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Wednesday 13 May 2015

" There is a lot of confusion out there about which foods are healthy, and which are not "

Kris Gunnars at 'Authority Nutrition' has recently written an informative post about 20 foods that are generally very unhealthy. I have linked to his post and copied the first five ... do read on. If any of these foods are currently included in your shopping list you may want to change your mind, or look around for healthier alternatives. The choice is yours. 

"There is a lot of confusion out there about which foods are healthy, and which are not.

Here is a list of 20 foods that are generally very unhealthy.

If you want to lose weight and avoid chronic disease, then you shouldn’t eat much of these foods.

In many cases, the best choice is to avoid them completely.

In this article, healthy alternatives are mentioned whenever possible.


1. Sugary Drinks

Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet.

However, some sources of sugar are worse than others, and sugary drinks are the absolute worst.

When people drink sugar calories, the brain doesn’t “register” them as food.

For this reason, people don’t automatically compensate by eating less of other foods instead, and end up drastically increasing their total calorie intake (1, 2, 3).

Sugar, when consumed in large amounts, can drive insulin resistance in the body and is strongly linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It is also associated with various serious diseases, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease ( 4, 5, 6).

Sugary drinks are also THE most fattening aspect of the modern diet, and drinking them in large amounts can drive fat gain and obesity ( 7, 8, 9).

Alternatives: Drink water, soda water, coffee or tea instead. Adding a slice of lemon to water or soda water can add some taste if you don’t like it plain.


2. Most Pizzas

Pizza is one of the world’s most popular junk foods.

This is not surprising, given that it tastes awesome and is incredibly convenient to eat.

The problem is that most commercially prepared pizzas are made with seriously unhealthy ingredients.

The dough is made from highly refined wheat flour, and the meats on them are usually processed. Pizza is also extremely high in calories.

Alternatives: Some pizza places use healthier ingredients. Homemade pizzas can also be very healthy, as long as you choose wholesome ingredients.

3. White Bread

Bread is generally made from wheat, which contains the protein gluten.

For this reason, all wheat-based breads are a bad idea for people who have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

However, most commercial breads are unhealthy, even for people who do tolerate gluten.

This is because the great majority of them are made from refined wheat, which is low in essential nutrients (empty calories) and leads to rapid spikes in blood sugar ( 10 ).

Alternatives: For people who can tolerate gluten, ezekiel bread is an excellent choice. Whole grain bread is also definitely better (or “less bad”) than white bread.

If you have problems with gluten or carbs, then here are 15 recipes for breads that are both gluten-free and low in carbs.

4. Most Fruit Juices

Fruit juice is often assumed to be healthy, but this is a mistake.

Many fruit juices are actually little more than fruit-flavored sugar water.

It is true that the juice contains some antioxidants and vitamin C, but this must be weighed against the large amount of liquid sugar.

In fact, fruit juice contains just as much sugar as a sugary drink like Coke or Pepsi, and sometimes even more ( 11 ).

Alternatives: There are some fruit juices that have been shown to have health benefits despite the sugar content, such as pomegrenate juice and blueberry juice.

However, these should be considered as supplements, not something you drink every day to quench thirst. Drink water instead.

5. Industrial Vegetable Oils

In the last 100 years or so, people have increased their consumption of added fats.


However, this is entirely explained by a drastic increase in the consumption of refined vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil and canola oil.

These oils are very high in omega-6 fatty acids, which humans never consumed in such large amounts before.

There are many serious concerns with these oils. They are highly sensitive to oxidation and cause increased oxidative stress in the body. They have also been linked to increased risk of cancer ( 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 ).

Alternatives: Use healthier fats like coconut oil, butter, extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil instead."

Well those are the first five foods, out of twenty that Kris wrote about in his article ... use this link to read more, including the additional links Kris gives.

All the best Jan

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not keen on his advice.

"number 15
Studies show that people who eat processed meats have a higher risk of many serious diseases, including colon cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease."

What would I do without my yummy pile of bacon and sausage, sometimes twice a day as it's so easy and filling.
He also vilifies pepperoni, and I guess chorizo would be out as well.
Not a LCHF man for me I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

What, no bacon!!!!!!

And what does buy them locally from sellers who don’t add a lot of unhealthy ingredients mean.

Any bacon is just a nice healthy source of good saturated fat. Nothing like a good plate of smoked streaky to start the day.

Come on Eddie, put this joker right, that is a cracking breakfast you have every day mate.

And if you need a quick healthy snack, grate some cheddar on hot streaky bacon, let it melt, bang it in the fridge, and you can snack all day on it!

Lowcarb team member said...

"What no bacon"

"When a man is tired of bacon, he is tired of living!" Mosha Finkelstein

I choose to live dangerously. 97% pork sausages and top quality bacon, how can a person operate on a bowl of sugar for breakfast.

Mind you compared to the gruel most dietitians promote, you know, the ones on the junk food mobs payroll, my beloved bacon is top notch tucker.

Look what happened to Sid Bonkers when he went low fat, mental melt down and no mistake. Remember Jopar, good grief, mad as a hatter, don't start me off re Nobblyhead, good God what and excuse for man. And phoenix the face that sunk a thousand ships,who wants to emulate that hatchet faced harridan?

No, I say get that bacon down ya, two eggs, mushrooms and some cherry tomatoes, swilled down with double cream coffee. A great way to start the day, and puts lead in ya pencil, just ask Jan.

Eddie

Galina L. said...

Unfortunately, many people can't believe that juicing is not a healthy practice.It is much better than drinking bought juices, but removing pulp from fruits and vegetables turns it into a homemade processed foods, which is wasteful and unhealthy.

Anonymous said...

This is a great list! Though the processed meats part made me squirm a bit.
Wendy

Anonymous said...

Top notch as you say Eddie.

Bacon again this morning.
I can't afford the expensive stuff, but bacon's bacon, and the economy stuff can't be bad for you can it?
You have some good recipes for cheap tucker, I often have the frozen veg with the economy mince from Asda in a shepherd's pie from your recipe last year.
If it's on here, it must be good for you, right?
Who says LCHF has to be dear.
Keep posting, keep eating, don't let the anti's tell you any different.

Lowcarb team member said...

Just stopping by to say an important thank you to ALL who have commented on this post. It's certainly attracted a lot of reads.

It is important to pass on and share information so we can all make our own informed choices.

As I said in the opening paragraph "The choice is yours."

All the best Jan