Serving Size: 4.82 MB Servings Per Container: 1 In Your Body On Your Body For Your Home For Your Family Seeking Medical Treatment How to Detoxify Your Body Guide to Symptoms A Healthy House Values, Vision & Mission Background & History Staff & Advisors News & Upcoming Events Join Our Mailing List Contact Us Recommended Resources Index of Terms Works Cited This product contains 100% natural ingredients. Easy Pay Pal Donations TNTP Grade A Brain-food More Special Features Food & Beverage  |  Personal Hygiene Products  |  Plastic Page: 1 | 2 | 3 Next This is a huge topic that we could devote an entire website to…probably multiple websites, actually. Rather than go into a lot of detail about the disturbing issues with food, we're going to touch on the main concerns, give you references for further information, and put most of our focus on alternatives and tips. We're going to sound like a broken record, because every time we'll say that the best alternative is to eat organic food, but it's really the case. And we'll also tell you why that's true. We'll tell you the ins and outs of how to eat food that's actually food...and if you want to learn more about all of the scary reasons that it's so important to eat the way that we suggest, then visit our Recommended Resources page. Artificial Sweeteners CHEMICALS CONTAINED: Artificial sweeteners are often grouped into ‘first generation’ sweeteners and new sweeteners. The first generation sweeteners include saccharin (developed in 1879), cyclamate (developed in the 1950s), and aspartame (approved in 1981). Saccharin and cyclamate were mixed with other additives and sold as “Sweet’n’Low.” Aspartame is sold as “Nutra-Sweet.” The new generation of sweeteners includes acesulfame potassium (“Sweet One,” “Sunett”), sucralose (“Splenda”), and neotame. HEALTH CONCERNS: Saccharin is known to cause bladder tumors in rats and was therefore considered a likely human carcinogen for many years. The accumulation of human evidence, in addition to a carcinogenic mechanism that appears to be novel to rats, have led to a new consensus that saccharin is unlikely to be a human carcinogen. Saccharin was delisted from the US National Toxicology Program Report on carcinogens in 2000 and the previous warning label requirement was repealed. The International Agency for Research on Cancer also downgraded saccharin from a class 2B (possible human carcinogen) to class C (not classifiable as to carcinogenicity) in 1999. Cyclamate has been banned by the FDA since 1969, although it is in use in other parts of the world and a petition has been filed for FDA reapproval. Cyclamate, like saccharin, has been shown to cause bladder tumors in rats. One study in monkeys produced suggestive evidence of a general cancer risk (cancers of the colon, liver, and prostate were observed). Studies in rats and dogs have shown reproductive toxicity, including testicular atrophy and impaired sperm formation, associated with a metabolite of cyclamate. Aspartame is likely to cause cancer. Early studies in rats found no evidence of bladder cancer but mixed evidence of leukemia and brain cancer. A more rigorous cancer bioassay in which rats were exposed to aspartame in diet for full life spans (starting at age 8 weeks) was recently published. This study found evidence of a cancer risk in multiple tissues, including the kidney, the nervous system, and the blood (leukemia and lymphoma). A recent human study did not find any excess risk of leukemia or brain cancer in older women (age 50-71) in association with aspartame consumption in the previous year, but this study was not designed in such a way that any real association would be detected. Perhaps of greater concern is the potential for aspartame to affect the developing nervous system. Aspartame, like monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial food colorings, and benozoate preservatives, has been associated with hyperactivity in children and is known to affect certain areas of the brain. A recent study of the effect of mixtures of these ‘excitotoxins’ on neurons in vitro showed evidence of synergism, or responses greater than would be expected by adding the effects of each individual chemical in the mixture. The possible role of aspartame in hyperactivity should be given more weight considering the fact that the typical diet might contain several chemicals with similar effects on the nervous system. The toxicological literature on the new generation of sweeteners is not very rich. All three of the sweeteners mentioned above have been approved by the FDA based on the absence of any evidence of carcinogenicity. Trace amounts of a carcinogenic solvent used in the manufacture of acesulfame potassium may be found in the final product, but the FDA considers this to be unlikely. Any non-cancer toxicity of these chemicals is uncertain. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: Because some of them are known carcinogens, and the rest haven’t had enough testing done on them, we recommend avoiding artificial sweeteners altogether. There are many natural sweeteners to choose from instead. The first one, Stevia, is a non-sugar sweetener, and is therefore a great alternative for diabetics and people who just want to avoid or reduce their sugar intake. Stevia is a noncaloric plant that is native to Paraguay, but it is sold in various forms at natural food stores in the US. It comes in liquid concentrate, a white powder form, or as dried leaves. It is extremely sweet so you will only need a small amount. We also recommend such natural sugars as maple syrup, fructose, and honey for sweeteners. Although they’re all still sugars, their caloric value is less than cane sugar. If you do use cane sugar, use organic, raw cane sugar (it will be a light brown color with larger granules than white sugar). Coffee & Tea CHEMICALS CONTAINED: Coffee and tea are typically grown in countries where pesticide regulations are more lenient than they are in the United States. This leads to a number of concerns including pesticide residues that might be ingested by the consumer. More important to consider are the pesticide exposures of farmworkers in the areas of production and the effects on local environments. Conventionally grown coffee is sometimes treated with organophosphate pesticides. The bean, when growing, is encased in a fruit that will absorb much of the applied pesticide, and roasting will remove much of the residue that reaches the bean. On the other hand, coffee is so heavily sprayed with pesticides that detectable residues have been measured at various times in recent history . Conventionally grown tea is a more likely health problem for the consumer, in addition to being a problem for the farmers and the environment, because the end product is sprayed directly as it grows. Pesticide residues in teas, including residues of organochlorine pesticides such as DDT that are now banned in the US, have sparked multiple controversies. Removing caffeine from coffee to make decaf can be done with one of several methods. One involves washing the beans in a solvent. Although benzene was once used for this purpose, solvents used today are ethyl acetate or methylene chloride. Other methods use more basic materials such as water (the Swiss water process), carbon dioxide, or oxygen . Also most bleached filters and tea bags add dioxins to the brewed drink. Dioxins are toxins that are inadvertently produced by the paper pulp bleaching process. HEALTH CONCERNS: There have been many studies done on the health of the farmers outside the US who grow our coffee. The effects of the pesticides on them are significant. Although organophosphates have had such effects on the reproductive system as fetal deaths, abnormal sperm, ovarian follicles, and eggs, birth defects, and DNA damage, this class of pesticide is most commonly known for its effects on the neurological system. Organophosphates are considered “cholinesterases.” This means that they “knock out” acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (AcE), so there isn’t too much at one time at the nerve junction (the site where chemicals cross from one nerve to the other, to make the receptor nerve fire). Without AcE, the acetylcholine builds up and the insects die of convulsions. Human symptoms of too much AcE include convulsions, nervousness, excessive salivation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, weakness, tremors and noise sensitivity. DDT is the most infamous organochlorine pesticide because it was banned in the US in the late 60s after Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking book “Silent Spring” exposed the effects this chemical was having on wildlife. Organochlorine pesticides have been found to have effects on estrogen, testosterone, prolactin, and thyroid hormones, sperm counts, and fetal deaths. However, they perform their toxic function by disrupting the sodium-potassium pump of nerve cells. The result is an increase in the sensitivity of neurons to stimuli normally too small to elicit a response. As for the process to decaffeinate coffee…The toxicity of ethyl acetate is uncertain (EPA described it as “fairly nontoxic” in its last toxicity review), while methylene chloride, also known as dichloromethane, is a class B2 “probable” carcinogen and is toxic to the liver . The process of roasting coffee produces acrylamide, which is a carcinogen. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: When purchasing coffee, you want to make sure that any or all of these phrases are on the label: “organic,” “shade grown,” and “fair trade.” Respectively this means that your coffee was grown without chemicals, without depleting any rainforests, and by farmers who make a living wage. Although tea companies should be testing for pesticide residues – and not to mention that any DDT in food products is not legally allowed in the US – contamination can clearly happen anyway. Therefore it is receommended to only buy organic teas. Use unbleached filters and tea bags to reduce dioxin exposures. Note that acrylamide levels are highest in light to medium roast coffees; very light or darker roasts have less acrylamide. If you’re going to drink decaffeinated coffee, research the company to find out what method they use to remove the caffeine from the bean. If they use ethyl acetate or methylene chloride (or if you can’t find out that information) you might just want to switch back to high test or to an organic tea with less caffeine than coffee…like green tea, which also is high in antioxidants. Fish & Seafood CHEMICALS CONTAINED: The biggest issue with fish and seafood is the contamination of the water that they live in, which in turn ends up in their bodies and eventually in our bodies when we consume them. The two largest contaminants of fish and seafood are mercury and PCBs. Along with containing these contaminants, farm-raised fish (like salmon) are also given feed that contains many chemicals and little nutrients. HEALTH CONCERNS: Organic mercury is easily absorbed when swallowed. It enters the brain, crosses the placenta, and is found in breast milk. It nterferes with cell division in the developing brain, and also binds to DNA, which disrupts the duplication of chromosomes and the production of proteins. Some studies have shown that there may be a connection between exposed women and an increase in miscarriage and menstrual disorders. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were manufactured and widely used in the US in the 70s in electrical transformers and capacitors, hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, and adhesives. They are very persistent in the environment, so although they were banned in the US in 1977, almost twenty years later there was 60,500 lbs of it released into the US environment in one year alone. They are not broken down easily and they accumulate in fat cells where they can remain indefinitely. They have been found to mimic estrogen and interfere with thyroid function. Epidemiological studies have been done on children who have had prenatal exposures to PCBs. The results showed an increase in prenatal deaths, retarded fetal growth, and infant mortality. The exposed fetuses that developed into children showed delayed or reduced psychomotor development, and deficits in physical growth, memory, and attention. TIPS & ALTERNATIVES: The best way to the potential toxicity of fish is to think about its size. The larger the fish, the more little fish it’s eaten, and the more littler fish those fish have eaten. Since chemicals “bioaccumulate” in animals as you move up the food chain, the larger, predatory fish are the most contaminated with pollutants. Therefore you want to avoid – or dramatically minimize your intake of – tuna and swordfish. Because mercury can so easily affect developing fetuses, we recommend you only eat these types of fish once a month – or preferably not at all – while pregnant. You also want to avoid farm-raised fish and only eat ones that are “wild.” Since wild Atlantic salmon is endangered, you will have to opt for purchasing Wild Alaskan or Northwest salmon. Because the nutrients (namely the Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids) found in fish are so important to brain health but it is not always safe to eat certain fish, we also suggest that people consider taking a fish oil supplement daily. Make sure you research the company, however, and make sure they make their supplements from fish that are contaminant-free. Page: 1 | 2 | 3 Next