Two Food Additives Have Previously Unrecognized Estrogen-like Effects

[RobinN]

Estrogen has the added value of exciting the brain. This is a good thing except when you don't have the benefit of enough progesterone to calm the brain. Thus it can be a trigger to many that suffer from a seizure disorder.
There are foods that are high in estrogen, and now we find that certain additives act like it.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2009) — Scientists in Italy are reporting development and successful use of a fast new method to identify food additives that act as so-called "xenoestrogens" — substances with estrogen-like effects that are stirring international health concerns.

They used the method in a large-scale screening of additives that discovered two additives with previously unrecognized xenoestrogen effects.

In the study, Pietro Cozzini and colleagues cite increasing concern about identifying these substances and about the possible health effects. Synthetic chemicals that mimic natural estrogens (called "xenoestrogens," literally, "foreign estrogens") have been linked to a range of human health effects. They range from reduced sperm counts in men to an increased risk of breast cancer in women.

The scientists used the new method to search a food additive database of 1,500 substances, and verified that the method could identify xenoestrogens. In the course of that work, they identified two previous unrecognized xenoestrogens. One was propyl gallate, a preservative used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling. The other was 4-hexylresorcinol, used to prevent discoloration in shrimp and other shellfish. "Some caution should be issued for the use of propyl gallate and 4-hexylresocrinol as food additives," they recommend in the study.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0302125924.htm

[misseschris]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I've long thought that foods (more specifically) fruits, veggies and meats have been touched in some way by both semi to hazardous chemicals and hormones-mostly to appear more appealing etc...whatever the process is that food goes through before we get it is fine but I think that the FDA should be more proactive in reporting this sort of thing...so that we as consumers are armed with the information and able to make more appropriate decisions for ourselves and our families..

Thanks again.