Summary: Thanks for joining us for episode 86 of The Ancestral RD podcast. If you want to keep up with our podcasts, subscribe in iTunes and never miss an episode! Remember, please send us your question if you'd like us to answer it on the show. Today we are answering the following question from a listener: “Hello! I was wondering what's your take on food additives? Which ones do you think one should try to avoid and which ones are okay? I started thinking about this recently when I bought some almond and coconut milk, as I finally found some that seemed to have pretty good ingredients, no sweeteners or vegetable oils etc. They do have some guar gum, gellan gum, and sunflower lecithin as well as calcium phosphate and potassium phosphate. What do you think of these? Can some minerals or vitamin formulations be potentially harmful? If you have time, I would love it if you could also talk about which additives have special contraindications for gut health or that can be problematic for people with IBD. And thanks for your great show!” Have you read the ingredient labels on packaged foods lately? When transitioning to a whole foods diet, we start to be more careful about the packaged foods that we buy. Often it can be quite a surprise to read the additives that are on the label. On top of that, it can be extremely difficult to find a packaged food that doesn’t contain an additive. Many of us wonder, should we be avoiding food additives? Join us today as we share our opinions about additives in processed foods. Some of what you’ll learn is the process of how additives enter our food supply and which additives we personally try to avoid. You also come away with factors to consider when deciding the amount of additives you want to allow into your diet. Here's what Laura and Kelsey will be discussing in this episode: The prevalence of additives in packaged foods The brand of coconut milk that does not contain additives The history and controversial process of how food additives are allowed into our food supply What the designation of GRAS or “generally regarded as safe” really means How the GRAS label is more about short term safety than long term safety Why the decision of how much you want to avoid food additives is a personal one Laura and Kelsey’s personal opinions about food additives Which food additives Laura and Kelsey try to avoid and in which foods they are commonly found The possible effects of gums on digestive conditions like IBD Why sugar may not be the villain it’s been made out to be Why you should try to avoid food additives without obsessing over it Links Discussed: This episode is sponsored by Pure Indian Foods WebMd.com’s list of foods that contain sulfites Chris Kresser's Harmful or Harmless: Soy Lecithin and Harmful or Harmless: Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, and More EWG’s Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives TRANSCRIPT: Laura: Hi everyone. Welcome to episode 86 of The Ancestral RDs Podcast. I’m Laura Schoenfeld and with me as always is Kelsey Kinney. Kelsey: Hey guys. Laura: Our episode is publishing the week of Christmas, between Christmas and New Year’s, but we are currently in the beginning of December. Kelsey: We’re talking about ourselves in the future. Laura: Yes, it’s so weird. What are you up to over the holidays, Kelsey? Kelsey: Well I’ll be in Massachusetts for actual Christmas and everything. I think we’re planning and going a few days before Christmas and then staying until probably the 28th I think, or the 27th I guess. Then I’m going to be in Montreal from the 28th to New Year’s. I’ve never been there, but it should be fun. It sounds like they do a lot of fun New Year’s stuff and it’s decorated nicely and everything. I’m going with my mom, my sisters, my husband, and then both my sisters’ boyfriends. It’s going to be a big group actually, which is always interesting. Laura: When you said both my sisters’ boyfriends,
