on the subject of additives....

It has now been 5 weeks of no additives; preservatives, colours or flavours, and the results we have seen are nothing short of a miracle. For the first time our 3yr old boy is meeting the eyes of adults and initiating conversations with them. He is responding to cuddles (not screaming and running away) and seems to have gained a calm confidence that allows us to see what a truly beautiful little man we have. Meeting the eyes of adults may seem like such a simple feat but combine that with his previous lack of control, not wanting to be touched, inability to be at all flexible (we usually had to give him a lot of notice if we were going somewhere and then outline all the social rules and expectations he would be expected to comply with) we never thought he had austism but we were seeing many autisitic tendancies.... many autistic tendancies that have all disappeared in the last 5 weeks.

On a much lesser scale, removing additives from my own diet has made me feel really alive. I had no idea how affected I had been from what I know see as a 'poor' diet. Since changing my own eating habits I have more energy, patience and am experiencing natural weight loss, even though my daily chocolate intake is pretty much the same (Will work on that one next month!)

So why are all of these additives allowed in our food?!? Unfortunately I can't answer that but I CAN debunk some myths about making such a drastic dietary change.

Myth 1: It will be a difficult change.
I have found that although we do need to know which chemicals may cause particular reactions, it is easy to fall into the trap of concentrating solely on what should NOT be eaten. The two tools I live by are an iphone app called 'The chemical maze' and Tanya Winfield's 'Additive free shopping Guide'
The Chemical Maze app gives you access to a comprehensive database of which preservatives may contribute to which symptoms. This allows you to search for all chemicals that may lead to a particular symptom such as aggressive behaviour or learning difficulties, or you can search by number or name of a chemical in order to find out any potential risk. I find this particularly handy when shopping as i always have my phone on me.
The 'Additive Free Shopping Guide' is a booklet of over 300 Australian products that have been thoroughly researched to help you identify which supermarket shelf items do and don't use preservatives, saving hours of tedious scanning through ingredient lists.

Myth 2: It is more expensive.
As Tanya Winfield shows in her shoping guide, it's not necessarily about cutting whole foods, but knowing which brands work for each food. for example, Coles Organic baked beans have no additives but Heinz Baked Beans do. So simply swapping brands can give you the changes you need. I was quite surprised that it is not necessarily the more expensive brands that are chemical free.

Myth 3: It is too time consuming.
I have found that whilst I do need to spend more time in the kitchen, I really do have more time because I'm not chasing my 3 yr old through the house trying to prevent him hurting his sister, climbing bookshelves or randomly emptying the contents of every drawer he can reach. I can now, for the first time, wash my dishes in one go, put away a whole load of washing without interuption and bake with my children at home. I have purchased Tany Winfield's 'Additive Free lunch box ideas' which have very simple recipes that work (and I am NO junior Masterchef!!)

Myth 4: The taste is bland
Oh NO!! The real foods mean that the taste is sensational!! Depending on your previous diet, it may take a few days for your tastebuds to return to 'normal' after being over-stimulated by chemical colours and flavours but once they do, you will begin to appreciate how wonderful the natural flavours really are.

I have put together some ideas for some fantastic additive free meals on a new website called pinterest which are anything but bland. Please feel free to view at:

http://pinterest.com/sammmey1/additive-free-cooking-ideas/

references
The Chemical Maze: http://www.chemicalmaze.com/
Additive Free Pantry: http://additivefreepantry.com/