is harmless, but that's just not true. i think that it is important to remember that everything we put into our bodies causes some sort of reaction- whether that reaction be positive or negative is up to what you have chosen to eat.

back to food dyes. some of the hazards of these ingredients are:

• hyperactivity in children
• learning and visual disorders
• nerve damage
• most are carcinogenic (cancer causing)- this is due to the fact that most are derived from coal tar and petrochemicals
• some contain MSG
• reproductive disorders
• developmental problems

read that list again. anyone you know having trouble conceiving? any children you know having trouble concentrating? now, i am not going to simplify the matter and say that all reproductive problems, or attention problems are due to synthetic food dyes. the truth is that most artificial ingredients found in foods lead to these problems. think how detrimental this is to our children. their poor little bodies are just trying to do what they are designed to do, but then we throw chemicals at them in their food, their bath, their drinks, their rooms...it is no wonder to me that we are encountering the health and behavioral problems that we are.

i mentioned at the beginning of this post that food dyes are easy to avoid. there are candies, sprinkles and fruit leathers on the market today that are naturally flavored and colored. i have found that pretty much everything has a natural counterpart to it these days (including pop-tarts!).

bottom line here is to try to keep artificial ingredients out of our (and our children's) bodies. be vigilant about label reading- artificial colors may pop up where you'd never expect:

• 'healthy' chips
• soda
• ***cheese (ever wonder how cheese can be orange when it comes from white milk?)
• juice
• 'fruit' snacks
• medicine

one of the advantages of eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables is no labels to read- time saved at the market!

what do you think? in the next seven days can you begin to target and ditch the dye in your food?

i think you can.

for more on food dyes, check here or here.

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***edit: check the comment section for more info on the coloring of cheese.