How to Reduce the Intake of Food Additives?
Ever wondered what makes your ready-to-cook pasta, chips, two-minute noodles, bottled juices, or any ready-made food product taste yummy and stay fresh forever? Your search ends here. Food preservatives and additives are what make them stay fresh, luscious, and appetizing. The delectable foods you enjoy having are actually harming your health without your knowledge. Do not worry; here are a few tips you could follow to reduce the intake of these chemicals.
1. Have Processed Foods in Moderation
Undoubtedly, processed foods are time-savers, but did you know, such processed foods like processed meat (hot dogs, sausages, ham), packaged juice, canned veggies, soft drinks, etc., contain considerable amounts of sugar, salt, fat, coloring agents, flavor enhancers, and preservatives? For this reason, the potato chips that you bought from a grocery store tasted better than the ones you made. Consuming them regularly definitely takes a toll on your health. Please consider reducing intake of such foods. You can enjoy them without guilt if you consume them once in a while.
2. Choose Fresh
You can try swapping processed foods with fresh or frozen fruits, veggies, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Fresh foods can be bought directly from local farmers. These foods contain minimal to no additives and are your healthy diet alternatives. Consuming foods in their natural form retains nutrients and eliminates ill health effects.
3. Read Before You Buy
If you are buying packed foods, firstly, look for the ingredients and nutrition facts on their package or label and compare them with similar products from other manufacturers. You can opt for minimally processed foods with fewer additives. Search for terms like sodium chloride, sucrose, blue#2, silicon dioxide, and especially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are bad for your heart.
4. Be Mindful of Indirect Additives
Would you believe us when we say that the attractive packages these processed foods come in can also make you sick? You have to because the chemicals used in the cardboard, plastic sheets, coloring dyes, glues, and paper coatings used to secure the food can eventually mix up with the food inside. On the whole, it is better to limit packed, processed, on-the-go foods and switch to organic foods straight from the fields.
Not all packed foods with food additives are harmful. Choose wisely. These additives are a double-edged sword. In some instances, as an effort to save our time, they are being added to prolong the shelf-life of foods and preserve them for more extended periods to consume them instantly but only at the expense of our health. Time is unquestionably precious but not more than our lives.
