Because we have so much variety in everything, so-called modern-day food items, unfortunately, surround us. These food items have incredibly influenced the taste buds that we don’t like to eat anything other than them. But have we ever asked why these food manufacturers use preservatives in our food items? Well, we haven’t!
Greed has exponentially risen, and food manufacturing companies are doing their best to preserve the food items’ taste, color, freshness, and looks. For this, they are adding a substantial amount of preservatives that are toxic to our health.
Sugary drinks, junk foods, preserved foods, canned meats, flavored juices, cookies, pastries, candies, etc., are the primary and most consumed food items highly packed with toxic preservatives.
Harmful Preservatives & Toxins We Consume Unknowingly
Toxics and preservatives need to be eliminated. We cannot risk our lives more with these preservatives. But which toxins and preservatives have been used that need to be instantly eliminated from our diet plan? Here are some of the preservatives and toxins silently killing us all and becoming a prominent source of food allergies. For this, getting food allergy testing becomes mandatory. However, if you know these toxins and preservatives beforehand, you can take safe measures to save yourself from the least hassle.
- Propylene Glycol and Carboxymethylcellulose
We are the biggest fans of ice creams, but we are unaware that ice creams come with two added preservatives: propylene glycol and carboxymethylcellulose. But the most sinister and deadly of the two is propylene glycol.
It contributes to physical disorders in a person; these disorders are seizures, severe neurological symptoms, and also causes nausea or queer sensations. Most countries in the world have also discontinued the use of these two because of the dreadful results they yield.
- Sodium Nitrate
We love meat, but processed and canned meat comes with a deadly preservative, sodium nitrate. This preservative is added to meats like bacon, sausage, and hams.
We all eat these meats in our breakfasts but never fully acknowledge that they can cause stomach cancer because of their nitrous acid. Concerning the threat that it imposes on human life, several European countries, like Norway, Germany, Sweden, etc., have banned the use and sale of sodium nitrate.
- Sulfites
How many of you like to eat pancakes with lots of syrup or canned fruits and olives and add vinegar to your salad dressing? Well, there are many of you.
So break it to you that vinegar, wine, syrups, canned fruits, and canned olives are highly integrated with sulfites to make them fresh and edible even after months. As we unknowingly consume this preservative, this has become the prime reason for joint pain, headaches, asthma, and some cancer-leading diseases.
- Bisphenol-A (BPA)
Another chemical found in our food items is Bisphenol-A (BPA), which is added to plastic-contained foods that are commonly sold and beverages. Canned fish, vegetables, beans, and bottled water are a few.
Researchers have concluded that BPA level inside the body can only be determined with Urine. So, to keep it under control, we must quit the consumption of these food items.
- Trans Fat
Modern-day food items are primarily unhealthy and insufficient in nutritious value. And one reason is the excessive use of Trans fats in most of the things we eat on a regular basis.
Trans fats are not original fats and are created with hydrogen pumping into unsaturated oils to keep the flow running. Excessive consumption can cause inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc.
- Brominated Oil
We find bottled and flavored juices energizing. But little do we know that bottled juices are added with brominated oil to extend their lifetime. The consumption of brominated oil through bottled juice can trigger kidney problems and other heart diseases.
Moreover, their presence also increases fatty deposits in our liver and may risk our testicles, too, by withering them. Not all, but many countries have banned the use of brominated oil because of the harmful effects it has on human health.
- Benzoates
We all like to eat a pickle, margarine, and fruit puree, but they are loaded with sinister preservatives, such as benzoates. This preservative is the chief reason for causing allergies that may, unfortunately, lead to brain damage.
The fancy bottles and cans in the grocery stores of pickles, margarine, and fruit purees are intensely packed with benzoates. We must stop consuming these products at once to be safe from life-threatening diseases.
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are considered to be environmental pollution. They are produced when organic matter burns, but they are also present in food.
Fat drops onto hot cooking surfaces when meat is grilled or smoked at high temperatures, creating volatile PAHs that may seep into the heart. Grilled chicken and fish samples have been discovered to have comparable amounts of PAHs, even though red meat was formerly assumed to be the primary offender.
PAHs’ primary reason is that the diet is smoked and grilled meat. However, PAHs are also present in a variety of processed foods.
- Added Sugars
“Unfilled calories” are a common term for added sugars. But sugar’s negative consequences go far further than that.
Overconsumption of fructose-rich sugars, including high-fructose corn syrup, has been associated with a number of significant diseases
including diabetes and obesity.
- Mercury
Fish is a very healthy source of animal protein, but some deep-sea fish species can have high concentrations of the toxin mercury. This happens due to the pollutant moving up the marine food chain.
Little fish eat plants that thrive in mercury-contaminated waterways, while larger fish eat small fish. These larger fish eventually end up in the bodies of humans, where they gradually collect mercury.
Because mercury is a poison, it can harm the brain and nervous system. According to research, young children, expectant mothers, and nursing mothers are particularly at risk since mercury can disrupt the growth of a fetus and a child’s brain and neurological system.
The Final Words
Preservatives are highly toxic for us. They can cause several breathing problems, like asthma and bronchitis, heart problems, and obesity. Children can alter their behavior and bring noticeable changes. The best way to describe and label them is by saying, ‘they are silent killers among us, the ones that we let roam around us, despite sometimes knowing the danger they oppose to us.’ If we wish to live a healthy and wealthy life, eliminating preservatives and toxins from our foods is necessary.