Food for thought: What do they put in a Twinkie that prevents it from breaking down in a garbage dump? That’s a question I saw in Tosca Reno’s new book, The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids. It really gets you thinking about the dangers of food additives and preservatives. As I read it, I just knew I had to share Tosca’s passionate message of Clean Eating with you.

The book is filled with information on how to make the transition to Eating Clean, how to do it on a budget, and oh yes – it has lots of family-friendly recipes, including this one for Protein Smoothie Popsicles.

When I spoke with Tosca, she told me she wrote this book out of fear – fear of how the obesity epidemic is hurting our health and the toll it has taken on our children. Here’s more from Tosca and how she and The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids are Making a Healthy Difference.

The Fear Factor
“I see young people who are becoming sicker at earlier ages, and that’s what frightens me. Because I think, they don’t know and parents don’t know anymore what the right thing is to eat. That’s the main motivator behind me writing this book is somebody has to say something; somebody has to do something. Kids should not be walking around overweight.”

The Journey to Junk
“We got to this point because I think parents traded away our own power of making food choices. We let these big companies make decisions for us and let their messages tell us what the good choices are. We trusted them and we believed them and I think we’ve been mislead. Our parents didn’t eat this way. And their parents before them ate very close to the earth. They didn’t have a bowl of Fruit Loops that came from some food company that engineered that food in their laboratory. There’s something terribly wrong. And we need to make changes.”

So Many Questions…
“I didn’t use to question food like I do now. When I was a young mother in my 20’s and 30’s I just went to the grocery store – I bought things, I didn’t question it. The packaged stuff looks pretty exciting when you’re a new mom. And I have learned to steer clear of that. Honestly, I believe a lot of this trouble we’re having with obesity and diabetes is because we’re eating too much of these overly processed foods.”

Who Has Time for This Eating Clean Stuff?
“I always say this, ‘It takes effort to get yourself in the car – even to get dressed to get in the car – go to McDonald’s, go to the drive-thru, order the food, and wait in line.’ You could save all that time and have your own series of fast food choices in your kitchen yourself. There are so many foods that don’t take much preparation time at all that are so much better for you. It’s a question of wanting to do it and knowing how. I hope the book is a combination of both.”

Chemical Soup for Breakfast?
“We don’t realize when we’re pouring some heavily processed food into our cereal bowl, we’re not just pouring Fruit Loops – we’re pouring junk. And with so many of these overly processed foods, you’re also getting what I like to call toxins or chemicals because foods are chemically charged – they’re engineered to sit on the shelf for weeks and weeks, months at a time sometimes. There are a lot of words we can’t pronounce that are lurking in our foods that we really have no business eating. That’s why I call it chemical soup.”

Family Favorites Made Clean (and yes, kids will eat ‘em!)
“My family was kind of my test kitchen. I wanted to keep the family favorites and the kid favorites in place. Chicken nuggets are on everyone’s table.” (Other recipes include Healthy Mac and Cheese, PB & J All Cleaned Up, and Birthday Cupcakes)

Eating Green, Too
“Clean Eating is Green Eating because the closer you eat to the earth, the less packaging there is, and the better that is not only for our environment, but for ourselves.”

Inspiration: What Tosca Wants You to Get Out of This Book
“You might not be able to adopt every single principle but one. One idea. Just make one change for the health of you and your family. That’s what I hope to get. And if I can convince one person to do that then my job is done. If I can convince many, then we’re really going places. But I just want people to see – don’t trust that everything in the grocery store is healthy food even when the labels says healthy.”

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Thanks, Tosca and The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids for Making a Healthy Difference.

Go to this site for more information on The Eat-Clean Diet.

Check out all of FFTV’s Making a Healthy Difference honorees here.

If you know of someone you think we should profile, we want to hear from you. Just send us an email at sahar [at] fatfightertv [dot]com

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Want some calcium stearoyl lactylate with that meal? Say what???! Doesn’t sound too appetizing, does it? But it’s one of the many ingredients in those packaged foods we eat. The dangers of food additives and preservatives are revealed in a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI says most food additives and preservatives are safe and can sometimes even make the food more nutritious. But some of them haven’t been tested enough. And others can be dangerous.

So, which ones are okay… and which ones could hurt you? This month, CSPI ranks food additives and preservatives in several categories: “safe,” “cut back,” “caution,” “certain people should avoid,” and “everyone should avoid.”

Here are some examples of additives everyone should avoid:

• Acesulfame potassium, Aspartame, Saccharin. These are artificial sweeteners that are either unsafe or poorly tested.

• Partially hydrogenated oil. Yes, trans fats are still being used at many restaurants and in many food products.

• Potassium bromate. This chemical strengthens dough. Most of it breaks down harmlessly, but bromate itself causes cancer in animals and isn’t worth the small risk it poses to humans. Many bakers have stopped using bromated flour.

An additive certain people should avoid:

• Mycoprotein. This is a vat-grown fungus used only in the Quorn line of meat substitutes. In some people, it can cause nausea, severe vomiting, or dangerous anaphylactic reactions. CSPI says the FDA refuses to take it off the market or require labeling.

Some safe food additives:

• Maltodextrin. This is a thickening agent and sweetener made from starch. It’s used in canned fruit, salad dressings, and instant puddings.

• Sodium Carboxymethyl-Cellulose. Another thickener that also keeps sugar from crystallizing. You can find it in ice cream, beer, pie fillings, icings, diet foods, and candy.

• Thiamin Mononitrate. A form of vitamin B-1 used to fortify cereals and flour.

• Sucralose. Better known as Splenda. Used in some baked goods, frozen desserts, and diet soft drinks. CSPI says unfortunately, it’s often used with acesulfame.

CSPI says a simple, general rule about additives is to avoid sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, olestra, acesulfame K, and artificial coloring. These are among the most questionable additives, and are mainly used in foods low in nutrition.

And don’t forget about the two most familiar additives: sugar and salt. They may be the worst because we consume so much of them.

You can find CSPI’s complete rankings of food additives and preservatives here.

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