Are You Poisoning Your Kids?

So, what did your child eat yesterday?  Some healthy, high fiber biscuits, a bowl of wheat atta noodles, two slices of brown bread and a packet of chips?

If you are one of those who believes children can eat anything and everything since they can “burn it off”, or that these foods are “healthy” and do not come under the category of “junk”, think again!

With growing evidence and alarming statistics on chronic lifestyle diseases affecting younger adults and children, it is time to take a close look at some of the popular treats that parents think are “healthy”.

According to latest surveys conducted in urban private schools, at least 30% of children are obese.  Obesity raises the risk of at least 30 different chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, allergies and cancer to name a few.  Latest data from UK suggests that junk foods alone reduce life expectancy by 13 years!

And junk is no longer limited to burgers, pizza or soft drinks.  Seemingly innocuous biscuits, “lite” and “high fiber” foods, made with “wheat atta” are all advertising gimmicks to cover up a host of other ingredients that are still very toxic to the children’s still developing body systems.  Many times, brown bread is made with caramel color rather than genuine whole wheat grains.

Just take a look at the following list:

These are the ingredients in the foods listed above, and in many other packaged, baked foods, including the “healthy” ones.

• Hydrogenated vegetable oil
• Bleached Wheat Flour
• Antioxidant BHA (E320).
• E503 – Ammonium carbonates
• E320 – Butylated hydroxyanisole

Although most of these substances added to foods are “Generally regarded as safe” or GRAS by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) which regulates additives through the PFA (prevention of food adulteration) Act, the big question now is given the high amount of consumption by small children and adults alike, in what amounts and combinations are they safe?

Let’s look at what some of those ingredients are all about…

Hydrogenated vegetable oil

Hydrogenated vegetable oil is another name for “dalda”, which contain a type of fats called “trans fats”. Most biscuits and breads contain very high amounts of fats, ranging from 20 grams to 30 grams per serving, and most of it is from trans fats. Both saturated fats and trans fats lead to high levels of bad cholesterol, called “LDL”, which damages the blood vessels of the heart.

Bleached Wheat Flour

Bleached wheat flour is nothing but “maida”, which is prepared by stripping whole wheat germ from all of its nutrition, and then bleached with chlorine to make it white. This process of “whitening”, gives rise to another product called “alloxan” which is known to kill pancreatic cells which produce insulin. Lack of insulin in the long run, leads to diabetes. While “whole wheat” and “multigrain” products do contain some of what they claim, maida is still the major ingredient (listed as “wheat flour”).

E503 – Ammonium carbonates

E503 – Ammonium carbonates:These additives irritate the mucous membranes, make the urine more acidic and may cause loss of calcium and magnesium from the body. It is not permitted for use in Australia and New Zealand, but widely used in India!

E320 – Butylated hydroxyanisole

E320 – Butylated hydroxyanisole is the MOST widely used additive in products such as baked goods and breakfast cereals. The World Health Organization has termed it as “carcinogenic”. It is banned for use in food in Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia.

Call for action!

Stop poisoning your child today!

Bake fresh cookies at home. Try and buy fresh bread instead of packaged ones.  Go back to traditional foods, bring in more millets, whole grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables and whip up interesting dishes with them.  Freshly mill sprouted millets and whole grains, make frozen fruit ice lollies (just puree fresh fruits, freeze them in ice trays with a toothpick),the sky is the limit as far as creativity is concerned. With this, you are not only adding years to your child’s life, you are breathing in life into their years.