Do you know that there are foods that you should never eat as they can be harmful to your health?
Improving one’s health is challenging and requires a lot of determination and self-discipline. In the same manner, the foods you eat also play big role in improving or destroying your health. With this, it’s important to know which foods you should avoid because they are unhealthy.
These foods may not obviously have associated to weight gain, but they’re not also good for your general health. It’s important to know these foods so that you can avoid them.
5 Foods to Never Eat
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White bread
Many people love eating white bread, in spite of the fact that it doesn’t contain any nutritional value. Rather, it is packed with sugar that can make you feel hungry and end up craving for snacks. As a result, people who eat white bread most of the time easily gain unwanted weight.
Ideally, it is best to consume whole wheat bread or whole grain bread to ensure good health. These types of bread contain higher level of gamma-oryzanol that is known to lower the cholesterol levels (1). Likewise, you can also replace white bread with whole grain tortillas and lettuce leaves.
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Fried foods
Apparently, fried foods are deemed to be unhealthy that’s why they should be avoided. Aside from adding pounds to your weight, fried foods can also cause serious health issues because they contain minimal nutritional value.
Fried foods can also cause high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This means that these foods greatly impact your cardiovascular health that can lead to strokes and developing heart disease.
They can also affect the digestive system and cause upset stomach, uncomfortable acid reflux, gas pains or cramps, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Fried foods to avoid
- French fries
Fried foods contain trans-fat that has acrylamide, a substance that can cause cancer. Any food that is heated above 120° Celsius are deemed to be biggest offenders.
- Deep fried chicken
A deep fried chicken thigh can make you gain weight fast because it contains 25 grams of fat. Likewise, popcorn chicken contains 80 g of fat and 1,300 calories.
- Doughnuts
Doughnuts aren’t only sugary but also contain white flour and trans-fat. Commercial doughnuts contain 35% to 40% trans-fat.
The type of oil used in frying such as soybean, corn oil, canola, and other genetically engineered crops also add risks to your health.
With this, you should avoid fried foods from fast food chains and restaurants including French fries, onion rings, burgers, and chicken nuggets. Instead of frying, you can cook your foods through broiling or baking.
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Cream-based salad dressings
Salads are known to be healthy and commonly recommended for dieting. But, the salad dressings that you’re using can be bad to your health. With this, you should be careful in choosing salad dressings and you should avoid cream-based dressings.
You should not be allured by the extra flavors of cream-based salad dressings because they contain a lot of calories and fat that won’t only cause weight gain but also undermine other health problems.
Cream-based salad dressings to avoid
- Thousand Island Dressing – This salad dressing contains 13 g fat and 300 mg sodium per 140 calorie serving.
- Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing – It spoils the nutritional value of the salad as it contains 160 calories, 160 mg sodium and 17 g fat.
- Ken’s Steakhouse Buttermilk Ranch – This is a perfect salad topper, but an unhealthy pick. It contains 280 mg of sodium and 180 calories per 2 tablespoons. It is not good for your heart health as it can cause high blood pressure.
Instead of using cream-based salad dressing, you can use oil-based dressing, add salt and pepper or some herbs.
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White Rice
Rice is a staple in most recipes as it is a perfect partner for meat dishes. The nutritional value of the rice depends on its type. Just like white bread, the white rice enables your body to keep the excess fat and makes it difficult to lose weight not to mention the minimal nutritional value.
The best type is the brown rice because it is packed with vitamins, nutrients, and fiber. The high fiber content makes you feel satisfied and full longer. Likewise, the plant lignans reduced the possibility of developing heart disease.
Continues research revealed that consuming brown rice reduces the risk of acquiring cancer and alleviates asthma symptoms.
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High Fructose Corn Syrup
Artificial sweeteners are also unhealthy and should be avoided. The high fructose corn syrup is commonly used as a sweetener in processed foods, sodas, pasta sauces and baked goods.
There are compelling evidence that this sweetener can make you gain weight quickly. It also stimulates craving for sugary foods. With this, you can expect to develop diabetes and other health issues. It may also increase the triglyceride levels that may lead to developing heart disease.
A perfect alternative for artificial sweetener are fresh fruits and berries. Water is the healthiest choice and to make it more refreshing you can add fresh lime or lemon.
If you want to live a healthy life you should pay more attention to the foods that you eat especially if you’re getting older. It is said that “you are what you eat”. You should not only focus on the taste of the food but rather to its nutritional value.
Choosing healthy food options can be confusing due to the advertisements and labeling. As much as possible, you should select food sources that are less-processed. You will enjoy long life if you’ll only take in food and beverages that can do good to your body.
Janice Thompson is a wellness enthusiast with a passion for helping others lead healthy and fulfilling lives. With a background in nutrition and a love for cooking, Janice has dedicated her career to sharing tips and tricks for living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a balanced diet.
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