Very Unhealthy Foods And Drinks You Should Avoid
June 12, 2017
Foodviki
Tweet
Follow
Tweet
There is a lot of confusion out there about which foods are healthy, and which are not.Here is a list of foods that are generally very unhealthy.If you want to lose weight and avoid chronic disease, then you shouldn’t eat much of these foods.
In many cases, the best choice is to avoid them completely.In this article, healthy alternatives are mentioned whenever possible.
Pancakes
If you get your pancakes out of a box, you might not even suspect they might contain trans fat because it starts off in powder form. Bisquick for example has nearly 5g of trans fat in each cup. Makes you think twice about using pre-made mixes and just take the extra minute or so to come up with your own batch so you know everything that’s in it.
Doughnuts
OK, so we all know that donuts won’t show up on any lists of the healthiest foods, but what ends them up on this list is a combination of fat, sugar, and cholesterol, as well as MSG and trans fat in some cases. The cholesterol levels are also pretty high, and are concern enough to avoid eating doughnuts as a regular breakfast item, reserving them to perhaps a monthly treat.
Margarine
Margarine used to be considered a healthy alternative to butter.Fortunately, most people have now realized that this is far from being true.
Margarine is a highly processed pseudo-food that has been engineered to look and taste like butter.It is loaded with artificial ingredients, and is usually made with industrial vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated to make them more solid. This increases their trans fat content significantly.
Keep in mind that manufacturers are allowed to label their products with “no trans fat” as long as it contains less than 0.5 grams per serving, which is still a significant amount.
Alternatives: Use real butter instead, preferably from grass-fed cows.
Fast Food
We all know we shouldn’t eat fast food because it’s bad for us, but part of the reason is because of all the trans fats and other additives they use to make the food taste good. The problem is not just that there is trans fat in the foods, but that the portion sizes quickly multiply those contents and before long you have a week’s worth of trans fat in one meal. A large french fry from McDonald’s supplies 4 day’s worth of trans fat by itself.
Colas and Sodas
These are the number one offender because they’re so ubiquitous. 7UP once tried to claim that their soda was made with all-natural ingredients, saying that because it comes from corn HFCS is all-natural. They no longer phrase it this way, and other colas blatantly have it listed as the most abundant sweetener. In ordinary Coca-Cola it’s the only sweetener used.
French Fries and Potato Chips
Whole, white potatoes are very healthy.However, the same can NOT be said of the products that are made from them, such as french fries and potato chips.
These foods are very high in calories, and it is easy to eat excessive amounts. Several studies link consumption of french fries and potato chips with weight gain (20, 21).
These foods may also contain large amounts of acrylamides, carcinogenic substances that form when potatoes are fried, baked or roasted.
Alternatives: Potatoes are best consumed boiled, not fried. If you need something crunchy to replace potato chips, try baby carrots or nuts.
Pasta Dishes
A plain bowl of pasta won’t ruin your day, calorically speaking, but pasta often serves as the foundation for more calorie-laden dishes. A nice slab of Lasagna Classico from Olive Garden for example can tip the charts at 850 calories, more than half of the calories allotted to some dieters. That doesn’t leave much for the rest of the day.
Ranch Dressing
It’s America’s favorite dressing and dipping sauce, but ever wonder why you can’t get enough of it, and why it makes so many things taste better? One of the most popular nationwide brands, Hidden Valley Ranch, has it in its ingredients, as well as Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch, and other artificial flavors and sweeteners.
Lunch Meats
Because of the processing they go through most lunch meats are packed with extra sodium as well as nitrates. There are plenty of reasons to take a pass on lunch meats, or at least to read the labels before you buy in order to make sure that you are getting meat that isn’t loaded with fillers and additives. Some other top concerns are the bacteria listeria which can pose a problem for pregnant women, sodium nitrate which could potentially be cancer-causing, and added oils and sweeteners which add to the fat and carb count.
Foodviki
TweetFollowTweet
There is a lot of confusion out there about which foods are healthy, and which are not.Here is a list of foods that are generally very unhealthy.If you want to lose weight and avoid chronic disease, then you shouldn’t eat much of these foods.
In many cases, the best choice is to avoid them completely.In this article, healthy alternatives are mentioned whenever possible.
Pancakes
If you get your pancakes out of a box, you might not even suspect they might contain trans fat because it starts off in powder form. Bisquick for example has nearly 5g of trans fat in each cup. Makes you think twice about using pre-made mixes and just take the extra minute or so to come up with your own batch so you know everything that’s in it.
Doughnuts
OK, so we all know that donuts won’t show up on any lists of the healthiest foods, but what ends them up on this list is a combination of fat, sugar, and cholesterol, as well as MSG and trans fat in some cases. The cholesterol levels are also pretty high, and are concern enough to avoid eating doughnuts as a regular breakfast item, reserving them to perhaps a monthly treat.
Margarine used to be considered a healthy alternative to butter.Fortunately, most people have now realized that this is far from being true.
Margarine is a highly processed pseudo-food that has been engineered to look and taste like butter.It is loaded with artificial ingredients, and is usually made with industrial vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated to make them more solid. This increases their trans fat content significantly.
Keep in mind that manufacturers are allowed to label their products with “no trans fat” as long as it contains less than 0.5 grams per serving, which is still a significant amount.
Alternatives: Use real butter instead, preferably from grass-fed cows.
Fast Food
We all know we shouldn’t eat fast food because it’s bad for us, but part of the reason is because of all the trans fats and other additives they use to make the food taste good. The problem is not just that there is trans fat in the foods, but that the portion sizes quickly multiply those contents and before long you have a week’s worth of trans fat in one meal. A large french fry from McDonald’s supplies 4 day’s worth of trans fat by itself.
Colas and Sodas
These are the number one offender because they’re so ubiquitous. 7UP once tried to claim that their soda was made with all-natural ingredients, saying that because it comes from corn HFCS is all-natural. They no longer phrase it this way, and other colas blatantly have it listed as the most abundant sweetener. In ordinary Coca-Cola it’s the only sweetener used.
French Fries and Potato Chips
Whole, white potatoes are very healthy.However, the same can NOT be said of the products that are made from them, such as french fries and potato chips.
These foods are very high in calories, and it is easy to eat excessive amounts. Several studies link consumption of french fries and potato chips with weight gain (20, 21).
These foods may also contain large amounts of acrylamides, carcinogenic substances that form when potatoes are fried, baked or roasted.
Alternatives: Potatoes are best consumed boiled, not fried. If you need something crunchy to replace potato chips, try baby carrots or nuts.
Pasta Dishes
A plain bowl of pasta won’t ruin your day, calorically speaking, but pasta often serves as the foundation for more calorie-laden dishes. A nice slab of Lasagna Classico from Olive Garden for example can tip the charts at 850 calories, more than half of the calories allotted to some dieters. That doesn’t leave much for the rest of the day.
Ranch Dressing
It’s America’s favorite dressing and dipping sauce, but ever wonder why you can’t get enough of it, and why it makes so many things taste better? One of the most popular nationwide brands, Hidden Valley Ranch, has it in its ingredients, as well as Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch, and other artificial flavors and sweeteners.
Lunch Meats
Because of the processing they go through most lunch meats are packed with extra sodium as well as nitrates. There are plenty of reasons to take a pass on lunch meats, or at least to read the labels before you buy in order to make sure that you are getting meat that isn’t loaded with fillers and additives. Some other top concerns are the bacteria listeria which can pose a problem for pregnant women, sodium nitrate which could potentially be cancer-causing, and added oils and sweeteners which add to the fat and carb count.
Candy Bars
Candy bars are incredibly unhealthyThey are high in sugar, refined wheat flour and processed fats. They are also very low in essential nutrients.
Processed foods like candy bars are generally engineered to be super tasty (so you eat more), and have been designed so that it’s very easy to eat them quickly.A candy bar may taste good and cause some short-term satiety, but you’ll be hungry again very quickly because of the way these high-sugar treats are metabolized.
Alternatives: Eat a piece of fruit instead, or a piece of real high-cocoa dark chocolate.
Coffee Drinks
A cup of regular Joe won’t damage your carb levels for the day, but when you get all fancy you’re ultimately created a carb-infused cocktail. A medium cappuccino from Mc Cafe at McDonald’s will cost you 12g of carbs, and a medium sized latte, even with sugar-free syrup, still puts you at 44g of carbohydrates, almost insuring you’re going to go over your daily budget.
Hot Dogs
Hot dogs taste amazing, but and are extremely unhealthy! Nearly 80% of their calories come from unhealthy saturated fat. The processed meat used in it increases the risk of heart disease and colon cancer. So, try and cut down the consumption of hot dogs. Go for healthier options like turkey sausages or lean chicken, which contain lesser fat. They are also good sources of high quality protein.
Microwave Popcorn
Most of the popular brands of microwave popcorn have trans fat of some sort in them. One of the biggest offenders is Pop Secret, which supplies 5 grams of trans fat per serving. Sounds like a lot since it more than doubles your daily allowance. The big thing to remember is that few of us stop at one serving of popcorn as we snuggle up to watch a movie at home.
Fried Foods
Set aside the high amounts of trans fat, saturated fat, calories, and cholesterol that comes with frying foods, since that’s been covered many times before and most of us already know about those dangers. Another reason to avoid eating fried foods is that most of them will contain MSG. One of the easiest ways to get fried food with MSG in it is to stop into KFC and order anything fried from their menu. They’re not the only culprit, not by a long shot. MSG is prevalent in so many packaged foods that it’s almost a given that if it comes from a major food supplier, is fried and comes in a package, it will contain some amount of MSG.
Foods That Are Highly Processed
Foods that are highly processed are low in nutrients and high in unhealthy ingredients and artificial chemicals.
If the ingredients list contains more than five ingredients or something that you don’t understand, it’s probably bad for you.Real food doesn’t need an ingredients list. Real food is the ingredient.
Easy rule to remember: “If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it!”
0 comments