SULFITES AND NITRITES/ NITRATES(continued)

There is research that suggests that nitrite/nitrates help strengthen the heart, especially after a heart attack. While this may be true, the form ingested may offer the significant clues. I've noticed that I am unable to eat much grilled meat over charcoal. It forms nitrates while cooking. Adding nitrites/nitrates to processed meat is another culprit though I have never experienced hives after eating vegetables which may contain them. I was shocked to find that even those foods with no additives may not be healthier. There are many associated with additives. The sources on the Internet are limitless in their cautions about limiting additives in your food.

Why, then, does it cost more to eat healthier food. It shouldn't, but it costs less to use additives, to lengthen shelf life, keep bugs out, deter mold and lots of other reasons. Foods that don't spoil quickly can be shipped further and stay in warehouses longer.

I am making a non-scientific guess that my reactive hives are my body's alert system, telling me to stay away from these compounds. Whether that is accurate or not, I get punished by my body, giving me hives or a headache, when I use these forbidden substances. It has been a many year hunt to find out what else I might be sensitive to in foods. Those chemical names tell me little when I am in the store. There used to be open cooler bins of shrimp years ago. I couldn't imagine that there could be something bad in raw shrimp. Nevertheless, I got hives every time I ate them and learned only later that sulfites were sprayed on them to keep bacteria down. It turned out, after being accused by husband of being a snob, that I couldn't eat potatoes or lettuce in McDonald's, years ago. The FDA stopped that a while back though I still avoid fast food restaurants.

I urge all of you to take the time to look at the links and, at least, read the list of additives that cause you harm. It pains me to see the really bad things people do to their bodies through ingestion, not only of smoke, drugs but food, currently sold as legal and presumably healthy!