Your diet plays a crucial role in keeping you physically and mentally healthy.
While it is extremely important to know what to eat, it is also essential to know what not to. Certain foods can harm your health, especially when consumed every day or in excess.
What you should eat or avoid depends on your age or any underlying health conditions you may have.
In general, here is a list of 10 foods that you should avoid to protect your health.
10 foods to avoid eating
- Deep-fried foods: These include foods, such as French fries, fried patties, chips, and fried chicken or fish or chicken fingers. Deep-fried foods are quite rich in calories and thus, can increase your risk of gaining extra pounds. They may be rich in trans fats that harm your health and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
- Foods with added sugar: Adding sugar to foods makes them more palatable but increases empty calories. This means that the nutritive value of the food is not improved although the calories have increased. Sugary foods, such as cookies, muffins, and candies, are not good for your heart, brain, and overall health. They increase cravings and may make you gain weight and disturb your metabolism and put you at risk of diabetes.
- Predatory fish: These include sharks, swordfish, and king mackerel. Predatory fish consume other sea animals, resulting in a higher level of harmful substances, such as mercury, in their meat. These can damage the nervous system and cause cancers. Thus, it is better to avoid these fish.
- Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, or fish: Eating raw or undercooked meat can result in food poisoning. Raw meat, poultry, and fish contain various bacteria or parasites that can make you sick. Thus, it is better to cook them well before eating. Raw eggs are associated with causing a problem with the absorption of biotin (a form of B complex group vitamins).
- Foods high in salts: High-salt foods including chips, canned foods, pickles, cold cuts, and sausages must be consumed with caution. They can easily cross your daily salt consumption limits and put you at risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.
- Sugary drinks: Sugary drinks, such as juices, sodas, energy drinks, and shakes, provide you with a lot of empty calories. They are not satiating enough and can increase your chances of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders.
- Processed grains: Processed grains are the grains that do not contain the bran and germ part of the grain kernel. They are thus deficient in several nutrients and fiber that are present in whole grains. The latest dietary guidelines by the United States Department of Agriculture suggest all adults should consume at least half of their grains as whole grains.
- Alcohol: Latest research suggests that no amount of alcohol can be considered good for your health. Alcohol increases the risk of heart diseases, stroke, kidney diseases, liver diseases, and certain cancers. If at all you consume alcohol, make sure that you do it in moderation (not more than one drink a day for women and two for men).
- Instant foods: Ready to eat or instant foods, such as instant noodles, curries, and other meals, must be avoided. They are generally bad for the gut, rich in calories, low in fiber and other nutrients, and high in salts, and may contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) and several preservatives or taste enhancers.
- Stick margarine: The older kinds of margarine or stick margarine are rich in trans fats that are bad for your health. They increase the levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce the levels of high-density lipoprotein or HDL (good) cholesterol in the blood.
QUESTION
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Medically Reviewed on 3/23/2022
References
Image Source: iStock Images
Ilic A. 10 Foods You Should Never Eat. Lifehack. https://www.lifehack.org/383833/10-foods-you-should-never-eat-2
American Heart Association. Unhealthy Foods. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/go-red-get-fit/unhealthy-foods
Ilic A. 10 Foods You Should Never Eat. Lifehack. https://www.lifehack.org/383833/10-foods-you-should-never-eat-2
American Heart Association. Unhealthy Foods. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/go-red-get-fit/unhealthy-foods
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