Empowering you to to thrive through holistic wellness. Specializing in chronic illness support & low tox living. Subscribe to our newsletter where once a month you will get the low down on wellness topics hitting the news, low tox living, recipes and more. Check out the Products page for meal plans and other digital downloads. To book your complimentary Discovery Call click on the links tab. My journey into the wellness world began in university when I was studying Physical Education and human movement. Anatomy and Physiology were fascinating and started me on the path I am traveling today. In 2012 while I was teaching group fitness classes I noticed changes in my body. I lacked my usually energy levels, my muscles were shrinking while I was still lifting weights regularly, and I started reacting to food I never had before. I began the investigative journey which took me 8 years, 9 diagnosis and 2 surgeries to get to the root cause. I was gifted to be working with a homeopathic doctor who didn't know the word quit and I will be forever grateful for her dedication. During the journey I dove deep into the world of auto immune illness, the microbiome, toxic exposure and endocrine disputing chemicals. I wanted to do everything I could to feel better. I and rooted in my mission to be of service, and to help people cut through the noise when it comes to their health. It does not have to take years to feel your best, and together we can re program what wellness looks like for you. I believe that we should treat the individual as a whole and know that healing involves not only the physical but the emotional. Together we will plant the seeds for tomorrow! Coach Jen
Is That Your Natural Color?
Anytime we go to eat or drink we are often confronted with artificial coloring. A lot of the time these dyes do not disclose to us what is actually in them because it's considered proprietary information. We see this on labels as natural coloring. Major manufacturers use this label as an umbrella to not disclose the endocrine disrupting chemicals in their products.
How does that affect us? We could be exposing ourselves to a host of synthetic dyes that are linked to an array of health issues. According to a 2021 study by the California Office of Environmental Health and Hazards Assessment, exposure to synthetic dyes can cause behavioral difficulties, decreased attention, and adverse hormonal changes. Some dyes have been labeled as carcinogenic and have been found to be contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens.
"Artificial dyes derived from petroleum are found in thousands of foods. In particular breakfast cereals, candy, snacks, beverages, vitamins, and other products aimed at children are colored with dyes. Even some fresh oranges are dipped in dye to brighten them and provide uniform color", says Michael Jacobson, executive director at CSPI. (Center for Science in the Public Interest)
Diving deeper, how do we identify if we’re being exposed to synthetic dyes?
First thing to do is read the label which seems simple but often that can be a little bit more complicated. If we are looking for artificial food dyes we are going to keep an eye out red number 40, yellow number 5, yellow number 6, and blue number 1. We should also be looking for the term "caramel color." This is something we often see used in fizzy drinks to give them a brown hue or we may see in alcohol to give it a more palatable color (sales come first).
Also think about anything that has crazy bright colors such as sports drinks. Very rarely are we going to see those beverages using natural food sources as their coloring agent. Why might that be? The bright colors help grab our attention, and therefore increase profit margins.
So now that with that information, what do we do to protect ourselves?
Some countries such as Norway, Finland, France, Austria and the U.K, have banned 8 dyes linked to health hazards. In the US we currently only ban 11 ingredients, which is a marginal % of what is available to food manufacturers. While we wait for congress to step up, we can start at a personal level.
One of the first choices we have is to choose foods without artificial coloring. That means looking for products that are colored with natural sources such as carrots, beet roots and grapes. There are plenty of food options that do not contain artificial colorings.
We should always attempt to choose whole foods, but this is a place where I focus on realistic expectations. We’re not always going to be able to make those choices easily. Plan ahead to limit your exposure and know that the power is in your hands.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957945/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23026007/
Planting Seeds for Tomorrow
Grounded Wellness Coaching
Empowering you to to thrive through holistic wellness. Specializing in chronic illness support & low tox living. Subscribe to our newsletter where once a month you will get the low down on wellness topics hitting the news, low tox living, recipes and more. Check out the Products page for meal plans and other digital downloads. To book your complimentary Discovery Call click on the links tab. My journey into the wellness world began in university when I was studying Physical Education and human movement. Anatomy and Physiology were fascinating and started me on the path I am traveling today. In 2012 while I was teaching group fitness classes I noticed changes in my body. I lacked my usually energy levels, my muscles were shrinking while I was still lifting weights regularly, and I started reacting to food I never had before. I began the investigative journey which took me 8 years, 9 diagnosis and 2 surgeries to get to the root cause. I was gifted to be working with a homeopathic doctor who didn't know the word quit and I will be forever grateful for her dedication. During the journey I dove deep into the world of auto immune illness, the microbiome, toxic exposure and endocrine disputing chemicals. I wanted to do everything I could to feel better. I and rooted in my mission to be of service, and to help people cut through the noise when it comes to their health. It does not have to take years to feel your best, and together we can re program what wellness looks like for you. I believe that we should treat the individual as a whole and know that healing involves not only the physical but the emotional. Together we will plant the seeds for tomorrow! Coach Jen
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