Badditives! : The 13 Most Harmful Food Additives in Your Diet?and How to Avoid Them

by Linda Bonvie, Bill Bonvie, James S. Turner

Recognize, identify, and eliminate the most harmful ingredients from your diet you never knew you consumed every day!

These days, the food on our tables is a far cry from what our grandparents ate. While they may look and taste the same and are often marketed under familiar brand names, our food has slowly but surely morphed into something entirely different—and a lot less benign.

Ever wondered how bread manages to stay “fresh” on store shelves for so long? How do brightly colored cereals get those vibrant hues? Are artificial sweeteners really a healthy substitute for sugar? Whether you’re an experienced label reader or just starting to question what’s on your plate, Badditives! helps you cut through the fog of information overload. With current, updated research, Badditives! identifies thirteen of the most worrisome ingredients you might be eating and drinking every day. Learn about:

• The commonly used flavor enhancers you should avoid at all costs
• Two synthetic sweeteners that are wreaking havoc on the health of Americans in ways ordinary sugar does not
• Artificial colors and preservatives in your child’s diet and how they have been linked directly to ADHD
• The “hidden” ingredients in most processed foods that were declared safe to consume without ever really being researched
• The hazardous industrial waste product that’s in your food and beverages
• The toxic metal found in processed foods that has been linked to Alzheimer’s
• The invisible meat and seafood ingredient that’s more dangerous than “Pink Slime”

In a toxic world, educate yourself, change what you and your family eat, and avoid these poisons that are the known causes of our most prevalent health problems

Genres: Food, Nonfiction

192 pages, Unknown Binding

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Skyhorse Publishing and Edelweiss.)

This was quite an eye-opening look at certain additives and their possible effects, and some of the new research was pretty shocking! Who knew that companies used Aluminium in food products, and that it was directly linked to the development of Alzheimer’s? I will definitely be checking food labels from now on and looking for these nasty additives!
7 out of 10

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most people I have a good idea of what foods are good for you and I always work on the premise if you want to eat well eat natural. That's easier said than done with the modern lifestyle it's so easy to eat foods which are 'bad' for us since we're surrounded by them constantly and I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
For example I know artificial sweeteners are really bad for you I mean the artificial gives it away and when my children were really young I made sure they avoided them completely but they're older now and my daughters are weight conscious and therefore drink diet sodas, I've also gotten into the habit of keeping cans of diet soda in the fridge and I've been having them more and more often even though I'm aware of just how bad they are.
I'm in a position where I need to lose weight (my eldest daughter is getting married next year) and I'm getting older so I want to lose it and keep it off but I also need a healthier diet but my willpower isn't what it was and I need a push and figured this book might give it to me.
I thought long and hard before starting this book because I knew it would be a difficult read and I wouldn't be able to un-read it afterwards so I had to be sure.
It's not easy reading the subject is scary (especially how aspartame gained FDA approval) and the research is extensive and therefore a lot to read.
It covers the obvious ones sweeteners and artificial food colours to the ones I'd never considered. It's worked, it's changed my diet for the better I no longer have diet drinks and I check labels closely which is something I did when my children were young but something I'd got out of the habit of doing.
I now check for sweeteners and artificial colours plus E541 (sodium aluminium phosphate) and here's why:

'Ask anyone over a certain age what they’re most afraid of when it comes to their health, and they’ll probably tell you it’s Alzheimer’s. Yet, many of us regularly and casually consume things containing an ingredient that’s now being directly linked to that dreaded, mind-robbing disease. In fact, you’re probably doing so yourself and are not even aware of it. Because the ingredient in question—aluminum—can be found in a whole bevy of processed foods....'

I haven't finished this book in fact I'm nowhere near, it's hard going and I'm reading a little at a time getting used to certain changes before I add more but I've read enough to get a feel for it and it's not a book to start lightly, it's scary and it's given me the push I needed to eat a more natural diet.

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I would have read this book earlier.

I recommend this book to anyone due to it's clarity and concise nature. I know a lot about nutrition but I needed to hear this well researched reminder. Definitely an understanding treatment of the issues surrounding our current dietary state.
You've seen all the government pamphlets and pharmaceutical apologetics. Give this a read and free your mind and body.

[Stephanie Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this highly informative, quick read. We as consumers have the power to change the food industry if only we would inform ourselves and band together to make smarter food choices. Knowledge is power and we vote with our dollars.

[Andrew Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned things even as a Nutrition professional, particularly about meat glue. A well researched review. Processed salts should be included. My wife and I avoid all these and have been in enviable health while everyone we know gets sick regularly.

[John A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I enjoyed reading this with it now being brought up publicly with the current election. I can say that I've personally felt the effects of aspartame; my mother has a massive diet soda addiction so I end up drinking it (especially when running low on coffee). I found that I generally get tough muscle tension in my wrist or back and enough of it to cause discomforting pain. It also explains my mother's constant migraines and sluggishness with her diabetes and older age.

I also found that despite being a cyclist who has typically cycles at least 200-500 miles a week, I still end up having respiratory problems after eating certain foods in America. I can't recall everything I've read about, but I've for sure related to a number of the negative food additives and their effects (although aluminum doesn't seem to be all that crazy). I frequently have a bad stomach but an amazing metabolism well into 24 so far.

Stuff made from petroleum or left-over nuclear material is an absolute no though.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book from Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Having read several of Michael Pollan's books, Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetable Miracle" and Marion Nestle, I felt I was familiar with much of what is included in our food today. Since I try to follow Pollan's rule of not eating anything my grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, I felt like I was probably avoiding most of the really bad food additives. Indeed, I've been a label reader for years, and sometimes have difficulty buying things at grocery stores that don't have high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in the ingredient list.

Linda and Bill Bonvie have chapters on things I'd never thought about as being particularly harmful such as aspartame, MSG and other forms of glutamate, and BHT (a commonly used preservative of backed goods). Each additive has a chapter devoted to it with a summary of studies showing harmful effects and at the end of the chapter they suggest ways to avoid that particular additive. At times I wondered about citations, but it turns out that at the back of the book there is a list of references for each chapter giving references to the research they quoted.

This book appears to be exhaustively researched, and would have to give any one concerned for their health pause at including any of this "Dirty Baker's Dozen" in their diet on a regular basis. I gave up diet sodas years ago, and after reading the chapter on aspartame, I felt really grateful for that. I did still have a few packages of powdered drink mix containing aspartame, but I threw them all away last night.

If you are a person interested in feeding yourself and your family and friends the best possible food, I'd recommend that you take a look at this book. Some of the findings in it were surprising.

I was bothered by one statement the authors made claiming that children who are given Ritalin for ADHD are more prone to addiction later in life. In the chapter about artificial coloring agents and their relation to ADHD they stated: "... many thousands of students were prescribed behavioral modification drugs that have started many down the path to addiction." There was no cite for this statement that I could find.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

::I received an egalley of this book from Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review::

3.25 stars.
This being the type of book it is I skimmed it for the information I was most interested in learning about, although I did read a bit from each chapter regardless of interest. This is a good book for the topic it covers. It does have some good points but I don't agree with everything stated. The sections I do agree with: aspartame, carrageenan, fluoride, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, rBGH or rBST. Ones I knew nothing about: Meat glue, BHA and BHT. Ones I don't quite agree with: aluminum, GMOs, MSG.

I try my best to avoid anything with aspartame and carrageenan. I stopped drinking Silk soy milk for a couple year till they removed carrageenan. Aspartame is just plain bad for you. I use fluoride free tooth powder. I don't really try beyond that to remove fluoride from my diet because it would cost a lot. Same with high fructose corn syrup, I try to limit but it's hard to completely avoid it (damn you Dr. Pepper). While GMOs might be bad I don't think there's good evidence that they are. That being said I'm all for labeling fruits, veggies, and foods containing GMOs. I think you should be able to know what you are buying and be able to decided whether or not you purchase items containing GMOs. It's been proven that MSG isn't really that bad, although some people may have sensitives to it.

All in all I would probably make more of an effort to remove all of these "badditives" from my diet if it didn't cost so much but I just can't afford to.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary stuff! Why can't food be as simple as it is? Why do corporations and scientists have to make out foods sooooo complicated? I knew about some of the stuff in this book from things I've read over the years, but aluminum foil? I love that stuff! So sad for all of us...

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and helpful guide to food additives that may contribute to diseases.