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5 Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Kid

food dyes

There are always lists being made in the news: "The 12 Best" or the "Top 10" of any given product or exercise move or even place to live. This list, from the Huffington Post is short and to the point and easy to remember. We've also written about 4 of the 5 foods on our blog in the past year so this list makes a great deal of sense to us at MightyNest.

Foods to avoid feeding your kids:

  1. Anything colored with extremely unnatural artificial dyes: with the effects they have on children and the links to ADHD, allergies and even cancer, there is great concern over the use of these chemicals in our kid's food. A recent report from the National Cancer Institute has indicated that between 1992 and 2007, childhood cancer has risen by 9.4%. The UK and EU has already taken precautionary measures and banned the use of some food dyes in food manufacturing. Read more from our post about Toxic food dyes in our kid's food.
  2. Soda, particularly cola: Here's an alarming stat for perspective, "a typical 12-ounce bottle of cola has about 40 grams of sugar or about 10 teaspoons. That's the equivalent of 2.5 chocolate glazed doughnuts or three servings of vanilla ice cream." The Huffington Post also notes the dangerous side effects of excessive soda drinking leads to poor bone health, obesity and other illnesses. Read more from our post on the presence of BVO (a chemical that has the ability to dissolve a mouse!) in soft drinks.
  3. Juice:Of course, this seems like a harmless addition to your kids diet, but full strength juice in excessive amounts has been linked to weight gain for kids who are already at risk. Water, Diluted juice or whole fruit is the easiest and healthiest solution.
  4. Processed Food/Prepared Meals:The Huffington Post notes the direct correlation between a "training" of taste buds to recognize high salt foods if kids are fed too early in life after breast milk or formula, which ultimately leads to less healthy food choices later in life. Other sources of harm are in the packaging of prepared meals for kids. These meals are mainly packaged in toxic plastic or styrofoam and often require heating in a microwave--furthering toxic chemicals (from plastic) to leach into food. We always recommend microwaving in glass if you are using a microwave! Read more from our post on Food packaging here.
  5. Hot Dogs:After at least 58 scientific studies, scientists are now confident to say that the more hot dogs people eat, directly corresponds to a higher risk of colorectal cancer. Some of the highest amounts of sodium nitrate are found in packaged meats found in children's lunches, fast food sandwich stores and from the deli section. And some studies regarding processed meats have shown links to leukemia (in kids). Read more from our post on Hot dogs here.
What food(s) would you add to this list?