I know you should avoid nitrates/nitrites, MSG and a plethora of other chemistry class soup of preservatives and additives.
But if I am trying to eat healthy and avoid chemicals that could be dangerous, which ones should I be avoiding? I read the ingredients on what I buy, but how do I know which are benign and which are to be avoided?
If you want to eat healthy, worry less about additives and preservatives and worry more about the good old-fashioned killers:
Salt (Sodium)
Total Fat
Cholesterol
Carbohydrates
See, I would have said less about additives and preservatives and more about salt, fat, cholesterol, calories, and serving size. Depending on what you mean by ‘healthy.’ If you mean maintaining weight or losing it, serving size and calories. If you are concerned more about heart disease and high blood pressure, salt, fat, and cholesterol. If you are already reasonably healthy and want to maintain that state, worry less about labels and more about fresher foods from a wide variety of sources prepared in a healthy way, like steamed, not fried or frozen, not canned. I am not a fan of eliminating certain types of foods from the diet since all nutrients are needed in some amount in the body.
All the things on your food label are benign in reasonable amounts, if they weren’t…they would not be allowed into your food.
You do know that all of these are essential for living, right? Yes, you should generally limit them, but don’t attempt to cut them out completly by any means. Salt especially is not really that bad for you. AFAIK, it doesn’t cause high blood pressure, but if you already have hypertension, than an excess of sodium can be bad. But in a healty adult, as long as you get enough water, you generally don’t have to worry about sodium.
And as for fat, the biggies are saturated and trans fats. Polyunsaturated are better for you, but even monounsaturated is ok. And of course those omega 3 fatty acids are good for you, but I don’y know of fatty acids are actualyl fat.
Carbs are not bad in and of themself, but the simpler carbs (white sugar, refinded carbs, generally most “white carbs”) aren’t as good for you as more complex carbs, like brown rice, whole grain bread, and beans.
And as far as “random chemicals” go, if they were as “deadly” and “poisonous” as some people would lead us to believe, they wouldn’t be allowed in our food, plain and simple. And AFAIK, there is nothing linking MSG to any of the ill effects people claim it causes. MSG occurs naturally in several foods, including tomatoes and mushrooms. So I guess those foods are evil and deadly? :rolleyes:
Avoid hydrogenated oils, which result in trans fats.
And if X-rays were dangerous they wouldn’t have been allowed in shoe stores.
Trans fats aren’t listed on labels just yet. Some products list them.
But if you see “hydrogenated” in the ingredients, it’s got trans fats. Like in peanut butter.
They’re not so heart-healthy.
There aren’t very many things that are dangerous in moderation. The stuff on your top line is just scare tactics. If you are looking for rather common ingredients to absolutely avoid, I can’t really think of any.
Nutrition isn’t created by staunchly avoiding things or making a lopsided diet based on the book of the day. It just means eating a nice mix of things that include all the food groups.
It is the FDA’s job to make sure that the stuff in the store is generally safe to eat. It is your job to just follow a nice, sensible diet that includes most things and is too heavy on none.
As of January 1, 2006, labels are required to list trans fats.
High Fructose Corn Syrup, especially where it doesn’t belong.
For example: in Pop-Tarts, HFCS belongs.
In a can of whole tomatoes, HFCS *doesn’t belong. Read labels and avoid brands that sweeten unecessarily with HFCS. You’ll be suprised where it crops up.
Its not so much that it is a Deadly Poison ™, so much as that it increases caloric content in an unecessary and easily avoided way.
I don’t see what you mean. X-rays ARE dangerous, and AFAIK are NOT located in shoe stores. However, in places where they are used, they are used safely and with the proper protection.
Obviously eating a pound of MSG or nitrates is going to be very bad (deadly) for you. But the amounts that are in food are tested by the FDA or the USDA (I forget which one) to be perfectly safe to eat.
Exactly. That’s the point. Thanks for playing the straightman.
Thanks, TokyoPlayer!
The fact that certain substances are allowed in our food is not an argument that they are safe.
So…you’re using the fact that half a century ago, before the full negative effects of x-rays were fully understood, they were used more extrensively and without as much government regulation as the basis for the argument that things we eat aren’t safe?
If you can point me to some studies that actually prove (or at least make a very good argument) that these chemicals actually cause harm to people then maybe I’ll concede my point.
Well, we really don’t know the long-term effects of all the additives we put into food, either singly or in combination.
However, we really don’t know the long-term effects of the chemicals - including fats, proteins, and carbohydrates - that are in food, either singly or in combination.
And we sure don’t know how the two groups work together.
What we do know tells us pretty much what we might suspect: some of these chemicals are more harmful to some people than others of these chemicals.
Everything else is just violent debate. 
However, I can add some history. The Food Additives Amendment passed in 1958 still controls substances added to foods. They are put into three major classifications:
In 1969 the Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) was charged with evaluating the status of additives, and finally produced a report in 1980 that covered 415. They were placed into five classes, 1 - GRAS with no limitations; 2 - GRAS with some limitations; 3 - GRAS with continued testing required; 4 - ensure GRAS status by establishing safe usage conditions or remove from food; and 5 - insufficient data. (Some of the 415 substances were additives and use the same classification scheme.)
Salt, BTW, was deemed a Class 4. The additives BHT and BHA were put in Class 3. Calcium cyclamate was prohibited. Coumarin in vanilla flavor was prohibited. Food colorers are not part of GRAS, but a few of those too have been prohibited.
Many newer ingredients have no GRAS status at all, like stevia. Soy protein has no GRAS status, and there is a debate on whether it should even be considered for GRAS.
GRAS status does change with new information. The nature of science is that things change. The FDA issues GRAS notices on a regular basis.
So is everything GRAS really GRAS? I don’t know, but I know more testing needs to be done on many items. Are all additives GRAS? See above. Can we say for sure that Class 2 items are limited in the proper way? See above. Will opinions on GRAS status change? Yes.
Should the OP be more worried about trans fats, empty sugars, too many calories and the other known problems of the average American diet than “chemicals”? My opinion is yes. Adhering to the classic diet that people with no diet books to pitch recommend - lean meats, whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, limited fats and sugars, small portions - along with regular exercise is going to be far healthier than worrying about nitrates or MSG. That is not the same thing as saying there is nothing to worry about concerning nitrates or MSG or any number of other additives. Just that one is, ahem, small potatoes next to the other.
I think, of everything on the list, nitrates is one of the only ones known to be harmful in realistic doses.
Every time some 100+ year-old gets interviewed on TV, they mention either olive oil or yogurt as the thing that allowed them to live so long. Never in combination, though.
I went veg for a year. I felt a lot better, but that meat craving was overwhelming. It was worth a shot.
I remember them mostly saying whiskey and cigarettes. Makes you wonder whether unjustifiable anecdotes have any place in medical science at all!
skip the crappy versions of alot of food,
someone mentioned Peanut Butter as a source of trans fats thanks to Hydroginated or Partially Hydroginated oils this is true…unless you get a brand like “Adams” I have a jar whos entire engredients list consists of Peanuts.
read the labels on the food you buy. I became extremely dairy intolerant at 24 and started reading labels looking for hidden milk, it changed the way I eat and shop.
look for calorie vrs fat content as well. for example that same jar of peanut butter is 210 calories per 2 tbsp but 150 of those are from fat still not exactly healthy food but its better for you than the big label brands.
If you want to eat “healthier” then my vote for what to avoid would be processed foods in general. Simply make sure the majority of your diet comes from fresh foods. They taste better and don’t have pesky labels to read.