Do you know which unhealthy foods to avoid to help fight off disease and illness? The Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 850,000 Americans die prematurely every year. These premature deaths are from lifestyle diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease. 20-40% of these deaths are preventable and stem from poor lifestyle choices such as diet and lack of physical activity.
In most cases, all of these debilitating and deadly lifestyle diseases and their consequences can be avoided. The choices you make today can create a level of health and wellbeing that steers you away from disease and toward a long and healthy life.
You know the drill right? Junk foods are bad blah blah blah, but what happens if you know that they are bad without directly knowing what is classified as junk food?
Without a doubt, you are consuming something that is considered junk food without even realizing it. Though reading labels is a great place to start, sneaky manufacturers will find ways to hide behind complex sounding ingredient names, effectively leaving you in the dark.
Consider the following your “do not touch” list of foods if you wish to be proactive in minimizing the cause and effects of unhealthy eating.
Milk Chocolate
Isn’t all chocolate the same? Absolutely not! Milk chocolate isn’t real chocolate. In milk chocolate, the actual cacao content has been significantly reduced, to make way for sweeteners that are more palatable for mass market consumption.
Dark chocolate, that is such, which is at least 60% cacao, is a bit of an acquired taste, since it possesses a naturally slightly bitter taste, whereas milk chocolate is all about sugar and less about the actual benefits of cacao, which are many. And while we’re at it….dairy isn’t good for you either. There are much better choices out there such as almond milk, etc.
Diet Soda
Since it’s diet it must be healthier right? Wrong! Diet soda can in fact be many times worse than standard soda, as the artificial sweeteners used in it have a nasty effect on the hormone insulin.
Therefore, even though you may not be getting the surplus of calories in your diet, what you will receive is metabolic dysfunction paving the way for diabetes and cholesterol issues.
Pastries
Pastries encompass a wide range of sugary treats, but all are just as bad. Why? Because all pastries have in common high levels of sugar, white flour and generous servings of unhealthy fats.
What’s even worse is the fact that pastries often leave you wanting more and more. Do yourself a favor and skip having a pastry for breakfast as it’s the worst way to start the day.
Cake
Another morsel of joy that does no favors for our health is cake. Although an indulgence for many, a little can cause a lot of damage, especially if borderline diabetic. Limit consumption of cake to only when absolutely necessary, such as your own birthday when refusing would be in bad taste or you simply want to treat yourself.
Fries
Potatoes only become bad when soaked in scorching hot oil and riddled with salt AKA, French fries. Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are not inflammatory or bad for you. In fact, potatoes are high in potassium and rich in vitamin B6, as well as a great source of amino acids. The problem comes in when potatoes are fried, or, loaded with butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, and all the other yumminess that people tend to put on their potatoes. Stay away from fries like the plague. All that unhealthy saturated fat and oil is a big no-no.
Chips
Chips are loaded with preservatives, sodium, and other mystery ingredients. The fact that they are fried only makes them worse.
Milkshakes
Milkshakes should be renamed fat-sugar shakes, since they contain ice cream, which is typically riddled with sugar, in addition to being very high in saturated fats. And-it’s dairy!
Preserved Meats
Preserved meats are not the same as fresh cuts of meat, for a few reasons. For one, they are preserved with nitrates which are carcinogenic. Secondly, they are loaded with sodium and fat, even though the source meat may be naturally lean. Many, such as honey cured hams and turkey deli meats have a lot of added sugar. Do yourself a favor and eat farm fresh or frozen meats, but not preserved packaged varieties.
Corn
This includes popcorn and any other “corns”. Can we say GMO? Corn is highly genetically modified and believe me when I say you don’t want it in your system. Have you ever noticed that corn doesn’t even digest when you eat it? Why is that?
Chicken Wings
Chicken is one of the leaner meats out there. Chicken wings have a higher fat content than compared with other cuts however, and become exponentially worse when dressed in sugary sauces.
In addition, do you know how most restaurants prepare wings? They are drenched in butter and flour before being fried and drenched in some type of sauce, which is usually high in sugar. A total disaster. We won’t even talk about hormones in the meat and what some chickens are injected with to produce more meat on them and make them fat. All that goes into your body. Yep. Opt for lightly seasoned rotisserie prepared chicken wings if you love wings.
The fact is that sugar, too many unhealthy fats, fried foods, and GMO foods are all bad news foods that play a critical role in causing diseases, including that of the heart, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and others, all of which can easily result in premature death.
Now that I’ve managed to cheer you up, I won’t even get into artificial sweeteners and pizza. Your welcome.
Leave a Reply