Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Foods to Avoid Everyday – Unhealthy Foods that Bring More Harm than Good

There are the foods to avoid everyday, unhealthy foods that we should not eat. Ban them from our list for they can adversely affect our health in many ways. Here is a list.

Canned Tomatoes. Tomatoes are good if they are in glass bottles or in tetra pak boxes. Canned tomatoes has bisphenol in its resin linings. Bisphenol is a synthetic estrogen that is associated with ailments like diabetes, obesity and heart diseases. Another thing is that bisphenol suppresses sperm production among men.

Beef that are fed with corn. Cattles supposedly eat grass. But today, farmers feed them with soybeans or corn that expedite their growing and slaughter. More money for the farmers and less nutrition for the consumers. Cattles which eat grass are higher in beta-carotene, omega 3s, calcium, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium. They are indeed are foods to avoid everyday since they are unhealthy foods. Buy grass-fed cattles instead of corn-fed ones.

Microwave popcorn. Chemicals vaporize during microwaving and will migrate into your popcorn. They then will stay in your body for long, accumulate and may cause cancer. Included in these chemicals is PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid in the bag’s lining. PFOA is linked to infertility and cancer in the liver, pancreas and testicles. Make popcorns in the old-fashioned way. Not in microwaves.

Nonorganic Potatoes. Root vegetables like potatoes absorb pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that are in soil. Potatoes are treated with fungicides to grow, sprayed with herbicides to kill vines before the harvest and treated again to prevent them from sprouting. They are dreadingly foods to avoid since the chemicals applied to them have turned them to be unhealthy foods. Washing is not enough to remove the chemicals in them. Buy organic potatoes if you can.

Farmed Salmon. Farmed salmon is higher in contaminants including carcinogens, pesticides and brominated flame retardants. They are crammed into poultry litter, pens, fed soy and chicken feathers and already lower in vitamin D. This can be linked to obesity and diabetes. These fishes are treated with much pesticides and antibiotics and you are likely to get the same dose when you eat them. Go for wild-caught salmon instead.

Milk produced with artificial hormones. Milk-producing cattles give humans foods to avoid. These cattles are being treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) to enhance milk production. However, this growth hormone makes their milk already categorized in the unhealthy foods list since it contributes to colon, breast and prostate cancers to humans who take them. Go for organic milk which are rBGH-free.

Conventional apples. Apples are the most treated fruits. They are sprayed with chemicals and pesticides frequently. Avoid these apples and buy organic ones, or at least wash and peel them first.

Caffeine. Avoid black tea, cola drinks, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, soft drinks and others which contain caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant and can increase brain activity, heart rate and respiratory rate. Caffeine-containing foods are foods to avoid like soft drinks, chocolate, cocoa and coffee for they are unhealthy foods that bring adverse effects in our body. Caffeine is addictive, and can increase irritability, anxiety, mood swings and can cause jittery and a feeling of being tired. It can speed up the loss of zinc, magnesium, potassium, vitamins B & C in the body.

Alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant. Though it relaxes the drinker, gives tranquilizing effects, remove inhibitions, improve congeniality, appetite and blood circulation; it is harmful when taken excessively, which most people do. Alcohol impairs physical coordination and reflexes, slows down physical processes, acuity and mental alertness. In women, menopausal periods get worse when there is an intake of alcohol. It causes heavy menstrual bleeding, breast disease, uterus tumors; therefore is part of the foods to avoid program.

Alcohol, an irritant is ever considered falling in the unhealthy foods category. In fact, the liver cannot convert alcohol to glucose. Thus, resulting to the presence of increased fat in the liver. Alcohol increases the enzyme level of the liver, leading to inflammation, hepatitis or cirrhosis which can be deadly. Furthermore, it irritates the digestive tract, esophagus, small intestines, stomach and pancreas. This can result to diabetes and other illness. It is best not to drink alcohol at all.

Sugar and artificial sweeteners. Sugar is used to serve as sweetening. But when used abusively, it can trigger food cravings, anxiety and blood sugar imbalance that cause diabetes. The very ordinary sugar – white and brown are foods to avoid everyday. They can also cause bulimia, obesity, tooth decay, gum disease and many others and are extremely unhealthy foods. Sources of sugar are soft drinks, sweet drinks, catsup, salad dressing, cakes, candies, ice cream, bread pastries, pasta, etc.

Salt. Salt and its partner monosodium glutamate (MSG), contains sodium. Sodium and potassium help to regulate the water balance of cells. Thus, water is found in areas collected by sodium. An abundance of sodium therefore causes bloating, edema and high blood pressure. It is hard to avoid salt and MSG for they are very prevalent in food preparation or cooking. But they can be substituted with garlic, oregano, garlic and other herbs.

Red meat, eggs, dairy products. These are indeed foods to avoid in our daily serving. Red meat (pork, beef and lamb), eggs and dairy products (milk, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream) have saturated fats, thus, they are unhealthy foods. Saturated fats cause heart disease, arthritis, obesity and cancer. It can also aggravate tumor, menopause, menstrual bleeding, cysts, fatigue, hypertension, etc.

Margarine. Margarine has been said to substitute butter as a healthy alternative. However, studies revealed that it is not so, since it can also contribute to cardiovascular diseases. These foods are available everywhere and being taken everywhere. Knowing their harmful effects can help us avoid them for the sake of ourselves.

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