Fruit Juice, Fried Foods, White Rice; 12 Foods You Shouldn’t Eat Again
Corn-fed beef
Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. But more money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us.
A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin.
Fruit Juice
Most people are generally shocked to learn that fruit juice (in abundance) is actually quite harmful for them. First off, most varieties you see at the store are pasteurized, which basically renders these products useless because they are stripped of much of their nutrition.
Heating juice denatures (or kills) the chemical makeup of vitamins and minerals and unless it is truly “raw,” it is little more than flavored fructose.
If you make it fresh at home, a glass of fruit juice here and there won’t hurt you; but when consumed every day it does a considerable amount of damage because it causes a major spike in blood glucose
Microwave popcorn
Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer.
Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn.
“They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals.
DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.
White Bread
White bread is a staple in most pantries, but the truth is that it doesn’t have any nutritional value. White bread contains a lot of sugar and it doesn’t have the ability to keep you satisfied, so within a few hours you are likely to find yourself feeling hungry and reaching for snacks.
As a result of these factors, it is unsurprising that research on those who eat white bread shows a correlation between eating larger quantities of white bread and being more likely to gain unwanted weight over a period of 12 years. As it turns out, even breads that claim to be wheat could contain more sugar than grain and should often be avoided.
Fried Foods
It is common knowledge that fried foods are not healthy and should be avoided whenever it is feasible.
In addition to causing you to pile on the pounds, these foods are of little nutritional value and can cause some serious health problems.
They are associated with higher cholesterol and higher blood pressure, both of which decrease your cardiovascular health and make you more likely to suffer from heart disease or strokes.
Fried foods can also upset the digestive system, leading to uncomfortable acid reflux, and potentially exacerbating the cramps or gas pains associated with irritable bowel syndrome.
Conventional Meat
Non-organic, genetically modified meat products are absolute death foods and, absolutely foods that you should never eat. Even if it is “lean” with all the excess fat trimmed off, should never be part of anyone’s natural health regimen.
Essentially, YOU are what THEY eat and if the livestock that you’re grilling up for supper is force-fed pesticide-ridden, hormone-stuffed feed, then that’s what enters in your GI tract and literally gets stored in your fat cells.
Nonorganic potatoes
Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes—the nation’s most popular vegetable—they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. ” Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”
Doughnuts
Doughnuts are fried, sugary, and almost always contain trans-fat as well as white flour. Store-bought doughnuts are made up of about 35% to 40% trans-fat, and an average doughnut contains about 200 to 300 calories (which are mostly from sugar) and few other nutrients.
Furthermore, in the US, canola, soybean, and corn oils are made primarily from genetically engineered crops, which come with their own set of health risks.
Farmed salmon
Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.
According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You could eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.” Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks.
There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.
Margarine
According to Mayo Clinic
“Margarine is made from vegetable oils, so it contains no cholesterol. Margarine is also higher in “good” fats — polyunsaturated and monounsaturated — than butter is. These types of fats help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol when substituted for saturated fat.
Artificial Sweeteners
It is wise to avoid artificial sweeteners because it’s sugar substitutes have been clinically linked to:
- Bladder cancer
- Brain tumors
- Breast cancer
- Headaches
- Hypertension
- Lymphomas/leukemia
- Phenylketonuria
- Seizures
- Weight gain/obesity
White Rice
Rice is a common ingredient in recipes, and it is also a popular side dish chosen to accompany meat dishes.
Most people simply assume that rice is healthy, but the nutritional value of rice is entirely dependent on the type of rice you choose.
Crucially, white rice is just like white bread; it can encourage your body to store excess fat that it doesn’t need and make it harder to lose weight. In addition, it has little nutritional value.
When it comes to choosing rice for a meal or a side dish, always opt for brown rice if you want to boost your overall health. Brown rice is full of fiber, vitamins and nutrients.
The high fiber content helps you to feel full and satisfied for longer (reducing your likelihood of overeating or reaching for a pack of cookies), and some studies also suggest that the plant lignans in brown rice can reduce your risk of developing heart disease (perhaps by combating arterial hardening).
However, the benefits don’t end here. Brown rice continues to be a popular subject of nutritional research, with experts currently exploring everything from a link to a reduction in asthma symptoms to the possibility that people who eat the most brown rice are less likely to develop cancer.