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No Additives Allowed - Additives are yucky!

Work-it ideas for getting harmful additives out of your diet

Choose the product with the least amount of additives, or better, no additives. This is my second eating principle. Take action with these ideas and implement this principle.

Read about all 12 Principles here

1. Snack time

Do you have something fresh and clean to snack on right now if you felt like it? Do you have unsulphered dried fruit to snack on like raisins, dates or prunes? If you do not like these, get some preservative free peaches, pears or mango’s from your local health food store. This will cost you an extra trip, though.

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If not, make a note straight onto your shopping list if you can, or somewhere you will find it when you get home to your list. Write down 4 items you can buy that you and your kids can snack on whenever one of you gets peckish. It must be additive free.

Here are some ideas: They are prioritised in the order of availability, affordability and popularity in my family.

Tip: it is easy to spot whether or not dried fruit have been preserved: they are usually still brightly coloured not at all seasoned by the sun. Recently I have noticed that dried fruit is also enhanced with synthetic colour to make it look more like sweets. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Real dried peaches or pears are brown and wrickled like little old ladies full of wisdom and goodness.

2. Purge

Follow this three step process to get rid of bad for you products in your house:

  1. Chuck it out
    Go through your fridge and groceries cupboard and purge everything on the bottom end of the slide regarding additives. Find everything containing the following on the label:
    • MSG (monosodiumglutemate)
    • Tartrazine
    • Hydroginated vegetable oil/fat or partially hydroginated vegetable oil/fat or trans-fat
    • Sugar/cane sugar/sucrose/corn syrup
    • Ebriched flour

    This will be a good start. If you are ready for the next level chuck out:

    • Any colourants or flavourants that have numeric codes next to them
    • Anything that has a preservative added to it
    • Your vanilla essence if it does not specifically say that it is natural vanilla
    • Your margarine, any margarine – it is disgusting stuff irrespective of what they tell you about being heart foundation approved. Unless you are violently dairy intolerant, purge, purge, purge! And even then, rather use olive oil on sandwiches and sunflower oil in baked goods.

    Do not give the stuff away, throw it away. No one else should get the poison you are throwing out! If you have to purge a family favourite, grieve a little, but don’t look back. Involve your children in the activity and explain to them what you are doing and why. It is time for something new and exciting. It is an adventure to learn new tastes and new habits.

  2. Replace it

    Now go to your shopping list and replace the things you threw out with other items Flavour your food wqith garlic and fresh herbs instead of stock cubes, or find Ina parman’s range of stock powders –at least there are some real food in there. If you can not find a replacement for your item, consider simply doing without it. Replace it with something different and new. Come on stretch yourself and learn to like new things.

  3. Don't look back

    Never bring the stuff back into your house again.

    Too drastic for you? Okay then, choose one product from each category to toss. Heck, just toss a single product altogether even that one replacement will help you walk up the slide!

    This can be traumatic and cathartic. Tell me about your experience. Others are doing it too, so lets chat about it. It is all about creating a community of healthier feeders and eaters.

3. Scout

Go scouting in your town for cleaner produce. Find a store that sells unsulphered dried fruit.

Go to the supermarket, pick a family favourite and try to find the brand with the least amount of additives. If you do not recognize the item on the label don’t think 'it should be ok, they won’t let us eat poison' rather think 'hmmm, I better google this and find out what it is before I eat it'. That is too much work, so just put it down and find something else.

Or: make a short list of frequently recognized items and google them to find out what you can. Remember to read all over because the product manufacturers will say its ok, but you need to find the counter voices too. Get your bright 10 year old on board and let her google it for you.

Go to a local factory if you can and see how they make things. Ask them about the stuff they put in and check out their answers. They do it for prolonging shelflife, not human life, or did you find out something else?

Tell us what you have found. Did your kids enjoy the outing? Was it a disaster?

IT can be great fun, but sometimes we meet head on with obstacles. It is not easy to change our ways, but it is worth it. Lets talk about it and encourage one another. LINK

4. Indulge

It is time to have fun with this principle. Find a way to make it wonderfully indulgent. Here are some ideas, but by all means do your own thing and share your experience with us.

Buy some fresh fruit and wiz up a wonderfully fruity smoothy with no additives. Drink it before it browns (oxidizes). Add some tequila or vodka and have a lovely sundowner (Do these have additives? I wonder. I don’t really drink alcohol so won't you check and let us know?).

Take a girl friend to a slow food restaurant and enjoy a long afternoon of eating and chatting.

Get some sweet potatoes, butternut and potatoes, cut them into chip size and bake in the oven for 40 mins at 200 degrees C or 450 degrees F. Season a little with vegetable or sea salt and eat as is or drizzle a little olive or sesame oil over as they come out the oven. Yum yum!

5. Educate Yourself

Read more about what I have on this site about additives and then explore more.

Petro Janse van Vuuren

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Petro Janse van Vuuren

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