Health and Fitness Care with Herbalife

Archive for September, 2009

There are a number of food additives that can challenge your health. These additives are particular substances that are added to specific foods in order to improve the appearance, the taste, and even to preserve the flavor that the food has. There are natural based additives and there are artificial based food additives. While additives have been used in various types of foods for hundreds of years, medical professionals have recently discovered that some of these substances can actually challenge the health. Here, you will learn about the food additives that you should avoid because of the fact that they compromise your health.

Additives to Avoid

1. Aspartame – This food additive is a type of artificial sweetener that is used in a number of products like beverages, cereals, over-the-counter medicines, sweeteners, and more. It has been found that this food additive can result in birth defects, cancer – especially in the brain, diabetes, seizures, emotional complications, and more.

2. Sodium Nitrate – Generally, this substance adds coloring and preserves foods like bacon, corned beef, and various types of sandwich meats. Individuals who ingested this additive on a regular basis often were found to suffer from cancers.

3. Sodium Chloride – You probably know this additive by the name “salt”. This substance has been linked to health complications like high blood pressure, stroke, and even failure of the kidneys!

4. BHT/BHA – This substance actually has a purpose of preserving foods like gums and cereals. Unfortunately, they are considered to be “oxidants” which can lead to cancer in various areas of the body.

5. White Sugar – We all know what white sugar is. This substance actually has no nutritional value whatsoever and can lead to health complications.

6. Propyl Gallate – This additive is often found in various types of meats. There is strong evidence to indicate that it may be linked to the development of various types of cancers.

7. Potassium Bromate – This additive is used to increase the volume of foods such as flour and various types of breads. When animals were studied to determine the side effects of this substance, it was found that they developed different types of cancers.

8. Monosodium Glutamate – This additive is often added to soups and similar substances to enhance the overall flavoring. It has been linked to damage in the nerve cells of the body and can result in nausea and even headaches.

9. Olestra – You can find this food additive in various types of potato chips. This can affect the body’s ability to properly absorb essential vitamins and nutrients. In addition to this, it has been linked to gastrointestinal complications such as cramping and even diarrhea.

10. Food Colorings – Food colorings that are blue, yellow, red, and green have all been linked to various types of tumors and cancers that can develop in the body.

There are many top cancer fighting foods out there. You just have to know where to look and to be informed. The main thing to remember when you are battling this disease or trying to prevent it, is to just keep it simple. Eating a healthy diet is so important. Try to avoid any kind of processed or prepared foods. If at all possible try to do some home cooking. When buying vegetables, buy organic. I know it’s expensive, but I can’t stress enough how important that is.

When fighting cancer, your body is already going through the battle of its life, you don’t want to ingest even the smallest amount of pesticides. Even if you are trying to prevent cancer or just for overall health, organic fruits and vegetables are the best way to go. Cruciferous vegetables which are broccoli, kale, bok choy, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage are a powerhouse of cancer fighting properties. Eating these foods lightly cooked or raw provides the best in cancer protection. Also, look for the dark green leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce, collards, spinach and beet leaves.

Adding garlic to your diet is huge. People who eat raw or cooked garlic daily, cut their risk for stomach and colorectal cancer from those who eat little or nothing at all. Citrus fruit such as lemons, limes, grapefruit and oranges are loaded with vitamin c, which mean a lot of antioxidants. That’s a really good thing, believe me. Strawberries, blueberries and cranberries are also huge in the antioxidant department.

Tomatoes have what is called lycopene which sets this and other red fruits apart. Eating lycopene rich foods has a great impact on protecting against cancers of the stomach, colon, lung, throat, breast and prostate. Just snack on some watermelon, and red grapefruits, slice up a tomato, add a little olive oil. A small change like that can add lycopene to your diet.

Selenium is a trace mineral which is also an antioxidant. Brazil nuts are high in selenium and one or two a day is enough. Other foods high in selenium are chicken, seafood and mushrooms.

If trying to eat all this food on a daily basis sounds a bit daunting, try juicing . I know juicers can be expensive, but believe me when I say, it’s worth it. For those of us who don’t want to chew our veggies, drinking them is just as nutritious.

Just remember there are a lot of top cancer fighting foods out there. The key to good health is proper nutrition and exercise. You can’t have one with out the other. They are a team and they go together, there’s no way around that.