Preservatives in food

I recently saw a story on the use of preservatives in food. They were saying that a McDonalds burger still looked fine after 12 years. That is the power of preservatives. But what are the risks?
The problem of course is that we are not dealing with a single preservative but hundreds. The risk is that:
1. Companies seeking short term profit are likely to create the pretence of following procedure
2. Regulators is under-resourced in Western markets

There is no question that there is a need for preservatives - the issue is whether it is safe to use the whole range of them and whether consuming a lot of them is harmful. The best approach is to eat fresh foods as much as possible.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Vitamin supplements

I have mixed feelings about using vitamins for several years:
1. False sense of safety: You might be taking vitamins, but are you confident you are taking the right ones? Are you confident that the active ingredients are being absorbed into the bloodstream. Drug companies produce these products to make money. I would suggest as long as there is no evidence to suggest they hurt you (that is, they are not legally liable), they will do pretty well anything to get you to purchase more.
2. False claims: There was an advertisement on TV suggesting that vitamins improved performance. I suspect if you read the labelling it might say 'vitamin supplement', but the advertisement claims its a 'performance factor'. That is a highly dubious claim.
3. Synthesised drugs: Why take synthetic products when there are healthy alternatives. Why? The concern I have is that chemicals are not just important in themselves, but in the associations in which they occur. If you are taking more than your daily needs of something, you could be preventing your body from absorbing other compounds because the supplement is more reactive. This is the context which drug companies likely do not consider. Drug companies see no danger because if you are health conscious enough to take vitamins, you are probably getting a balanced diet already. If you are on a bad diet, the solution is more fruit and vegetables, not vitamin supplements. Some vitamins are actually dangerous if you take too much.
4. Price: The price is a big reason not to buy these vitamins. They are priced at a premium because they have scared you into thinking you need these products. The idea of paying $20 for a bottle of vitamins is crazy. Unprocessed fruit and vegetables is the best way to buy food - its the way your body was designed to consume energy, it has a natural distribution of vitamins, and they are far cheaper.

I take just 2 vitamins - Vitamin B & C - but only after a night of drinking alcohol, and I hardly drink any more. In these instances there is a clear benefit - no hang over effects. These vitamins are depleted by drinking, so it makes sense to replenish them.

The latest product in Australia is the Vitamin drink. Sure they have vitamins, but they also have 5-5% sugar, thats half the daily energy requirements for a women. Its nonsense to suggest that a 'lolly water' like this is healthy, as the sugar will give the drink a high glycemic index rating. These products are a scam to keep sales high after the mainstream products like Coca Cola have lost market share to water and other 'health drinks'. The best approach is tap water. If you are living in a developing country with unsafe water you can still use tap water, but use a filter first.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com