20 Foods You Should Never Buy Again
There are villainous foods to be found in grocery stores, here is a list:
1. Hotdogs
If you watch the video of how hotdogs are made, I bet you’d never eat them again. Some studies linked hotdogs to several forms of cancer and diabetes. Hotdogs (even “organic” and “natural” hotdogs) contain nitrites and nitrates, which are used in the processing of meat to give it the color and taste. These chemical compounds are linked to different cancers.
2. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
This cheese can turn your dish from good to great but can place a large hole in your budget. Try Pecorino Romano and SarVecchio as they offer the same flavor at half the price.
3. Smoked and cured meat
It’s a big no-no, avoid all cured meats as they linked to cancer, hypertension, and migraines. Eating fatty and cured meats, like bacon, is not the best way to add protein to your diet.
These foods offer little nutritional benefit, while their high fat content can aggravate diarrhea for some people. Instead, choose lean high-quality proteins, like fish, and smooth nut butters.
4. Fake Blueberries
Blueberry-flavored items often contain no real blueberries. Grow or buy your own berries and add them to cereal for a health boost.
5. Multi-grain bread
Make sure that whole wheat is the first ingredient in your bread. If not, you get a few grains mixed with simple white bread.
6. Reduced-fat peanut butter
When they remove fat they have to add something for taste, it’s usually sugar. Its better to eat regular peanut butter.
A tub of reduced-fat peanut butter indeed comes with a fraction less fat than the full-fat variety—they’re not lying about that. But what the food companies don’t tell you is that they’ve replaced that healthy fat with maltodextrin, a carbohydrate used as a filler in many processed foods. This means you’re trading the healthy fat from peanuts for empty carbs, double the sugar, and a savings of a meager 10 calories.
7. Bottled tea
Bottled tea is known as being healthy because it contains polyphenol, which is good for many kind of diseases. But Scientists say they’ve found that many of the popular bottled tea drinks contain fewer polyphenols than a single cup of home brewed green or black tea. Bottled tea can have more sugar than a can of soda.
8. Prepared pasta sauces
A jar of pasta sauce can be expensive. You can boil fresh tomatoes, onions, and dried herbs that will make a sauce much healthier than the prepared sauce and often better tasting. Also most prepared pasta sauces contain preservatives.
9. Energy drinks
If you want to avoid sugar also avoid energy drinks. Try plain coffee or tea if you need caffeine! Another good source of energy is chocolate. There has been several cases of death by drinking a brand of energy drinks in the last couple of years.
10. Gluten-free baked goods
If you are not gluten intolerant, then gluten-free is not for you. Gluten free does not guarantee healthy and as we have mentioned above, grains other than wheat are not the healthiest options.
11. Canned Food
The cans have dangerous levels of Bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical that can lead to childhood aggression, obesity, heart disease, changes in breast tissue, and problems with reproductive health.
12. Swordfish
Between different fish, swordfish has the highest mercury. Other fish that contain mercury and should be less consumed are: bigeye tuna, shark, king mackerel, and pacific bluefin tuna. For a list of safe and unsafe fish check out “Mercury and Omega 3“
13. Foods made with wood
If you see cellulose(cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) listed as an ingredient be aware it’s another word for wood pulp. It’s added to extend shelf life, prevent clumping, and add fiber. These 15 companies are said to add “wood pulp” to some of their products:
Taco Bell, Weight Watchers, General Mills, McDonalds, Sara Lee, Pepsi Co, Kellogg, Jack in The Box, Kraft Foods, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s Arby’s, Sonic and Dole.
According to FDA, wood pulp is safe for human consumption 🙂
14. Energy or protein bars
If you are eating a protein bar for an energy boost, it’s a myth. Energy bars do not provide any health benefits. Try dates, banana and skim milk instead for a boost after exercise.
15. Microwave sandwiches
Microwave sandwiches contain nothing beneficial, they do have a lot of salt, fat, and unnecessary additives which are not good for your health. Try making your own version for better health and taste.
16. High fructose corn syrup
It has been linked to diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, migraine, cancer and even memory loss. Our body has to struggle to process liquid fructose, moreover it comes from genetically modified corn. On average each one of us consumes 60 pounds of High fructose corn syrup every year! High fructose corn syrup is found in soda and almost every processed food.
17. Processed foods
These foods contain harmful chemicals including food coloring, food preservatives and BHT that have been linked to cancer and chronic diseases. They also contain added sugar that can weaken your immune system.
18. Bottled water
Bottled water is not good for several reasons: it’s expensive for what you’re getting, it requires a lot of fossil fuel to produce and ship the bottles, and the plastic is a serious threat to environment. Surprisingly 40 percent of bottled waters is taken from municipality waters (a.k.a tap water). Go for water filtration bottles instead.
19. Snack or lunch packs
These are expensive and you are actually paying for the label, packaging, and tray. The actual worth of such packs is much less. Most of them contain additives.
20. Pre-formed meat patties
Pre-formed meat patties and frozen burgers are more expensive than ground meat. Many of these products contain preservative and red dye.
