Comments on: Processed Foods: Should You Be Scared of the Additives…or the Food? http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2008/03/31/processed-foods-should-you-be-scared-of-the-additivesor-the-food/ Dedicated to topics that fall within the general theme of UltimateFatBurner.com (i.e, exercise, body building, supplements,weight loss, diet, etc), but outside the realm of product reviews. Please review our posting protocols page before contributing. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:44:17 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: elissa http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2008/03/31/processed-foods-should-you-be-scared-of-the-additivesor-the-food/comment-page-1/#comment-14 elissa Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:24:43 +0000 http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/wordpress/processed-foods-should-you-be-scared-of-the-additivesor-the-food/#comment-14 Artificial sweeteners have been under scrutiny for many years, yet there have been no unusual cancers or other diseases that can be attributed to their use. Even aspartame, which may cause some side effects in susceptible individuals, has gotten a pretty clean bill of health - in humans, no less - as far as causing cancer goes. See: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/AspartameQandA and http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?content=10.1080/10408440701516184 for two very recent examples. Certain colorings have been identified as potential health hazards, such as tartrazine (Yellow No. 5) which can cause allergic reactions; and Red No. 3 which was designated as a carcinogen and regulated back in 1990. Currently, there is little reason to believe that the amounts of various artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners in bodybuilding products represent a health hazard. Personally, I'm more concerned about the far less well-characterized ingredients - often sourced from China - that make their way into bodybuilding supplements. Sometimes, it's the stuff you don't know about that's gonna getcha. Artificial sweeteners have been under scrutiny for many years, yet there have been no unusual cancers or other diseases that can be attributed to their use. Even aspartame, which may cause some side effects in susceptible individuals, has gotten a pretty clean bill of health – in humans, no less – as far as causing cancer goes. See: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/AspartameQandA and http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?content=10.1080/10408440701516184 for two very recent examples.

Certain colorings have been identified as potential health hazards, such as tartrazine (Yellow No. 5) which can cause allergic reactions; and Red No. 3 which was designated as a carcinogen and regulated back in 1990.

Currently, there is little reason to believe that the amounts of various artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners in bodybuilding products represent a health hazard. Personally, I’m more concerned about the far less well-characterized ingredients – often sourced from China – that make their way into bodybuilding supplements. Sometimes, it’s the stuff you don’t know about that’s gonna getcha.

]]> By: John http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2008/03/31/processed-foods-should-you-be-scared-of-the-additivesor-the-food/comment-page-1/#comment-13 John Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:44:49 +0000 http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/wordpress/processed-foods-should-you-be-scared-of-the-additivesor-the-food/#comment-13 I read the article and what I found most interesting was the "Based primarily on animal studies and personal accounts including allergic reactions." Quite the scientific analysis "personal accounts", that and $1.50 will buy you a coffee! However, despite the pseudo science, and the fact that most of these additives are in nutrient poor food - how about the artificial sweeteners and colourings that are found in whey proteins, MRP's, Creatine, Energy drinks, protein bars etc. As you can imagine an individual who is serious about bodybuilding and/or performance enhancement will be consuming a number of these products that contain many artificial ingredients. So I guess the question is - how much is too much? Or is there any such thing? I read the article and what I found most interesting was the “Based primarily on animal studies and personal accounts including allergic reactions.”

Quite the scientific analysis “personal accounts”, that and $1.50 will buy you a coffee!

However, despite the pseudo science, and the fact that most of these additives are in nutrient poor food – how about the artificial sweeteners and colourings that are found in whey proteins, MRP’s, Creatine, Energy drinks, protein bars etc. As you can imagine an individual who is serious about bodybuilding and/or performance enhancement will be consuming a number of these products that contain many artificial ingredients. So I guess the question is – how much is too much? Or is there any such thing?

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