The Bread Preservative 282

Did you know that your bread is actually supposed to go moldy?

In fact if you have bought bread and it goes moldy by the end of the week then you know your bread is probably good for you! Sound strange? ... let me explain.

I used to wonder why my supermarket brand loaves of bread still looked as good in the pantry after a week as they did the day I bought them - but how could that be?

It also still tasted exactly the same and kept the same texture. The more I thought about it the more disturbed I became and it was literally one of the first foods I started to investigate and change in our chemical free diet.

It turns out that most bread products and supposed ‘fresh” loaves of bread have a series of chemicals in them to help them stay preserved for longer - mostly to aid the manufacturer’s in the bread’s production and distribution rather than to keep it longer in your pantry.

Most bread’s you buy are already at least 12-24 hours old before they have landed in your supermarket and the mold inhibitors stop the manufacturers’ from having to be super scrupulous in their factory cleaning and enables them to bag hot steamy loaves of bread straight away.

Like most chemicals you may not see a significant change when a food product is consumed only once in a while i.e. croissants for Sunday Brunch, however, when you are making sandwiches for lunch each day, toast for breakfast and a pastry for afternoon school snack then the effects can be cumulative and positively disastrous.

Symptoms can include all or any of the following reactions:

migraine and headaches;

gastro-intestinal symptoms including stomach aches; 

irritable bowel, diarrhoea, urinary urgency, bedwetting;

eczema and other itchy skin rashes;

nasal congestion (stuffy or runny nose);

depression, unexplained tiredness, impairment of memory and concentration, speech delay; tachycardia (fast heart beat);

growing pains, loud voice (no volume control);

irritability, restlessness, inattention, difficulty settling to sleep, night waking and night terrors.

The preservatives that you want to avoid are listed below - however it can be very difficult to avoid them as these are so widespread and consumed just about every day!

280 Propionic acid

281 Sodium propionate

282 Calcium propionate

283 Potassium propionate

They can also be found in dairy products as well! Furthermore, they can travel in your breast milk so if you have a particularly unsettled baby, you may want to explore an elimination diet to see of this makes any changes to your babies restlessness.

So, when you go to buy your next loaf of bread, donuts, scones or pastries from the supermarket stop and ask yourself - how did mom used to buy these items when she was a little girl? And if the answer is her local baker, it might be time to seek out yours and spend your hard earned income on good, fresh preservative free bread in your community at your local bakers!

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