When my kiddos were smaller, I remember hunting down green ketchup and green hamburger buns for their delight and making sure they were adorned in green so they wouldn’t “get pinched”! Their morning started off with a “top of the morning to ya” and followed with a 12 hour hunt for the gold coins at the end of the rainbow. So much fun in celebrating spring! Our bodies welcomed the excitement as we made it through the winter season.

BUT, do we NEED all that GREEN? Especially in our food and drink? Food dyes show up in the obvious breakfast cereals and desserts but are also added to other foods such as meat products (hot dogs, sausage) and even pet food. Finding two or more of these artificial dyes in a single product is NOT uncommon in the world today.

Sure, artificial food coloring makes food look more appealing, but they also contain plenty of chemicals. Are they safe? What are the risks?

Consumption of food dyes has increased 500 PERCENT in the past 50 years! Studies have linked food dyes to health conditions such as hyperactivity, behavior problems, allergic reactions, birth defects and cancer.

The U. K.‘s Food Standard Agency has imposed a voluntary ban on several dyes because of their potential harm. Although they turned down a widespread ban, the European Parliament agreed to place warning labels on all European-produced foods containing one of six artificial colorings. Unfortunately, the United States has not done anything on this front.

Artificial colors are found mostly in processed foods which are typically high in calories, low in nutrients and come with several additional toxic chemicals that challenge our body to remove them. When our body cannot detoxify them efficiently, they get stuck in our system causing inflammation.

Functional Nutrition uses the tools of diet and lifestyle to eliminate foods and actions that inflame the body while increasing foods and actions that support the function of the body to help you feel better! Avoiding food dyes is just one benefit to optimize your health.

Here at Integrative Health Specialists, we can test for 8 dyes that are commonly added to our food and drink to see if they are currently triggering your immune system as a source of your chronic inflammation.

If Functional Nutrition is of interest to you, call the office to schedule an appointment with Michelle. Bootcamp Health Reset and Weight Loss is a 10 week dive into Functional Nutrition for people who want to be coached on diet and lifestyle to decrease inflammation and lessen your chronic symptoms so you can show up as your best every day!

Artificial Food Coloring: Good or Bad? Food Network Healthy Eats