Eating healthy food is necessary to maintain good health. Consuming processed food has become a habit due to the changing lifestyle. In this modern-day life, people are prone to serious health problems due to unhealthy food habits.
Proper nutrition is essential to keep your body fit and healthy as well as workout and exercises are necessary for a beautiful and fit body. Most foods you eat every day contribute to several chronic health problems later in life. Not only processed foods that contain preservatives and other chemicals are hazardous. There are other foods too that are contributing to several health issues. This article will let you know about the foods that you need to avoid eating and what are the better alternatives to those foods.
10 Everyday Foods That You Should Avoid Eating to Maintain Good Health and Avert Serious Health Problems:
1. Processed Meat
Processed meat that you buy at a supermarket is full of chemical preservatives. The processing methods include curing, fermenting, salting, and smoking. In addition to preservatives, they contain texture agents and food dyes. Sodium nitrates, sodium nitrites, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are the common preservatives used to make chemically processed meat. To improve taste, they add fructose-rich corn syrup, unnecessary sugars, and salts. All these preservatives and food dyes will affect your health later on in life.
Health Issues: Eating processed food increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, elevated blood pressure, and colorectal cancer.
Alternatives: Cooked chicken/lamb, hard-boiled egg salad, grilled chicken breast, roasted beef, fresh tuna.
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2. Canned Foods
Though canned foods have longer shelf lives, they are very harmful to health because of the presence of Bisphenol A. It (Bisphenol A) is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that leaches into the food causing severe health problems. They also contain additives such as corn syrup, citric acid, dyes, and sodium to improve the taste. Occasionally, when it is ‘necessary’ to buy canned food, look for BPA free cans.
Health Issues: Bisphenol A can cause endocrine, reproductive, and neurological problems. Canned foods improperly processed contain bacteria called Clostridium botulinum that causes paralysis. There is an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, and prostate cancer.
Alternatives: Fresh fruits and vegetables, low-sodium broth( substitute to canned soups), cooked chicken breast, Dried beans, homemade salsa.
3. Refined Flour
Refined flour is rich in carbohydrates. Foods made from refined flour contain several harmful chemical additives like potassium bromate and benzoyl peroxide. They lose essential nutrients during the refining process and retain only grain waste. Some foods made using refined flour include white bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, parathas, pretzels, cereals, and pie crust.
Health Issues: Health effects include weight gain, obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of cancer, and cognitive impairment. Refined flour promotes a bacteria called microbiota, which causes inflammation in the gut.
Alternatives: Whole-wheat flour, quinoa flour, almond flour, soy flour, ragi flour.
4. Commercial Fruit Juices
Commercial fruit juices contain only some amount of real fruit though they claim 100% on the pack’s label. They are rich in added sugar, artificial dyes, and preservatives. Fructose, used in excess to make those juices, is one of the main ingredients which gives a sugary texture and sweet taste. Commercial fruit juices contain preservatives like phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate, aspartame, and monosodium glutamate, which causes severe health problems. Thus, it is advisable to avoid consuming commercial fruit juices regularly.
Health Issues: High intake of commercial fruit juices has an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, tooth decay, kidney problem, and liver damage. Monosodium glutamate in those juices causes migraine, depression, and brain damage.
Alternatives: Tender coconut water, fresh fruit juices, freshly squeezed lemon juice.
5. Soft Drinks
If you are addicted to drinking soda and soft drinks, you are one step ahead in disrupting your health. Those soft drinks quench your thirst and give a cooling effect to your body. Harmful ingredients include CO2, foaming agents, sweeteners, phosphoric acid, and citric acid. Consuming those soft drinks lead to chronic health problems.
Health Issues: It includes increased risk of cancer, weight gain, fatty liver, loss of calcium, heart disease, and corrosion of teeth. Drinking a cola triggers your body to produce insulin, which induces type 2 diabetes. Soft drinks contain phosphoric acid at high levels that lead to kidney stones and fattening of the liver.
Alternatives: Iced tea, sparkling water with fruit, homemade smoothie, coconut water, freshly squeezed lemonade.
6. Chips
Those fried chips you eat regularly are full of preservatives, which include ascorbic acid, sodium bisulfite, sodium phosphate, emulsifiers. You munch on those chips frequently because of its unique taste. It contains dextrose and diet high trans fat, which affects your health.
Health Issues: Eating chips regularly increases your blood pressure because of sodium. It leads to heart failure, kidney problems, and stroke. Apart from these, regular consumption of chips leads to higher cholesterol levels because of the trans fat. Those chips are deep-fried in oils that contain saturated fat, which increases your cholesterol levels. Thus, you are going to gain weight and increase your chances of coronary heart disease.
Alternatives: Hummus and vegetable dip, roasted chickpeas, homemade tortilla chips, banana chips, oven sweet potato fries.
7. Fast Foods
Fast foods you eat outside on the streets are unhealthy. Often, you rush to Mc Donald’s or KFC to relish the taste of yummy burgers and fries. You will suffer from severe health issues if you eat those fast foods regularly. Fast food contains trans-fat, salt, and preservatives. They even add food dyes to make it tasty.
Health Issues: It increases your risk of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Other health problems include weight gain, metabolic disorders, and stomach ulcers. Avoid eating those junk foods regularly to save yourself from all these health problems.
Alternatives: Roasted veggies, nuts, fruits, homemade whole-wheat pizza, rotisserie chicken bowl, homemade mini burgers, sandwiches, burrito bowl.
8. Sugar
For many people, not a single day goes without consuming sugar-rich foods. From coffee to candies to confectionery foods, there is sugar in it. If you have a craving for coffee and sweets, you are likely to consume more sugar every day. Excess sugar consumption contributes to chronic health issues, some of which are irreversible.
Health Issues: It results in an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, weight gain, fatty liver, inflammation.
Alternatives: Honey, xylitol, jaggery, Stevia.
9. Pizza
Who does not have cravings for pizzas? From crust to toppings, pizzas contain all the necessary ingredients which satisfy your tummy. Processed meat and refined dough used to make pizzas are unhealthy. It contains saturated fats and extremely high calories. Pizza is an extremely addictive food. So, order pizza online ‘occasionally’ to satisfy your craving for pizzas. Also, try the alternatives listed below to curb the constant urge to eat pizzas.
Health Issues: Excess calories gained from eating pizzas will result in obesity leading to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It increases blood pressure and spike sugar level. It also causes acidity due to ingredients like sauce, cheese, and refined flour crust used to make pizzas.
Alternatives: Quinoa bites, whole-wheat pizza, mini pizza on an English muffin.
10. Coffee
Coffee is an addictive hot beverage. If you are addicted to drinking coffee, you need a few cups every day to refresh your mind. It keeps your mind alert because it contains caffeine. Though drinking coffee has several health benefits, excessive consumption of caffeine and sugar(in coffee) will disrupt your health over time.
Health Issues: Drinking more coffee results in high blood pressure, digestive problems, fatigue, and anxiety. It also increases the risk of heart attack, kidney disease, breast tissue cysts, incontinence, insomnia, and type 2 diabetes. Thus, limit your daily coffee consumption to prevent severe health issues.
Alternatives: Green tea, herbal chai, dandy blend, ginger tea, golden(turmeric) milk.
Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are the two major health issues found in middle-aged and old age people. Sodium and sugar-rich foods are the main culprits that cause serious health problems. You never know when those unhealthy foods will affect your health. So, avoid eating foods that have high contents of sodium and sugar. It is advisable to make the necessary changes to your diet to avert serious health problems later in life.
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