It’s clear that there is a lot of confusion about what constitutes a food being “healthy” or not, but what if it’s been proven that a snack is so unhealthy that the company was sued? Recent details have come to light about microwave popcorn in the popcorn lung lawsuit where a man won $7.2 million because of a bad chemical in the snack food.
While it’s one thing to want to lose weight and eat healthy snacks, it’s another to digest snacks that have been shown to cause serious diseases and illnesses due to their chemical content.
Are any of these snacks still in your pantry?
The Many Problems of Aspartame
Many studies have been done on the effects of aspartame, and it’s becoming clear that this artificial sweetener can cause type 2 diabetes, obesity, headaches, depression, seizures, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD, cancer, and lupus.
Aspartame is mostly find in diet soda drinks, and while it is approved by the FDA, long-term consumption of aspartame has been found to be harmful to your gut bacteria and pancreas most of all. Many doctors say to avoid diet drinks with aspartame as much as possible.
The Lies of High Fructose Corn Syrup
A few decades ago, everything had high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It was a cheaper replacement to actual sugar. Since people have slowly stopped consuming as much sugar, they’ve also increased their intake of HFCS. One study found that people eat 20 times as much HFCS today. Snacks with this ingredient will have more calories, and it increases triglycerides, increasing the amount of fat storing hormones in your body. Studies have shown that people who have diets high in HFCS typically gain more weight and likely overeat due to not “feeling full” because of it.
Benzene Carcinogen
Some sodas use preservatives to protect against mold. These include sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate. However, benzene has been linked to cancer and found to be a carcinogen that causes damage to your thyroid, which is responsible for your metabolism. If you have been drinking soda with these ingredients, then you probably have had long-term exposure to benzene, specifically if you drank soda from plastic bottles that were exposed to any kind of heat. If you have been ordering any diet sodas off of Amazon with these ingredients, you may be digesting benzene still.
Diacetyl in Your Popcorn
If you have ever eaten microwave popcorn, then you should check to see if it has diacetyl in the package. In one popcorn lung lawsuit, a man was awarded $7.2 million because he proved that diacetyl had caused him respiratory problems from eating two bags of microwave popcorn a day for 10 years. Diacetyl is an additive that creates the buttery flavor on your popcorn.
Popcorn lung is a respiratory illness with serious consequences that can result in death. While it specifically caused problems for workers at microwave popcorn plants, it has also been found to cause problems for those who cook and consume the popcorn daily. Symptoms include cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, asthma, chronic bronchitis, and pneumonia.
For those who want to avoid harmful snacks, you can find there are a variety of natural and healthy recipes online that can instantly improve your diet.
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