Introduction:
When we consider the root causes of disrupted healthy eating habits, we often blame junk food, sugar, trans fats, or artificial additives. What if I told you there's more to what meets the eye? Meet acrylamide, a potent chemical that is silently harming your health at the cellular level. This chemical causes more damage to your body than seed oils, sugar and preservatives combined!
The Dangers of Hidden Toxins in Food:
Acrylamide is a chemical produced when foods rich in starch and carbohydrates are cooked or fried at high temperatures. This chemical is produced from baked, roasted, fried, or toasted food items, such as fries, potato chips, crackers, bread, toast, cookies, breakfast cereals, and even coffee beans. Shockingly, food manufacturers aren’t required to list information about acrylamide content on food labels, and yet it’s been classified as a carcinogen and neurotoxin by global health bodies. Once ingested, it converts into glycidamide, a compound directly linked to DNA damage.
Health Risks and Concerns:
Regular consumption of acrylamide has the following drastic effects on your body:
Neurotoxicity: Linked to severe and irreversible damage in the nervous system that can happen over time due to constant consumption of food with high acrylamide content. In worst cases, sometimes it can cause severe damage and even lead to cognitive decline.
Carcinogenic effects: Studies and research show that regular consumption of food items rich in acrylamide can lead to an increased risk of tumour formation in your body.
Permanent Genetic Damage: Glycidamide, a compound that is formed through the conversion of acrylamide, is responsible for potentially triggering chronic diseases over time by mutating your DNA.
The scariest part? These effects accumulate silently, especially when the foods in question are common in children's diets and everyday meals, since cereals, bread, toast, etc, are a regular part of their diets. So next time, think before you crack open a box of cereal and help yourself to high-carb bread toast for breakfast.
Better Alternatives:
Opt for dark roast: If you are an avid coffee lover who relies on caffeine to function on a day-to-day basis, why not give dark roast a try? It's not only a healthier alternative, but it also contains significantly lower acrylamide levels compared to light roasts.
Avoid overcooking starchy foods: Overcooking foods high in starch content decreases the nutrient value of the food while increasing the production of potentially harmful compounds like acrylamide. It's important to cook foods high in starch content without overdoing it to reap the maximum benefits from them.
Ditch the cooking oil: Regular kitchen cooking oil and seed oil contain toxins like saturated fats and trans fats that are the major root causes of many health problems, like cholesterol. So, swap your regular cooking oils with stable fats like coconut oil and ghee while you’re cooking.
Incorporate food rich in sulphates in your diet: Sulphur-rich foods like garlic, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and eggs support healthy detox pathways in your body, which play a role in getting rid of the harsh toxins you might ingest.
Antioxidant consumption: Incorporating antioxidant-rich foods into your diet can help reduce cellular damage caused by unhealthy eating habits.
Swap processed food with healthy snacks: Swap processed snacks for fresh fruit, raw nuts, or hummus with veggies. Replace overly browned toast with lightly warmed whole-grain bread. Craving crunch? Try air-popped popcorn or roasted chickpeas.
At the end of the day, it’s not about total elimination and forcing yourself to stop eating your favourite food by instilling fear in yourself; it’s about upgrading your health and lifestyle in a smart way through healthy swaps.
Conclusion:
Acrylamide is a silent killer as nobody can see it or smell it in food. You can’t even find it on food labels. However, since awareness has been brought about by this chemical, it's up to us to take steps to make smart changes to our dietary habits to protect our brains and our DNA from the harmful effects of these silent yet potent chemicals and to preserve our health in the long run. Instead of seeing this blog as a fear-mongering scare, see it as a wake-up call to incorporate mindful eating habits and beware of the hidden things that tend to be overlooked. After all, the most dangerous ingredients are the ones we don’t even know we’re eating.
