Dangers of artificial additives in food, skin care products, and more

Too many people eat or use on their bodies whatever products are closest-to-hand or cheapest. This can be entirely self-defeating. Many of the cheaper products can cause problems which you must then buy another product to combat, thus actually making it more expensive than simply getting a better product to begin with.

Food with Artificial Additives may have Little Nutrition
photo by Mr. T in DC

There are also many other artificial additives used in many products we buy, that are specifically put there to cause problems.  This is a very harsh way of putting it, and may sound paranoid, but when all is said and done, it is the simple truth.

Take, for example, MSG.  Most people think of this as a simple, harmless flavor enhancer and food stabilizer.  It is anything but harmless!  MSG has been linked to migraines, attention deficit disorder, the huge rise in babies born with autism, weight issues, and many more serious problems.  And the main reason so many companies use it in foods?  It makes you more hungry, so you eat – and thus buy – more.

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame are also hugely dangerous chemicals that many people consume on a regular basis.  Aside from the mental retardation and other dangers of PKU (phenylketonuria), a condition where the body cannot break down phenylalanine (a component of aspartame) due to a deficiency of a particular enzyme, the list of conditions which have been linked to artificial sweeteners is literally pages long, including memory problems, dizziness, headaches, behavioral changes like depression or unexplained aggression, menstrual problems, even seizures and many worse problems.

Many Skin Care Products have Dangerous Additives
photo by debbilytle

This is just a couple of the hundreds of artificial food additives that many people eat without a second thought.  If only these two very common additives can be this dangerous, imagine what the commercialized and treated diets most people eat are doing to their bodies.

In addition to the products we consume, there are many more products that are introduced to our bodies, such as in our skincare regime.  Many of these products are at the least irritating to skin, and in some cases can be outright dangerous, especially if one is unaware of their potential side effects.

For example, many of the treatments for acne can make the skin highly sensitive to sunlight, causing major complications from overexposure while using them.  In addition, many of the ingredients in commercial cleansing gels and soaps – sodium laureth sulfate, for example – are highly irritating to skin, and some of them – especially parabens –  have the power to penetrate far into the body — and stay there.  One study even referred to finding some of those chemicals in some biopsies of breast cancer tumors, and questioned whether they might have been the cause.

The Best Diet is Rich with Natural Foods
photo by Martin Kingsley

 Unfortunately, today it is almost impossible to completely remove these artificial products from our lives.  The only people with that luxury, realistically, are the rich, and those who can raise all of their own food.  It isn't so difficult, however, to minimize the damage.  Next time you go to pick up a spice mix, find one with no MSG instead.  Drink fruit juice instead of a diet soda.  Rather than buy a commercial skin cleanser, buy real, natural soap.  Use skin oils instead of chemical moisturizers.

If you are unsure whether something is affecting you adversely, try removing it from your regime for a while.  Keep in mind that a few days may do no good; you may have to remove it from the things you are exposed to for a month or more before seeing any benefits.  This is because your body will often store such harmful chemicals for some time before they are finally worked out of your system.