Eating For Health

This week RFK, Jr. released his first MAHA report , Make Our Children Healthy Again, on the rise of chronic diseases among American children.   These include health issues of obesity, diabetes, cancer, autism, allergies, and mental health. The report identifies several causes contributing to the rise of these chronic diseases .   “Today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease…”   What are some key findings about the rise of chronic disease in American children? Nearly half of America’s children have a chronic illness. Cancer: Childhood cancer is up more than 40% since 1975. ( Does eating ultra-processed foods increase cancer risk? ) Obesity: More than 1 in 5 children over 6 years old in the US are obese.   A 270% increase since the 1970’s.   Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes.   No longer.   Today, over 350,000 children have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.   ...

Almost every day we read about chemicals, preservatives, other additives in our foods that are not good for our health.   This week, my husband showed me an article in the Wall Street Journal, Research Delivers A Gut Punch About Emulsifiers Used In Food .    What are “emulsifiers”, why are they in food, what foods have emulsifiers, and what are the health concerns about emulsifiers in the foods we eat? What are emulsifiers? Emulsifiers help mix food components together like oil and water.   Salad dressings often have emulsifiers in them.   Food manufacturers add emulsifiers to foods to improve the texture, appearance, taste and shelf life of the foods we buy.   What emulsifiers are commonly added to foods?   According to WebMD , “there are over 100 different emulsifiers that can be added to foods”.   In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates what emulsifiers can safely be added to foods and list these on the list of G ene...

Lots of people are talking about what RFK, Jr. may do to the food industry as he focuses on making foods healthier with less additives and chemicals.   Many articles have been written about it.   What foods might be affected by health policies favored by RFK, Jr.? Foods with additives:   Ever take the time to read the ingredient label on foods?   So many have ingredients that are hard to pronounce and most people have no idea what the chemical or additive is.   Food manufacturers add chemicals “to enhance flavor, color, or shelf life” but in doing so such chemicals may adversely affect our health.   Food Dyes :   EWG notes that three food colors comprise 90% of the food dyes in food, including Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, and Yellow Dye No. 6.   o    Red Dye No. 40 – so many foods have been colored with red dye including candies, snacks, and many beverages like fruit punches and fruit drinks.   In fact, EWG says “more ...

A number of states across the country have decided to ban a number of popular snacks because of concerns over food or color additives.   However, other states are relying on the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to make these decisions.   Which states and which food additives? California has passed a law known as the “Skittles Ban”.   This law prohibits certain potentially carcinogenic food chemicals like brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye No. 3. This law won’t take effect until 2027.    Other states , including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri are considering similar bans on food additives.   New York is considering a similar ban to California and includes the same food additives but also adds titanium dioxide. What are the health concerns and health risks states are concerned about? Red Dye No. 3:   Consumer Reports has an article about Why Is Red Dye No. 3 Banned in Cosme...