U.S. Might BAN Lucky Charms, Skittles, & Gatorade?!

Hey everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week I explore the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. On today's episode, I'll be diving into a hot topic, the potential of banning some of America's favorite snacks and candies.

And we're gonna be breaking down why this is happening, what it means for your health, and whether it's a good thing or not. Hey, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell before I dive in so you don't miss a single thing.

And on this broadcast, I'm constantly going through how to heal using mindset medicine, food as medicine, lifestyle medicine, and bringing you the latest news on how to heal, things you need to be aware of. So make sure to subscribe, or you may not check out or know some of these latest controversies. So here's what's happening.

Recently, several states in the United States have proposed and enacted bans on certain chemicals found in popular snacks and candies. Now, these include foods. Now, you're gonna— These are foods all of us have heard of and you might have even enjoyed as a kid.

But cereals like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops, candies like Skittles, Nerds, M&M's, and Swedish Fish, snacks like Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Doritos, and sports drinks like Gatorade— these food— certain foods in these companies are looking at being banned because of how damaging they are to our bodies. And we need to be aware of this as well because of how it impacts our kids.

So Why are these foods being banned? Well, the main reason for these bans with these specific foods is they have a very specific group of chemicals that damage the body. Here are a few. One is called BVO. That stands for brominated vegetable oil. This used to keep citrus fruits from floating to the top of drinks, which now have been shown to affect the thyroid.

So these chemicals actually keep the— keep certain foods from being separated. So if you think about this with Gatorade, they have a lemon-lime flavor. Well, what keeps it all together? When typically certain types of foods, you know, we know oil and water separate, but also there tends to be separation of other types of foods, and citrus is one of those when it's combined with other foods.

Well, again, it's this brominated vegetable oil. However, it's been shown to cause thyroid disease. And of course, can you imagine we have kids eating these foods that are 3 years old, 4 years old, and it's already affecting their thyroid? Now, in addition, there's another compound called potassium bromate.

Now, this strengthens bread texture and the texture of certain types of cereals and keeping them sort of from decaying as quickly. And this is a known carcinogen which may cause kidney disease in rats. And so again, we have this potassium bromate, which is very hard on the kidneys in adults and children.

Also, some of the other things looking at being banned are Red dye number 3, that's been linked to cancer. Yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40— these contain a form of benzene, which has also been linked to cancer and which is toxic to the liver and the cells of the body.

Now, countries like the UK, France, Italy, and Norway have already banned many of these harmful chemicals, but in the entire European Union has strict regulations on food additives and has banned many of these as well. And I'll give you an example of this.

I remember looking at Nutella when I was in Italy, and the ingredients were completely different in the way that they process Nutella versus what you buy in the United States. Now, the same goes if you even go to a fast food restaurant like McDonald's in Paris versus the United States, they're using different ingredients.

In the United States, the chemicals that are used in the food supply tend to be much more toxic than what you'd find in certain areas of Europe like Norway, France, and Italy. And here's the reality: 70% of the US food supply is made of ultra-processed food. So not just processed, okay? So think about this. Here's what ultra-processed is.

It's, it's taking something like milk and then pasteurizing it and then homogenizing it and removing all the fat and, you know, other things that happen to it as well, to where then you've got something that's ultra-processed. Where now you can't absorb and digest the nutrients. In fact, what it's gonna do is, is cause systemic inflammation. Now, this happens constantly.

Like we take corn and eventually turn it to high fructose corn syrup. That's ultra-processed food. And one study shows that between 60 to 90% of the entire American diet consists of ultra-processed food. So again, this isn't just processed, this isn't processing like turning an apple into applesauce. It's like taking an apple. And only taking out the sugar to create apple juice.

So where there's no fiber, no vitamins, no minerals, and it has a completely different effect on the body. This happens with honey today. Honey, if it's raw and local, is full of healthy microbes and vitamins and minerals and propolis and these nutrients that actually strengthen your immune system and help you fight allergies.

Well, when you pasteurize it and heat it and process it and filter it, well, now it's basically just sugar. Okay, so ultra-processed foods are extremely, extremely damaging to our body, and they've been linked to everything from obesity to diabetes to cancer. Now, over the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in the consumption of these processed foods.

At the same time, there's a lot more people becoming more aware of these truths and more people homesteading, making sourdough bread at home, you know, buying at their local farmer's market.

So what I see is there's this sort of of a group of people getting worse and worse and worse in what they're eating, but a small group of people becoming more wise and educated and really focusing on making their diet almost 100% whole food based. Now I want to now dive into some of the most common forms of ultra-processed foods that you're going to see on labels, okay?

The, the big one is this, is added sugar, okay? If you see sugar or added sugar on a label, that's an ultra-processed food, and that has been linked to diabetes, obesity, you name it. Sodium. If it just says sodium, if it doesn't say sea salt, okay, sodium is an ultra-processed food that's very, very hard on your body.

And then of course, any of the things I mentioned earlier, here's the crazy part, they're not even ultra-processed food. They're not even food in the first place. Yellow 5, you know, Blue 40, these sort of things, they're not even food, but they tend to be added to the ultra-processed foods. So you wanna stay away from, you know, the Wonder Bread, the white bread.

You wanna stay away from added sugar, sodium. You also wanna stay away from seed oils like soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower, safflower oil that are highly processed. Stay away from those oils as well. Those tend to be the foods you'll see most that are ultra-processed. And these ultra-processed foods have been linked to some I've mentioned.

Of course, I mentioned cancer, I mentioned obesity, but also just general weight gain, heart disease, high blood pressure, And cancer, all of those issues from ultra-processed food. Now, here's an example with cancer. Several studies have linked these additives that I just mentioned to an increased risk of cancer.

For example, a review by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2021 found strong evidence linking food dyes to adverse behavioral effects in children due to their impact on brain dopamine levels. We already have a dopamine issue today with so many kids spending time on social media.

Well, these additives and colorings are making it worse, especially Yellow 5 and Red 40 have been linked to hyperactivity in children. Also, other chronic illnesses. A high amount of processed food has been linked with, according to a new medical study, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

And strong evidence shows that a higher intake of ultra-processed food was associated with a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular-related death. And common mental health disorders in young adults. Now, there's convincing evidence that a high intake of ultra-processed food could also increase your risk of anxiety.

One study found that it increases your risk of anxiety by 53% and the risk of an early death by 20%. This was out of the British Medical Journal, a very prestigious medical journal. Another medical journal found that eating ultra-processed food increased your risk of obesity by 50%. Sleep disorders by 41%, depression by 20%, and cancer.

These ultra-processed foods increase your risk of weight gain and obesity, which then— it's important to remember this— then increase your risk of 13 different types of cancer.

So if you're consuming any type of ultra-processed food and then you gain weight because of it, it increases your risk of meningioma, adenocarcinoma, multiple myeloma, kidney cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, cancer of the stomach, the pancreas, the colon, the liver, the breast, and the thyroid. All of those areas of the body.

So it's important to recognize that ultra-processed foods just don't cause you to gain weight, they increase your risk of early death. And these cancers that I just mentioned make up 40% of all the cancers diagnosed in the United States per year. So in a way, what we're seeing is ultra-processed food is, is probably the greatest causative factor for somebody developing cancer.

Now, I want to mention some areas that you may be surprised to find these sweeteners, and that is in sodas and sports drinks. I mentioned earlier brands like Gatorade that add the food coloring in there. Now, again, I see a lot of athletes, a lot of people that are fairly health conscious or fit into fitness, consuming a lot of these beverages that are hot blue or hot orange or green in color.

And the reality is, is that the chemicals in there have been linked to obesity, and diabetes. Now obviously there's other things we want to stay away from, like high fructose corn syrup, which is found in candy bars and soft drinks, but those aren't the only things causing an issue.

Again, it's the food colorings that have been linked to ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and some of these other medical conditions. Now listen, I am a fan of banning these fake substances because they're not food in the first place. And I put them in the same category as cigarettes.

In fact, we know French fries, consuming a thing of French fries is like smoking, you know, several cigarettes according to medical studies. And so you want to stay away from all of these foods. And I am a fan of banning these chemical foods because again, here's the thing, I don't know how else to say this, they're not foods. Okay? Maybe they used to be, now they're not.

And we have a responsibility in our country to do everything we can to care for people. And I especially wanna say. At the very least, it needs to be for children. And when I think about all of these sugary cereals and all of the food colorings and additives and what it's doing to kids, that isn't right.

So maybe somebody should have the right when they're above 18 to go and, you know, buy high fructose corn syrup with food coloring. But below the age of 18, the cereal companies, the food companies marketing these things to kids is something that just isn't right. So here's a solution. Okay. Number 1, read and compare product labels and try to choose less processed alternatives.

For example, swap out the flavored yogurt for just plain yogurt and add in fruit yourself. When you— what you include is just as important as what you exclude. Focus on what you can add to your own diet, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, you know, healthy nuts like walnuts. Get these yourself. Also, here's another one. Be mindful of beverages.

The single— the place where these additives are added the most tend to be in our beverages. Everything from sports drinks to sodas to even sometimes health food, which is crazy, but they're in there. So be mindful of your beverages. Also, when eating out, try and go to local restaurants and cafes instead of fast food chains.

You know, local eateries are less likely to add in these ultra-processed foods. Like for myself, I'm constantly going to Urban Market in Franklin, Tennessee, and True Food Kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee, rather than the fast food restaurants because they're using whole foods that are locally sourced. So these are better options there as well. So listen, I would love to hear from you.

What do you think? Is it worth it to ban these ingredients for the sake of our health? Hey, let me know in the comment section below. But I truly believe it's an injustice in what we're doing to our kids. In giving them these ultra-processed foods, the food coloring, and thinking that we're increasing childhood cancer, we're increasing childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, ADHD, and so much more.

So, hey, thank you so much for being on mission with me. Listen, more people need to know the truth about what's happening in our food supply, what's happening to our kids. Do me a favor, share this, whether it be on Instagram or Facebook or sending a text to a friend or a group chat. Encourage people to spread the truth that we— that food shouldn't be Yeah. Food should not be poison.

Food should be our greatest form of medicine. Also, hey, if you love this episode, uh, make sure to subscribe and like so you don't miss a single thing. This has been the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week I explore the science and principles of how to heal in body, mind, and spirit. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next episode.