I have a confession.

I had a donut today, and its not the first time.

I know I preach healthy eating, but sometimes you just gotta treat yourself. With that being said, even if you have a cheat day, you can still have a conscious cheat day. By conscious I mean think about what you're doing. Take something away from the experience other than the 5 seconds of euphoria you feel scarfing down that donut.

So I decided to research exactly what my donut was made out of (not good), and it brought me to the topic of food additives.

According to Biology Online, food additives are "substances which are of little or no nutritive value, but are used in the processing or storage of foods or animal feed..." These additives can vary from preservatives to coloring agents. Maybe they won't kill you (right away), but none of that crap is good for you in any way.

Well, way back in 1958, some old guys from the FDA decided to pass the Food Addivitives Amendment. Don't get excited just yet, do you really think the FDA has our best interests in mind? The act states that any chemical or substance put in our food must be what the FDA considers "generally recognized as safe ." Yeah, just generally. If an additive is GRAS, this also means that it is excluded from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food additive tolerance requirements.

But that's not even the best (or should I say worst?) part. When this amendment was enacted, the FDA had already exempted 700(!) additives that they considered to be GRAS. Basically we're talking about 700 chemicals the public was completely unaware of, that got the go ahead to be put in our foods prior to the amendment! I mean, can you even name 700 different foods?? ...And this was all in 1958!

So for over 50 years we've been using the same 700 (+/-) chemicals in our food that the government originally thought was OK back in 1958. I'm pretty sure since then there's been more research on the harm many of these chemicals can do to our bodies. There's big money in it for the FDA, so I don't think we'll be seeing that change anytime soon. Despite this, the government can never take away your ability to choose. Next time you're at the store, be sure to read those nutrition labels and make the decision that is right for you. Here's a public interest website that can help you get familiar with the numerous additives that are out there.

So have your cheat day, but don't cheat yourself.