We all know Christmas is that time of the year when we relax, ease up on the rules and the “diet” and just enjoy spending time with the family without being so “strict” when it comes to food and treats because we are trying to make it as fun for our kids as possible and we are trying to give them as much as we can. But is giving them all of these additive laden treats and snacks really a treat? Or are we doing far more harm than good?
What are you really giving your children for Christmas?
I have crunched some numbers on the average, traditional Christmas meals consumed over Christmas eve, Christmas day and of course, the left overs on boxing day. Sadly I wasn’t shocked at all when I saw that the average Australian family members are each consuming well over 150 doses of harmful food additives over just 3 days. Of approximately 150 doses, over ½ are known to be extremely harmful and are banned in other countries around the world, yet are still permitted in Australia.
Does it still seem like a treat to you when your children are being exposed to toxic chemicals which are known to cause migraines, learning difficulties, learning delay, eczema, asthma, hives, irritability, sleeplessness, mood swings, depression, anxiety and cancer? Or when you have to calm your child down when they can’t sleep from the nightmares, insomnia and confusion? These are just a few of the harmful effects these additives have been proven to cause when tested individually. These toxic chemicals have never, ever been tested in combination with each other so there is really no predicting what effect they have in combination with each other, but what I can tell you for certain is that it is not good and is absolutely not worth the risk.
But just a few days of indulgence can’t hurt, can it?
There are a lot of people who argue that “just one day or just one weekend wont hurt” and I honestly wish they were correct, but unfortunately it is not as simple as “flushing the chemicals out of your child’s body” the next day or your child’s body not reacting to it. Unfortunately these toxic chemicals ARE doing damage, weather you are lucky enough to see the symptoms or not and this damage isn’t turned on and off by avoiding some food additives for a short period of time. They are like cigarettes, each dose is slowly doing damage and you have no way of predicting when and how the awful side effects will rear their ugly head!
The only way to know 100% for certain that your children aren’t being effected by these harmful toxins is to make a decision to remove them all together, yes, even over the holidays and special occasions.
Christmas can be stressful enough: won’t this make my job even harder?
I know you are probably now thinking “but it’s Christmas and I want my children to have treats and I don’t want to have to stress out over Christmas, trying to find safe alternatives.” Am I right? Christmas can be hard enough cant it! That is exactly why I have created this blog for you!
Follow these simple steps to seriously reduce the number of toxins in your home over the holidays
- Alcohol: Choosing to enjoy a responsible alcoholic beverage with your friends and family does not mean you have to ditch the additive free lifestyle! Most liquor stores stock additive free wines, starting from around $10 per bottle, they also stock a range of additive free beers. Vodka is also free of additives but will of course need to be drunk with some additive free fruit juices.
- Adding colour and flair to your table in a healthy way: We are so blessed to be in living in a country where we are able to enjoy amazing cherries, berries, melons and all kinds of other bright, colourful and yummy fruits throughout the holidays! Why not use this to your advantage and create a colourful and sumptuous fruit platter to be snacked during the day? It will provide some much needed nutrients during a time when we tend to over indulge.
- A gourmet platter without the harmful side effects: Most Christmas platters look very healthy by conventional standards and harmless, its not until you read the ingredients list of each individual product that you realise just how many toxins are in that one platter. If you are purchasing conventional cold meats, olives, sun dried tomatoes, gherkins, cheeses, crackers and dips from the local supermarket or deli, it is almost guaranteed that every single item on that platter contains highly toxic additives, easily adding up to over 30 harmful doses in just one snack! Choosing to purchase the additive free versions of these products is very simple. Most can be ordered online and cost around the same amount of money! For the cold meats, I recommend roasting your own ham, beef and/or chicken the day before and shredding it yourself and awesome dips can be made in less that 10 minutes.
- Shopping online: I do so much of my Christmas shopping online, I find it makes life a lot less chaotic, especially when you are able to eliminate some of the trips to the crowded shopping centres during the holiday rush. There are so many wonderful organic/health food stores online that offer a huge range of non perishables. Shopping online means the products are often cheaper, they are delivered right to your door and you can shop in your pyjamas while your children are sleeping. What more could you need? Just make sure to do this online shopping nice and early to avoid having items caught up in the Christmas postage rush.When purchasing from an online store, please remember to read the ingredients lists before committing to purchase anything as you would with buying in store. Although most online organic and health food stores do a wonderful job of avoiding stocking nasty additives, some do sneak through. All products should have the ingredients lists displayed for you to see before purchasing.
- Advent calendars: I often hear people say that because it is such a small piece of chocolate each day that it cant possibly have an effect on our children’s bodies. Unfortunately, a lot of the effects of these harmful toxins are not effected by the dosage, meaning, once its in the body, its in the body. It doesn’t matter how little or how much they have had. Of all of the advent calendars I have seen at the local shops there was not 1 single on I would purchase, some don’t even have any chocolate in their chocolates! YUK! You can make your own advent calendars very simply with just some fabric, felt or match boxes. Making your own reusable advent calendars gives you the freedom of only adding the treats you choose and doesn’t restrict you to chocolate or lollies and you can use re-use this advent calendar for years to come.
- Be prepared! This simple and obvious step can save you a lot of time, money and stress! If you haven’t started to plan your Christmas menu yet, start now. Of course I’m not saying you need to drop all other activities and devote every minute of your life to planning Christmas right away, but taking 1 or 2 hours of your time this week to plan the menu and start making a list of items you will need to buy can really help you out in the long run and keep you on track for what you actually need, rather than have you dazed and confused at the shops the day before Christmas eve once all of the additive free and/or organic alternatives have already sold out.
- Create a list of safe lollies and sweet treats for families and friends: You are probably not the only person wanting to spoil your children over the holidays, if you are lucky enough to have family and friends in your life who like to treat your children with little surprises it is a really good idea to give them a phone call and let them know that you will not be feeding your children harmful additives over the holidays. This will ensure they don’t bring any nasty toxins into the house. When discussing this you need to be very clear that your decision regarding your children has nothing to do with them. Unfortunately people tend to see your decisions regarding your own children as an attack on their parenting, which we know honestly isnt the case! As long as you are polite, understanding and caring and mention that you are not judging or criticising them and this is simply what you are doing in your family, they won’t feel “judged” as they needn’t feel that at all. But at the same time, be firm and tell them that you don’t want to see your children upset by being told “no” to their gifts and also offer them a list of the safer alternatives that they are able to purchase if they wish. Some of the safer alternatives are: Artisse, Yummy Earth, Loving earth, Moo Free and some of the Natural Confectionary Company lollies are free from nasty additives too.
- The traditional Christmas Meats: It is virtually impossible to buy a safe turkey or ham from the supermarkets, all of the ones I saw at the shops were laden with toxic flavour enhancers, preservatives and flavours. For the price they charge you would expect a much better quality! Luckily many organic and health food stores will start doing a pre-order for Christmas turkeys and hams at the beginning of December. Start phoning your local store now to see when they will be placing their orders and you won’t miss out. The other option is to replace the traditional turkey with an organic chicken; this is a lot more affordable and more easily accessible.
- Sauces and other condiments: With organic food now being quite common, you can find many certified organic sauces and jams from your local supermarket, replacing the conventional versions for organic can give you a massive reduction in the number of food additives and other harmful toxins. I also find it a lot easier to purchase many of these items on line.
- Start the Christmas baking early: Most homemade biscuits and other baked goods can be stored for weeks, so get started with this well before the big day and you will have less to do as you approach the busy days. We never purchase conventional biscuits as almost 100% of them contain colours, flavours preservatives or have sneaky doses of BHA 320 that aren’t even labelled thanks to the 5% loop hole. Give the kids something fun to do over the holiday and let them do the baking with you, just try not to eat them all before the big day!
- Traditional puddings and cakes: Bought cakes and puddings are another common source of harmful additives over the holidays. It is definitely best to make your own.
- Save more time over Christmas: During November and December I am offering a gift wrapping and direct posting service. If you are stuck for ideas for a family member or friend that you wont be seeing over the holidays, check out our website and give them the gift of health and happiness by choosing any of the products from our range. This service will save you time, money and stress! We even fill the card out, following your instructions!j
If you like this blog post and want to know more about products to avoid and which ones are better for you and your family join up to our Additive Free Kids Community group.
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Take care!
My passion and mission is to work with families to reduce the overwhelm when going additive free. Moving to additive free living can bring back peace, calm and joy to families. I know it's possible and I've experienced it first hand with my 5 boys.
