It is common knowledge that foods rich in trans-fats, high GI carbohydrates and junk foods have contributed to rising obesity. However, most people don't realize the chemicals and other ingredients that make up artificial flavors also have significant consequences on our health and ability to stay fit. These "secret" ingredients that are summed up on food product labels as artificial flavors have invaded a majority of the food products in the entire market, but recently there are increasing debates about
artificial flavors; whether they promote fat gain and the main differences between them and natural
flavors.
First of all,
let’s try to understand the mechanism that makes our body store fat, and then we
will move on to the artificial flavors
and artificial ingredients, and see
how these can actually catalyze this fat
storing mechanism. Insulin is a hormone that helps in the metabolism of sugar. Also,
whenever we consume any carbohydrate, it causes an insulin spike in our body,
to metabolize the sugar from the carbohydrate source. It’s been found that
this insulin spike is higher in cases of high GI (processed) carbohydrates. This insulin spike is directly related to fat storage. A higher insulin spike will increase the fat storage capacity of
our body. Some artificial flavors are
found to cause this insulin spike. That’s why, whenever we eat something that
contains artificial flavoring
ingredients, we are effectively putting our body in fat storage mode.
While the FDA and
other organizations, which are related to the supervision of food
products, have strict guidelines and procedures in place to inform the general
public that artificial flavors
exist in food items; however, companies do not have to list these additives as separate ingredients. For instance; everybody knows that Mono-Sodium Glutamate
or MSG is related to various health problems and obesity is one of the most
prominent of these. No wonder it is also sometimes referred to as a slow poison,
as it is known to triple the insulin amount and thus promoting weight gain.
However, companies are still using these artificial flavors under different names, like hydrolyzed vegetable
protein, for example. In fact, many recipes from the famous food chains and restaurants contain artificial flavors, and MSG is one of them.
One
of the best ways to avoid artificial
flavors in food is to consume only natural or organic foods. Organic foods are
prepared without the use of artificial
flavors and colors or any other preservatives. While there is no doubt
that artificial flavors promotes
weight gain, but artificial flavors
and other additives can
lead to a variety of other health complications such as attention deficit
hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), cancers and
many types of gastrointestinal problems, among others.
In conclusion, despite so many campaigns against the artificial flavors, they are still very much part of the food we eat on a daily basis. Perhaps some day we will be able to convince food companies to list all of the additives and ingredients that goes into their products instead of labeling them simply as artificial flavors.
