Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Top 5 Foods to Avoid



Everyone has a general sense of which foods are "bad" for them ie. fast food, pastries, candies etc.. What many people don't realize is that there are foods they eat daily that are hazardous to their health. In no particular order, here are some surprising foods that are extremely unhealthy:


  1. Soda: This is one of the hardest sacrifices one has to make in order to clean up their diet. A standard 355 ml can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, 30-60 mg of caffeine and 150 calories. In order to target the health-conscious consumers, the big names in the beverage industry created "diet soda" which claims to have very few or no calories. There has been much conflict about whether or not it is worth it so drink diet sodas because in general they are full of aspartame, saccharin, and other artificial sweeteners. For the calorie-conscious health enthusiast, diet sodas are acceptable occasionally. For overall health DRINK WATER, nothing is better for you than water. If you have trouble replacing your usual soda with water at first, try adding a bit of lemon to your water to make the taste more pleasurable and after a while you will get used to drinking plenty of water daily. Some replacements for soda that are still tasty include: Almond milk (better than soy), tea, natural fruit juices (NOT processed) and fruit or vegetable smoothies.
  2. French Fries and Potato Chips: Potatoes themselves are not the best choice of food when watching what you eat since they are high in calories, carbohydrates and starches while low in protein and vitamins. When a potato is processed and cooked into either fries or chips, a chemical toxin called Acrylamide is formed because of the high level of starches. Acrylamide has been known to cause cancer and it is generally best to avoid it as much as possible. Keep in mind this is before the addition of flavorings, salt, fat and seasonings that are put on the potato products afterwards. After all is said and done processed potato products are extremely detrimental to your health and are best to avoid all together. An excellent replacement for French Fries is Sweet Potato Fries. Sweet potato has been known to have anti oxidant properties as well as being high in protein, vitamins and dietary fiber.  
  3. Canned Soups: Believe it or not, canned soups are not as healthy as one might think. Canned soups contain high levels of sodium, trans fats, and artificial preservatives. The average canned soup has 10 grams of salt which is almost half the recommended daily intake. There are some brands of soup that are all natural and boast low levels of sodium, fats and salt. If your a soup lover keep an eye out for natural canned soups or make your own soup, nothing beats a good homemade soup.
  4. Doughnuts: We all know that doughnuts are not healthy for us but the magnitude of how unhealthy they actually are is a mystery to the majority of people. There is literally NO nutritional value to a traditional pastry doughnut; loaded in hydrogenated oil, refined sugar and flour the doughnut is one of the most unhealthy pastries out there. Although it is best to avoid doughnuts in any situation, the occasion may arise when you desire one. The least unhealthy of doughnuts is the plain, toasted doughnut which makes it the best choice.
  5. Hot Dogs: I must admit, hot dogs are extremely tasty but when you take a look at the nutritional information they become a bit less appetizing. Hot dogs are extremely high in cholesterol, fat, sodium and nitrates. Nitrates are used to preserve the hot dogs for longer shelf life as well as an artificial flavor agent. Once digested, nitrates transform into nitrites which have been found to have cancer causing properties and increase the chance of heart disease. Many people believe that hot dogs are made from pork, while this is true for some hot dog brands most use the ground up heart and liver from a combination of beef, pork, chicken and turkey. 
Always keep in mind that no one is perfect and once in a while you will give in to junk food and unhealthy eating. Acknowledge that the food you are eating is unhealthy for you and strive to fight the temptation next time. 

If you have some items you'd like to add to the list, leave a comment below :)

Thanks, Joe

5 comments:

  1. you just made me hungry for a hotdog...

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  2. To think, i still do the first 4, though i cant stand hotdogs- i mean, nasty crap

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  3. ill eat what i want when i want ;P

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  4. i do first 3 but not much
    thanks for info

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  5. Kind of weird, but I drink 50% water 50% diet soda when I do have the urge for soda. If I drink regular Pepsi or Sprite it tastes fucking horrible to me now, go figure.

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