Eating healthy is more difficult than you think. This may be thanks to an inventive food industry that wants the consumer to consume more than they need at an impending health expense. Not only is this harmful to your pocket, it is as potentially harmful to your body.
The following foods are foods that should be avoided in order to maintain optimum health:
Vegetable oils
On many food labels, the ingredient 'vegetable oil' is almost always prominent and abundant. This may sound harmless, but there are many harmful oils that come under the umbrella of vegetable oils. These include corn, soy, canola, safflower oils. Not only are these oils highly processed, that are high in omega 6. Most western communities consume a high amount of omega 6 causing an imbalance of the omega 3:omega 6 ratio. This imbalance may accelerate the body's inflammatory process. Omega 3 fatty acids are the healthy fats found in cold water fish;
Trans fats
Most trans fats are made from oils that have been through extensive processing. This method of processing is called partial hydrogenation. There has been much research into the effects of trans fats and many research studies conclude that trans fats can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol levels and decrease healthy HDL cholesterol. This can in turn, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Energy bars
Energy bars are highly processed, are not real food and are often very high in sugar. Energy bars are labeled and marketed in such a way so as to portray them as healthful. Instead of snacking on an energy bar, try fruit, nuts and seeds or cut up veges.
Artificial Sweeteners
Apart from the fact that they are completely, extremely and highly artificially processed, they can also reset your taste buds to crave really sweet foods more often. This is because artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than natural sugar.
Margarine
Most people believe that margarine is a healthier alternative to butter. In actual fact, margarine is bursting with trans fats. It also contains a whole lot more (unnecessary) ingredients as opposed to butter. It is much better for your health to stick with small doses of butter rather than margarine.
Diet Foods and Low Fat Foods
Diet foods contain unhealthy fillers and are often high in salt. Low fat foods often contain high amounts of sugar as well as unhealthy fillers. Furthermore, you often tend to eat double the amount of these foods either because you are not satisfied or because you may feel it's ok because it's 'healthy and non-fattening'.
Frozen Meals
How convenient are these! Dinner in less than 5 minutes! However, beware, these foods are profoundly processed and filled with fat, salt, sugar and preservatives. Instead of going down the convenient food route, try making bigger portioned meals so that you can portion it out and freeze some servings.
For more information on the dangers of some foods, contact your naturopath or nutritionist.
Originally published on Aug 01, 2014
