Food Additives Sensitivity And Your Customized Healthy Diet Plan

Have you ever had colic and upset stomach after eating ready-to-eat foods like pasta, cereal, or even corn flakes on your cheat meal day while following a strict, personalized, healthy eating plan?
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Tailored healthy eating plan, time to check if you are sensitive to any additives

If you’re following a tailored, healthy eating plan and taking a break to enjoy a cheat meal, it’s time to check if you’re sensitive to any additives added to these ready-to-eat foods Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Hey dear ones

How are you all doing? Now ask me the same question and my answer would be, “Oh! not so good. “Yes, that’s right. Before I tell you the reason, let me ask you a question? Have you ever had colic and upset stomach after eating ready-to-eat foods like pasta, or cereal on your cheat meal day even had corn flakes while you were eating adapted healthy nutrition plan? If the answer is yes, chances are you are sensitive to food additives.

Since yesterday evening I have not been feeling well at all and feel a lot of turbulence in my stomach. It was a very familiar feeling, as I used to feel the same way after packing everything. Coincidentally, I wanted to see something interesting on OTT last night and hadn’t eaten pizza in ages, so my daughter ordered from Zomato. While we were enjoying our evening, some guests came by and I wanted to open a pack of ready-to-eat Cheezy Pasta from a popular brand. It was all good until we all enjoyed the show, but when I was about to go for a walk in the nearby park after dinner, I felt a bit sick in my stomach. The night was very uncomfortable and I realized it was time to read up on food additives and their allergies.

What are food additives?

The ready meals use different types of food additives which are chemicals that are added to food to keep it fresh. Sometimes these additives are added to improve their taste, color, or even texture. To make it easier to understand, let me tell you that additives include various food colors, preservatives, and flavor enhancers like MSG or Ajinomoto.

There are several food additives that are clearly mentioned on the product label, but some are listed as codes. To understand them, you have to know the codes for colors and preservatives. Ideally, all of these additives must undergo a safety assessment before they are approved for human consumption.

Ironically, all food additives are evaluated and tested individually rather than in combinations, so the after-effects of consuming these in combinations are not clear.

Different types of food additives

There are several types of food additives such as anti-caking agents, artificial sweeteners, antioxidants, food acids, emulsifiers, colors, flavor enhancers, foaming agents, preservatives, thickeners, stabilizers and setting agents, icings, fillers and leavening agents, etc.

Side effects of food additives

Imagine following a perfect, bespoke healthy eating plan for an entire month and then planning to have your favorite cheat meal. You buy a ready-to-eat meal box, enjoy it, but within a few minutes you feel like throwing up and colic. This has happened to me and I knew that like many others, I was sensitive to certain food additives and my discomfort could be the same reaction. I’ve noticed that baked goods, corn flakes, muesli and prepackaged meals are really bothering me.

Experts have observed that the additives used to add market value to any food are the most likely to cause allergic reactions. These allergic reactions can include diarrhea and colicky pain, insomnia, hyperactivity, irritability, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, runny nose, itching, and rashes.

There are certain common food additives that are known to cause problems. The most common ones include monosodium glutamate (MSG) 621, yellow 2G107, cochineal 120, yellow orange FCF110, tartrazine 102, preservatives like benzoates, nitrates, etc. Even a common artificial sweetener like aspartame is one of the culprits.

How do you find out your sensitivity to food additives?

If you feel that you are sensitive to food additives, the best thing to do is to write down any foods that are uncomfortable for you. It is a good idea to keep a food journal and carefully write down any food reactions.

Once you’ve checked the ingredients and found some similarities in all of the items listed, you may be able to control your allergies. The best course of action is still to remove all suspicious foods from the menu. I have already started, as I believe, by treading the path of prevention rather than healing. Experts suggest slowly reintroducing the suspect products to check the reaction of the additive.

There are many food additives used by the food industry that are naturally found in various foods used daily. One of these is MSG, which is naturally found in considerable amounts in cheese, tomatoes, and sardines.

Food additives can be a major health hazard, especially if you have followed a healthy diet over a long period of time. If you’ve been through something like me, it’s high time you paid attention to labels and looked for ways to overcome your allergies and food intolerances.