23/1/11
Being in good health doesn’t just happen. It takes some personal commitment and focus – get it right and it can ensure you enjoy better energy
levels and mental clarity. Of course being fit and flourishing as we age is another huge benefit too.
One of the ways you can enjoy optimal health is by using antioxidants to limit free radical damage in your body, which accelerates aging.
Free radicals are triggered by poor diet, pollutants and stress, damaging everything they touch in your body. They are also a normal outcome
of your body’s metabolism too but you can minimize those effects by maintaining good health.
Fortunately good quality antioxidants help to mop up free radicals and neutralize them, reducing the damage they cause to your “good” cells.
In your body you will have varying levels of antioxidants made from vitamins, minerals, and some specific natural elements called thiols (glutathione
and alpha-lipoic acid). This thiol glutathione has a unique role. It seems to keep all the other antioxidants performing at peak level.
So Glutathione is one of the most powerful antioxidants in your body. It is present in every cell in your body. It's different from other
antioxidants as it’s actually inside your cells. It can maximize the activity of all the other antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, CoQ10, alpha
lipoic acid, grape seed and papaya extract and the fresh veggies and fruits you eat every day.
So the main function of glutathione is to protect your cells from free radical damage. As might be expected, the aging process reduces your body's
ability to produce glutathione. Glutathione is critical for liver detoxification and can become depleted by alcohol consumption and general toxic overload.
Exercise and foods like raw milk products, raw eggs and raw meat have the highest concentrations of Glutathione. But who wants to eat those? It’s
almost entirely absent in pasteurized dairy products. But is also available in fresh fruit and vegetables (uncooked). Spinach, potatoes, asparagus,
avocado, squash, okra, cauliflower, broccoli, walnuts, garlic, and tomatoes are the highest plant sources of this antioxidant.
Quality health supplements can help with vitamin deficiency and very often people make the mistake of taking too many vitamins and in high doses.
This is unnecessary, wasteful and can contribute to kidney and liver damage. If you take the right combination of a good quality multi-vitamin then
the balance in your body is maintained and you get the ongoing benefits of healthy aging. That’s why Health Script’s AM PM Dual Pack of 35 vitamins
and minerals has more antioxidants than most leading brands – and Glutathione is included in the mix. www.heathscript.co.nz
6/1/11
After reading research around food additives, the forces of fate conspired to deliver a sticky chocolate mud-cake muffin on my first day back at the coal-face! It was some solace
to “let me eat cake” as compensation for having to front up to work after the Xmas break.
The delicious smell permeated my senses. I just wanted to hoover it up and hide the evil evidence of my wicked ways! As I frantically started to peel the cupcake paper off – some got
stuck and so did I. All the stuff I’d been writing about toxic food additives loomed large in my psyche. The green and red ink printed on the cupcake paper would not come off –
bits were left behind much to my frustration.
Was this Destiny? Forcing me to make the ultimate choice – the cake or the health standards I am trying so desperately to live by. It doesn’t get any tougher than this folks….I knew
eating those coloured cupcake paper fragments would undo all the “clean” eating I had done for a week.
Conveniently, I have a fall back position. I’m not god – although some say I do have godlike qualities, (yeah right!). So in accepting my mere mortal status, I forced it all hurriedly
down my throat. Speed to digest should minimize any internal damage – right? The result. FANTASTIC. I will be working my laptop for a straight 8 hours without a break after that dioxin
laced hit! As for the guilt – go to hell I say – this muffin crossed my path. It was Fate. Karma. Whatchamacallit …. and it was Oscar Wilde that said the only thing he couldn’t resist
was temptation! What a genius!
However, in the cold light of day, I realised I had promised to impart more on the BAD food additives in this blog. So this continues from my previous blog by the same name (Part 1),
with a focus this time on more cancer causing additives which are best to avoid in any foods…..(not to mention the horrors in soaps or cleaning agents). A rule of thumb – avoid anything
with benzoic/benzoate and paraben in the chemical name. This can also apply to most things with sulphite or nitrite on the labels too.
Have a look at the backs of packet food and instant food in particular and you’ll often see these chemicals lurking in the fine print.
142 Green S (colour) contributes to hyperactivity, asthma and allergies and is carcinogenic (cancer causing) Found in beverages and food.
150Cc and 150d Caramel (colouring) hyperactivity, inhibits the metabolism of vitamin B6 – serious doubts currently exist around its safety. Found in various beers and wines, cigarettes and cosmetics.
210 Benzoic acid (preservative) Asthma, skin and eye irritations, behavioral problems, aspirin sensitive people may wish to avoid.
211 Sodium Benzoate (preservative) same as above
212 Potassium Benzoate (preservative) same as above but found in jams, preserves, chili paste, icings, coconut milk, glace cherries etc.
213 Calcium Benzoate (preservative) same as above
216 Proylparaben or Propul-p-hydroxy-benzoate (preservative – part of the dangerous paraben family of toxins) Similar conditions as above and is found in a wide range of foods and shampoos, skin lotions, soaps,
foundation creams and baby preparations.
319 tert-Butylhydroquione (and similar looking “Buthyl” names) are all dangerous antioxidants, found in edible oils, emulsions, fortified wines, cosmetics, etc.
Now back to my toxic rich chocolate muffin – a little bad now and again has got to be OK! But eat it before you do a Google search for dangerous food additives! I make sure I take my daily
health supplements and a brisk walk, to compensate for my misdeeds, so my shiny halo of good health is maintained!
6/1/11
I always advise people to “read the labels” which would be OK if we could understand them!
Some Food additives contribute to food safety, like acidity regulators, which prevent food from spoiling. Other additives occur naturally, like Vitamin C for
instance which often acts as a preservative. But there are many additives that are seriously worth avoiding so here are a few key ones to watch out for. Keep
these handy when you go shopping – never mind the calories – make sure you aren’t putting any of these things into your body and you will naturally improve your
digestion!
Food Additives have a code number and these start at 100 and go to 1521. As a rule of thumb if the list of ingredients on any food label is lengthy you can bet
dollars to proverbial bull dust – that the product contains chemicals and toxins.
Here are some obvious ones to watch out for and are regarded as dangerous:
Colour in Food:
102 Tartrazine
110 Sunset Yellow (FCF), found in jelly beans, smarties, cheese spreads, cream cheeses, custards, often with 102. Check the additives in the wide range of gravies and sauces too.
120 Carmines or Carminic Acid or Cochineal (red colour)
123 Amaranth – banned in USA and Russia
124 Ponceau (4R)
Others that are known to have caused health disturbances such as:
Intestinal Disorders – these are all preservatives
220 Sulphur Dioxide
221 Sodium Sulphite
222 Sodium Bisulphite
223 Sodium Metabisulphite
224 Potassium Metabisulphite
Digestive Problems
338 Phosphoric Acid (acidity regulators)
339 Sodium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)
340 Potassium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)
341 Calcium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer, anti-caking agent)
450 Potassium Pyrophosphate or Sodium acid pyrophosphate or Sodium pyrophosphate (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)
461 Methyl Cellulose (thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer)
465 Methyl Ethyl Cellulose (thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer, foaming agent)
466 Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (thickener, stabilizer)
There are a few others worth mentioning too – so will do that in my next Blog. Both articles will be helpful in determining what to avoid. To make this more
pragmatic please copy and paste the list – edit what you don’t want and keep it handy for your next supermarket visit.
It’s always best to eat nutritious fresh food and try good quality health supplements, if you suffer with a vitamin absorption problem or vitamin deficiency and
feel you are operating under par. See
http://www.healthscript.co.nz/vitamins-supplements/VitaminGuide.aspx for more details around health supplements that work!