Food
10 Foods You Should Never Eat
The world is full of delicious foods. But choosing what to eat and what not to eat can be quite the tricky game. Especially when some of the foods we eat are not the best for our bodies. So no matter how strong your cravings, here are 10 foods you should never eat.
10. Food Coloring
This one’s really hard to avoid, as it can appear in the food you eat and of course the beverages you drink. Some would say it’s impossible to avoid outright, as there’s a bit of this in absolutely every basic food group, except for whole foods, of course. Some have claimed that food coloring is also added to certain meats that have lost their color during the cooking process. But inner-kitchen folklore and shady cooking tactics aside, this product is found in almost anything prepackaged. But it is also available on its own, in the baking aisle at your local grocery store. You can find food coloring in gel form or liquid form. As of late, food coloring has been getting quite the terrible reputation, and all because of the simple fact that it’s terrible for your health. So why is food coloring so bad? Well, when you see the words “artificial” and “dye” in a product that’s meant to be consumed, you should stay away, as they will definitely contain additives and chemicals that have no business in the human body. Such is the terrible case here, as certain colors of food dye, mostly the yellows and the reds, contain 4-aminobiphenyl and benzidine, which have been linked to some of the most terrible diseases and illnesses. So maybe skip the maraschino cherries in your ice cream sundae next time. Toss some natural fruit on there instead.
9. Salad Dressing
Talk about serious artery clogging dangers! You’d think ordering “just a salad,” will keep you trim and healthy, but we’d urge you to think again. Usually, these dressings are made quite cheaply, which means, there won’t be any olive oil in there, or at least not enough to count. These dressings are full of raw canola oil and vegetable oil. Sometimes they contain both, and that can be very dangerous. So no matter how much dried garlic they put in there, there’s no way it will even have a chance to start thinning your blood while being coated in all that horrible oil. These oils are the worst thing that can be ingested in its raw state and they don’t carry the benefits that olive and grape seed oil do. So next time you want to eat healthy and still have that salad, go ahead and drizzle some room temperature extra virgin olive oil atop; add some apple-cider vinegar and some sea salt, and you’ve got a treat that will actually be beneficial to your heart and arteries.
8. Canola Oil
And seeing that canola oil is not good for you raw, then why on earth would you use it to fry your food? Restaurants all over the world use canola and vegetable oil (if not worse oils) in their deep fryers. In fact, some places actually spoon lard, actual lard, into their deep fryers. The result is worse than using margarine to fry your egg rolls, chicken wings and nuggets. Sure, it tastes good, but if we all went by how something tastes and not by how healthy it was, we’d all be suffering from serious health issues, now wouldn’t we? But at the same time, we more than understand why restaurants have to use these oils, particularly canola, as it is one of the cheapest options. And when buying in bulk and looking at a restaurant’s bottom line, cheaper is sometimes better. But when at home, try frying your food in grape seed oil. It’s way healthier. We know it’s a tad more expensive, but so much more worth it for you and your family.
7. Rice
Although this entry might be surprising, we’d urge you not to dismiss it all too quickly, as serious issues have been brought up concerning one of the world’s most common side dishes. Forget side dishes, for some cultures, rice often makes up the main part of a meal. Thankfully, we’re not saying to stay away from rice altogether. When prepared at home, or at high quality restaurants, the rice in your dish should be fine. However, we would steer clear of it at lower quality establishments, the main reason being the fact that not all kitchen personnel will do what is required to properly prepare the rice. It has been discovered that there is a high quantity of arsenic found in rice due to where and how it is grown. But there are ways to cook the arsenic out of rice. It’s this process that we’re not too sure lower quality kitchens will take the time to do. According to one website, you’re supposed to soak your rice overnight, as this apparently opens up the grain, draining it of most of the arsenic found. Then you’re supposed to boil it in 5 cups of water for every cup of rice. And finally, you’re supposed to rinse the rice once it has boiled. A tedious process indeed, but one that can keep you and yours safe.
6. Soy Protein
Bodybuilders eat a lot and perhaps no other demographic downs more protein during the course of the day. In order to grow bigger, many in this sport have to eat just over their ideal body weight in grams of protein per day. So at the end of the day, yeah, that’s a lot of food. To make things easier on themselves, a lot of them eat protein bars, and when they’re tired of chewing, they down protein shakes as well. Usually, these shakes are predominantly made with whey protein (which is still one of the healthiest forms of protein in shake form), but there are other types out there, specifically soy protein. In recent years, many have been made aware that soy protein isn’t all that good for you if ingested in large amounts. Now for vegans, that’s pretty hard to avoid, as soy is in almost all vegan-based foods and drinks, like tofu, and of course the aforementioned protein drinks. Now, for the problem … essentially, soy has isoflavones in it, which takes on the role of estrogen once it enters the human body. Sadly, certain types of serious maladies, predominantly among women, need high levels of estrogen to grow. Estrogen is produced naturally in everyone’s body, so if a person is ingesting extra estrogen, this can lead to serious illness. This is the reason soy protein should be avoided as one of the foods you should never eat.
5. Malt Liquor
Who doesn’t love a nice cocktail every now and again? Had a hard day? Need something to take the edge off, so to speak? Well, why not have a Tom Collins? Or perhaps a Mimosa, with a little extra champagne, of course. The sky’s the limit, and if enjoyed in moderation, drinks like these, or drinks served straight, can be enjoyed any day of the week. But, if used in excess, alcoholic beverages of any kind can be damaging to the body. This is perhaps obvious. What’s probably not as obvious, is that there are certain types of alcohol that are much worse for the body. Maybe not surprisingly, it’s the cheaper ones that are quite bad for your body. Specifically, Malt Liquor. For years, people have been purchasing malt liquor beverages at their local corner stores to save a buck, and because it’s a fraction of what it costs to buy authentic whisky. So for much less, you could get your hands on drinks that were blended with malt liquor which still got you to where you wanted to go regardless. We just urge everyone to be aware of the dangers of malt liquor, as it’s pretty terrible for your body. Malt liquor is close to beer, but because of how it’s prepared, it has a higher alcohol content overall, as well as a higher sugar content. And it’s because of this that it shouldn’t be the preferred method of taking that edge off. Regardless, cheers to all and enjoy responsibly.
4. Vending Machine Products
We all know that some of the foods found in vending machines can expire. And depending on who owns and fills them, we’d imagine that there are a lot of expired food items in some of these machines, wherever they happen to be located. Some are re-stocked regularly and maintained well, and of course we’re not telling you to stay away from vending machine food completely, but we’d urge one and all to be careful when selecting your tasty snack of the day. Another big problem with these machines is the fact that a lot of companies have to put pesticides somewhere on the machine or in the machine, in order to prevent the possible infestation that may occur when food items are present. These may include rat poison and other really horrible products you don’t want your food near. That being said, we have two questions: one – do you really want your tuna sandwich that close to a product as harmful as rat poison? And two – on the way down the chute, did your soda can slide through some unwanted pesticide that somehow came into contact with your can? We’d say, rinse your cans under the faucet before popping the top. You can never be too sure.
3. Ready-Made Pie Crusts
Perhaps nothing says “home” like a warm stew bubbling on the stove and the aroma of a freshly baked apple pie. But not everyone has the time to go ahead and prepare pie dough from scratch, as it can take quite a bit of time. These days, not many have the time to do this, so many rely on the ready-made pie crusts that can often be found at the grocery store in the ever popular baking aisle. But as it turns out, these ready-made pie crusts are absolutely the worst things for that pie you wanted to make for that dinner party you’re hosting. These pie crusts are primarily made with the same oh-so-terrible oils we mentioned earlier, and they are full of hydrogenated fats and other oils. You’re better off just leaving it on the shelf. And if you still want to bake a pie for that dinner party and are short on time, try this recipe on for size. It’s fast and oh-so-easy. And at the end of the day, it tastes great too! Combine some crushed Graham crackers with melted butter and a bit of sugar. Place into an oven pan (preferably round), bake for about eight to ten minutes and then add your favorite filling. Top the pie with the rest of your cracker crust and voila! Hey … don’t knock it until you try it, and besides, do you really have the time to argue?
2. Packaged Jello Snacks
After counting down the foods you should never eat and the reasons why, our last entry is perhaps very obvious since it contains two of the big no-no’s to stay away from. The first observation when it comes to those pre-packaged Jello cups you can buy at the supermarket are the vibrant colors. Guess what? This is not natural coloring being used in these packages. Jello looks cool jiggling on the shelf, but it also looks like it might be able to glow in the dark. These Jello products also contain artificial sweeteners, another thing to avoid. Gelatin in general can have benefits to your health, but not in these prepackaged formats, so do yourself a favor and stay away. If you really feel creative, there are some homemade Jello recipes to be found online made using gelatine and real fruit juices. This could be an alternative if you want to get your Jello fix without the artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.
1. Mock Chicken
Luncheon meats aren’t really the best things to put in your body, but they’ve been a typical sandwich item since…like forever. The famed Earl of Sandwich kind of knew what he was doing on that front, we presume. Of course way back then, luncheon meats were primarily dried and, due to a lack of refrigeration, meats were salted in order to preserve them. In reality, that was a lot healthier overall than the processed cold cuts of today – even though there were many cases of spoiled salted meat reported throughout history. But this was all before nitrates were invented, and it’s the nitrates really, that make cured meats like cold cuts unhealthy … even worse than the salt once used to preserve them. Nitrates are actually natural; they’re often found in earth, water and other natural resources. They are primarily used to stop bacteria from forming in foods. But too much of a good thing is often bad in the end. Such is the case here. Ham and roast beef are a lot healthier than the blended meat cold cuts like salami, pepperoni and of course North America’s favorite – bologna. But there is one that is worse than any possible cold cut in existence, and that would have to be mock chicken. Here, the exact chicken content of the product is probably very low … we’re talking about actual chicken meat of course. There could be other parts of the chicken in there – what’s known as the refuse. Some have claimed that only the refuse is used to produce mock chicken, but that may be a bit of a stretch. Also reported is that meat gluten can be found in a typical loaf of mock chicken, so beware out there.