Some benefits of changing to an additive free diet

The first change happened quickly - the highs and lows of my daughters moods evened out substantially. There were less tantrums and was more willingness to listen. Isn't this what every parent wants to hear? There are lots of small changes too - not the least being that her poo looks normal instead of it being dyed by the chemicals!

When we ditched the additives as adults, I lost 5kg. Without doing anything else. Wow! What a great diet! Having to cook more from scratch made me more aware of what was going in our mouths and I even burnt calories from making the food. My food bill at the supermarket reduced. It went up at the vege shop.

My daughter drinks water or milk. Nothing else. Cheap and kind to teeth!

My pantry is full of old fashioned foods - I have huge tubs of flour, dried fruits and sugar, dried pulses for soups, corn for popping... biscuits can be made,baked and eaten in 15 minutes. it's all good honest cheap and preferably local produce.

I started making my own stock - but as it takes ages and isn't that cheap to do I find it more convenient to buy liquid (without MSG and preferably low-sodium) ambient blocks. They taste great and with a few veges, make a wonderful soup or gravy.

Food tastes different without additives. It is nowhere near as strong tasting. It took us probably three months to get used to the 'blander' taste. Now we can taste immediately if there's MSG in the mix. I prefer to eat real food. It means eating out is hard - a lot of cafes aren't used to making from scratch. Most places use packets for gravy( bleugh!). And some cake shops charge a fortune for cakes which haven't seen a real egg or milk in the mix. At least it saves money as you're less likely to indulge! Don't get me wrong, we fall off the wagon occasionally. But then next morning we get right back on again.

My latest 'thing' is a real breakfast. I have a list and we try and do a proper meal every day. We even get up earlier to do it. Scrambled eggs on toast, pancakes and fresh fruit and maple syrup, grilled tomatoes, portabello mushrooms on ciabatta... Today was ham and cheese and tomatoes on french bread and cereals. I have lost 3 kg since we started eating more. Weird, huh?

I no longer shop in a daze. In fact shopping is quick. Bread, milk, and meat with any staples we've run out of - but no biscuits or cakes or chippies or lollies. It takes you round the outside of a supermarket usually.

So even if you only want to lose weight - try additive free.