Food: four letters and an entire world behind it. Our lives rotate around what we eat, what we would like to taste and what we’d better eliminate from our diet. Food works as a cultural glue, bringing together families, friends or creating moments of sharing. At the same time, food could be our worst enemy: we’re not simply talking about the boundaries and extreme consequence of eating disorders, it’s more about having a sense of awareness when we approach a charcuterie platter.
Dictionary
Some of the “everyday foods” we eat hide some deadly features, which most people ignore.
We take a look at some of the slow death being served to you!
1/15 – MARGARINE
Margarine has been inserted in this list because of its high percentage of trans-fat, which are often related to heart diseases. Other harmful consequences than heart-attacks may be linked to breastfeeding: in fact, the trans-fats present in margarine lowers the quality of milk you’re giving to your newborn, in addition to increasing your insulin levels which increase with even a small amount of this product. We know that margarine is delicious when cooking, just consider both taste and risks before over-using it!
2/15 – SODA
Carbonated water, flavoring and sweeteners are the top 3 ingredients of this globally popular drink. Plus, there are numerous other additives that transform soda from an innocent alternative to water to one of our prime deadliest “foods”. Why? It’s easy. Your brain cannot be satisfied by sugary soda drinks, so you’ll keep on adding empty calories to your daily total, without any positive effect for your health. The high-amount of unneeded sugars like fructose are converted by your liver into glucose, and then your body stores it as fat. Yes, we know you like soda drinks, thanks to the dopamin is surely a cause of your love for them!
3/15 – ENERGY DRINKS
You’re tired and you still have to face a physical or mental stress, so what a better friend than an energy drink to overcome the effort? Energy drinks are useful if used with awareness of the risks of drinking them. Most contain “energy blends” such as caffeine, taurine, guarana, B vitamins and glucuronolactone in quantities that may not be safe in multiple-drink quantities. The combination of these additives is harmful if taken in high-doses, with effects that resemble the ones from several other illegal drugs, smoking and alcohol consumption.
4/15 – FRUIT JUICES
Even when labelled as 100% fruit origin, fruit juices aren’t as healthy as advertising lets you think. After squeezing the fruit, food and beverage manufacturers usually store the juice in massive oxygen-depleted holding tanks for up to a year before they package it. This process leaves the juice almost flavor-free. So, where does the flavor come from when we taste our beloved “natural” drinks? Well, flavor packs added in a second step are what make the taste.
5/15 – WHITE BREAD
White bread is poorer in fiber and protein than other bread alternatives (wholewheat, rye bread are just two of the many examples we could give you). Fiber helps our body to understand when it has eaten enough. The sensation of fullness is important if we don’t want an extra-consumption of calories. Moreover, an insulin spike risk is on its way! An excess of insulin in the system is countered by the body by releasing hormones which shouldn’t be continuously active in a healthy person.
6/15 – RAW HONEY
Raw honey doesn’t go through the pasteurization process in which harmful toxins are killed. As a result, this “ready-to-eat” product often contains grayanotoxin, which can cause dizziness, weakness, excessive sweating and nausea for the next 24-hours.
7/15 – TUNA
The problem with tuna consumption has not always existed but it has become a problem with the oceans’ contamination. Tuna absorbs large amounts of mercury, which – once processed by our body – passes through our kidneys or travels to our brain and other soft tissues. That’s why we should all control the doses of tuna we insert in our diet weekly, maybe substituting this delicious food with some other alternatives, which are less exposed to mercury.
8/15 – PROCESSED MEAT
What are processed meats? They are a different variety of foods, such as hot dogs, bacon, sausages, ham or salami, corned beef, smoked meats, beef jerky and all those meats that have been processed by salting, curing, canning, drying or smoking. Processed meats usually contribute to high-blood pressure and other even more severe health issues. The negative consequences of their consumption derive from the high temperatures used to process these meats which then form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.
9/15 – BREAKFAST CEREALS
Breakfast cereals fill out lots of shelves in every supermarket you get inside. They’re one of the favorite foods for our first meal of the day, because they’re simply delicious. What many people are not aware of is that these products are loaded with genetically modified organisms which affect our immune system. If you really can’t separate yourselves from breakfast cereals, maybe you could start considering some organic breakfast cereal alternatives!
10/15 – CHEESE
Even though cheese is a valuable source of calcium – which strengthens our bones -, protein, phosphorus, riboflavin, zinc and some other vitamins (i.e., vitamin A, B12), we need to remind ourselves that cheese is a high-calorie food. All the positive nutrition factors that cheese has, may be destroyed in a second if we combine it with the wrong food partner. So, think twice before pouring it on your favourite nachos, “because it’s cheese, it must be healthy!”?
11/15 – FAT FREE FOODS
Though at first glance, fat free foods may look like the gold mine for a perfectly balanced and satisfying diet, the reality is widely different. Fat are essential for many body functions and for its healthy development. A fat-cut is not advisable, particularly when your workouts are regular. Plus, fat-free foods are usually high in processed sugar: our mind-set usually tie to fat-free the word calorie-free, but that’s not true at all.
12/15 – FRENCH FRIES
Speedy weight-gain, but guilty pleasure, this is for sure. French fries are usually deep-fried in hydrogenated vegetable oils, that are often reheated causing damages to their polyunsaturated fats. Oils used to deep-fry are unequivocally damaging to our health, because they are overly rich in trans-fat!
13/15 – CANNED GOODS
Most of the times we resort to canned goods when we run out of time for meal preparation. Some canned-corn has never killed anybody, but don’t let this laziness be a habit. Canning is a process that allows us to preserve foods for a longer period of time (from one up to five years, and sometimes even more), preserving certain nutrients. At the same time some other nutrients such as water-soluble vitamins can be damaged by the high-heat used in canning the goods. Plus, many industries add to the canned-products – particularly if they’re low quality ones – sugar and salt in large amounts.
14/15 – STOCK CUBE
Shop-bought stock cubes contain both artificial ingredients and high-levels of salt. Particularly people affected by diabetes are more exposed to high-blood pressure, which makes them more vulnerable to heart and kidney disease. Homemade stocks are quick and easy to do, and they will enrich your recipes with a definite tastier flavour.
15/15 – SALT
Salty means tasty, we know. A diet high in salt can cause raised blood pressure that increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. What we all should do, is carefully monitor our salt intake and then let our palate get used to some less salty, but healthier meals. What if we add a pinch of salt instead of a handful?
Sources
Healthydietbase – 16 Deadliest Food You Eat Every day
Vagabondish – Worlds Deadliest Foods
Itsonfleek – 10 Deadliest Foods Eat Everyday
Reinventing Aging – 7 Foods to Eliminate
Healthy and Pretty – 16 Deadliest Foods You Eat Everyday
Mindbodygreen – 6 Foods I Recommend Eating Every Day For A Long Life A Doctor Explains
The Daily Meal – Worlds 21 Deadliest Delicacies
Healthy Eating – Make Energy Drinks Dangerous
Healthline – Fruit Juice Is Just As Bad As Soda
Diabetes.co – Eating With Diabetes
Healthline – Canned Food Good Or Bad
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