There are a lot of foods out there that will seriously mess with your health and weight.
OK, I mean, they’re not going to kill you if you eat them once. Unless you eat snake venom. But I don’t think that’s a food, and you’d have to be seriously insane to eat it, so we can leave that alone.
However, just because they won’t instantly kill you doesn’t mean that they’re not bad for you. These are some foods that you should avoid as much as possible.
More specifically, I’m talking about highly processed foods, with all their additives and chemicals and bad stuff like snake venom (a crucial ingredient in 99% of foods). Because they’re so new, we don’t know what the long term consequences of a lot of these additives will be.
So with that in mind, try to stay away from these 12 foods:
Margarine
You know how people get obsessed with avoiding fats, and butter, and decide, “Hey, margarine is better for me, it has less saturated fat and cholesterol than butter, it’s clearly healthier!”
Those people don’t know what they’re talking about.
Experts have been changing their tune on cholesterol, and it’s now considered much less harmful than it used to be.
So then what’s left for margarine? Well, huge amounts of salt and trans fats, for one. That’s because trans fats, like saturated fats, are terrible for your heart, and have been linked to increase risks of heart disease.
Stick with butter.
Regular Soda
OK, so telling you that soda is bad for you isn’t the biggest breakthrough in the history of the world. I mean, it’s water, sugar, and food coloring. It’s not going to be good for you no matter how much you break it down.
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The average can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar in it. If you tried to eat 10 teaspoons of sugar in a sitting you’d throw up. (Well, probably not, but it wouldn’t be that enjoyable).
When you eat that much sugar, your body responds by creating a crap-ton of insulin to break down the sugar. If you drink soda a lot, it’s going to deaden your body’s insulin response, and increase your risk of developing diabetes.
Diet Soda
OK, so if regular soda is so bad for you, you should just drink diet, right? Problem solved!
Wrong. Obviously. Because this is on a list of foods that are bad for you. Duh.
Diet soda is made by using artificial sweeteners, and some of them are worse for you than others. none of them are good for you.
Plus, the intense taste of artificial sweetener can actually dampen your ability to taste sweetness, and ruin your appreciation of other foods. A.K.A., diet soda ruins your palate. Sucks.
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Oh, and it also has been linked to increased risk of stroke, premature birth, tooth decay, pancreatic cancer, and depression. In case you wanted any of those pleasant and enjoyable things.
Foods Sold In A Package With 2 Or More Unidentifiable Ingredients
If you’re looking at the nutritional facts on a package of food and seeing a ton of chemicals that you’ve NEVER heard of before, it’s probably time to put the package down and walk away.
I mean seriously, these chemicals have letters like X and B and Y and and H all right next to each other. Those are ridiculous combinations of letters.
And since we’re not totally sure of the long term effects of these chemicals, it’s best to avoid them. Stick to the simple stuff and you’ll wind up way healthier.
Want some clean foods instead? Try these 10 clean foods for your summer diet detox.
Candy That’s Sugar Free
Same problem here as with diet soda. It might say it’s sugar free on the packaging, but all that means is that it’s packed full of chemicals designed to trick you into thinking you’re tasting something sweet.
You know what they’re not designed to do? Get broken down by your digestive system. Avoid these if you don’t want bad stomach pains.
Processed Meats
And more specifically, I’m talking about processed meats with nitrates in them. bad. bad for you.
Meats like ham, hot dogs, salami, and bacon are really going to mess you up on so many levels. In the first place, they’re jam packed full of unhealthy fats.
Secondly, they’re full of sodium. I’m talking 400% more sodium than unprocessed meats. They’re also chock full of preservatives that are worth avoiding because, oh, I don’t know, they’ve been linked to cancer. Stick with the unprocessed meats.
Non-Organic Apples
You know what they use to grow and harvest conventionally grown apples? They use pesticides. a crap ton of pesticides. These toxic chemicals can lead to cancer, irritate your skin, eyes, and lungs, damage your brain and nervous system, and disrupt your hormones. Even worse, they can stick to a fruit even after you wash and peel it.
Ideally, you’re going to want to stick to organic for most fruits and vegetables that don’t have a tough rind you remove before you eat. But because organic is more expensive, this is what you should remember: conventionally grown apples are way worse with pesticides than other fruits and veggies. Buy organic.
Non-Organic Chicken and Eggs
This is kind of the same deal with the apples, only replace pesticides with “horrible ingredients in the chicken feed” and you get much closer.
Groups have found caffeine, Tylenol, Benadryl, arsenic, and banned antibiotics in chicken feed. Do you want to eat an animal that’s been eating ingredients like that all its life? I didn’t think so.
Definitely avoid buying these 8 foods organic and save a ton of money!
Potassium Bromate Contained In Bread And Crackers
Food companies are using this chemical to help the dough rise while they’re baking bread and crackers. Fine, right? Wrong.
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It’s been linked to certain cancers in animal studies, and it’s outright banned in many countries outside the usa. Probably best to stay away from eating it.
You can look at the labels on baked goods to see if you find this ingredient, and if you do, to stay away.
Popcorn You Make In The Microwave
There’s a few reasons why microwave popcorn is bad for you, so let me tackle them one by one.
First off, they’re often packed with trans fats and “artificial or natural flavors” which could be extremely harmful to you, like msg, which can give you bad headaches or nausea.
Second, the actual bags themselves are a lot of the time lined with chemicals that have been linked to cancer risk, impaired kidney functioning, and poor fertility.
American Cheese
Look. It ain’t cheese. It’s just not.
American cheese is made in a factory, and classified as a “cheese-like” food that’s made out of milk fats, solids, emulsifiers, whey protein, and food coloring.
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In other words, it’s chemicals. Oh, and it’s high in sodium, and super high in fat. So high in fat that it’s more like a slice of high fat meat than a cheese. Avoid.
These 15 slow cooker recipes have less than 375 calories, and they’re delicious !
The Additive Propylparaben found in Corn Tortillas and Muffins
You’ll find this in corn tortillas and muffins as a preservative often (you can look for it right on the label).
The problem is, this chemical mimics estrogen, which can throw your body badly out of whack whether you’re male or female. It screws up your fertility and even accelerates breast cancer growth.
Stay away from it.
Got any foods you want to add to this list? Let me know in the comments!
In summary…
The Worst Foods You Should Never Eat
- Margarine
- Regular soda
- Diet soda
- Foods sold in a package with 2 or more unidentifiable ingredients
- Candy that’s sugar free
- Processed meats
- Non-organic apples
- Non-organic chicken and eggs
- Potassium bromate contained in bread and crackers
- Popcorn you make in the microwave
- American cheese
- The additive propylparaben found in corn tortillas and muffins
Do yourself a favor and get rid of all these foods! Your body will thank you and then you will thank yourself when you see how much better you feel and things like that!
Your best bet to to have ALL of these foods out of your house and nowhere near your diet. Get healthy today and eat naturally organic foods that will give you plenty of energy.
I am so glad that I gave up on foods like this. Thanks for posting this!
Very important to cut these foods out. The foods are so bad for the body, mind and soul. Good luck to those that can do it!
If you can get a diet routine down without ANY of these types of foods, you are going to be feeling great and doing your body a favor.
Microwave popcorn is that bad for you? I cannot believe all of those chemicals are used in that product. Why? I just throw some raw popcorn kernels into a brown paper bag and in 2 minutes I have a serving size of popcorn without all the bad stuff!
I have no trouble making sure I do not eat these foods. Since GMO food came along, i have been watching what I eat even closer. If someone wanted to know a way they could start eating better, this list would be a good thing to show them!
Even though this is a great list, I am really starting to feel like I can’t eat anything LOL. So many foods these days are loaded with bad reasons not to eat them, it is hard to put together anything for a meal from the fridge.
Very good list. As a trainer and dietitian, I must say that you NEED to look at what you are putting into your body. Foods can be given so many chemicals, it is almost like you are not even eating food. Just something that TASTES like it.
I have heard this about microwave popcorn. The issue is that it is such a nice, quick snack and easy to take to work. I am going to have to find another option!
Once you start to break down the chemicals in the food, it would appear that you will have nothing left to eat :)
This is a GREAT list. If you can keep ALL of these foods out of your system, you are going to be in good shape. However, even removing one or two of them will be a huge benefit for you!
Being on a diet is hard enough after you never cared for so long, but I feel that if you cut one of these out at a time, you can lead yourself down the right path that leads to a healthier body. Good luck!
At first, I laughed and thought “what CAN I eat” because this list does not leave much left, but then I realized that I can make little changes. I would like to cut out soda and processed dairy.
As a dietitian I think that you have nailed it 100%. These foods are so bad for your body, your mind and your soul in many ways. The convinience is what gets people hooked on foods like this. I would never recommend these foods to anyone, ever.
It looks like soda is out of the question, regular or diet, huh? I have read that before and I even know a person that lost some good weight just giving up soda. These are good tips.
Sure, it is all of the foods that I love to eat LOL. Honestly, this is a great list. If you wanted to start a diet off right, this list should be on your fridge.
Great list. What do you tell a person that says, “if I cannot have this or that, then I might as well not live”. I hear this as a dietitian and am always perplexed as to what to say back.
I must admit. The soda, diet or otherwise, has been one of the hardest things for me to get out of my diet. It is tough, BUT I have reduced my intake to just one soda per day, so that has to count for something, right?
It is getting so difficult to find foods that you can actually eat, feel good about eating and not get sick from. This list just took at least 2 more things out of my diet that I need to find replacements for LOL.