15 Foods that You Should Avoid at All Costs

To avoid harmful foods, it’s always best to organize your menu in advance and base it on healthy products, as well as carrying healthy snacks in case you ever get hungry.

Reviewed and approved by the pedagogue in physical education and nutritionist Elisa Morales Lupayante.

Written by Elisa Morales Lupayante

Last update: 11 June, 2022

Good nutrition facilitates intellectual and mental development. It allows us to reason, think, understand, and create. It also helps the physical development and growth of the body.

However, there are foods that you should avoid.

Healthy eating

Healthy eating involves consuming a variety of ingredients that provide you with the nutrients you need to stay healthy, with plenty of energy, and make you feel good.

These foods contain carbohydrates, protein, water, fat, minerals and vitamins.

A good diet, supplemented with exercises and a healthy weight, is a perfect combination for keeping your body healthy and strong.

Tips for good nutrition

• Respect meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
• Consume a variety of foods
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Know the proportion of fat that your body has to maintain your ideal weight
• Avoid excessive consumption of saturated fat
• Eat foods that contain enough plant fibre
• Avoid excessive consumption of sugar and salt
• Avoid alcohol
• Try not to exceed 20% protein in your diet
• Consider your daily intake of vitamins and minerals
• Do physical exercise according to your age, weight and size
• Chew your food slowly.

Foods that you should avoid to not get sick

The usual recommendation is to preferably consume natural and organic foods to avoid toxins. Also, avoid foods that are harmful for your health.

Our food provides nutrients and energy for the body, which prevents the development of diseases.

The problem is that there are tempting foods, which you can eat quickly and on the way to work. No time is wasted in preparing them, they’re cheap, and they tend to be sweet and tasty. The problem is that they’re bad for us.

Let’s take a look at some of them:

1.Chicken nuggets

They are tasty and satisfy us quickly. However, try to avoid them, because they have high levels of preservatives, salt and fat.

2. French fries

They contain a high number of calories. If you eat them frequently, over time, you may suffer from diabetes and or become overweight.

3. Soft drinks

These drinks contain sugar which is bad for your health, and high fructose corn syrup.

They’re harmful for the liver and may cause the development of bacterial diseases and even cancer.

4. Hot dogs

These contain large amounts of artificial ingredients as well as preservatives and flavourings. The fillings are often made of low quality meats and contain a lot of salt.

5. Burgers

They increase your risk of diabetes. It is junk food.

6. Sugary cereals

In general, these sugary cereals contain little dietary fibre and their sugar intake contributes to the development of diabetes.

7. Granola bars

They contain high fructose corn syrup. Plus, they are usually made of harmful sugar. They also contain lots of fat and sodium that makes them less healthy.

8. Processed iced teas

They are easy to make, cheap and refreshing, but they are not healthy. They have more sugar than natural soft drinks, a lot of artificial flavouring, corn syrup and other harmful sugars.

9. Canned tomatoes

Consuming this product poses a risk of poisoning.

They contain BPA, which is a toxic chemical related to reproductive problems, neurological damage and an increased risk of various types of cancers.

10. Processed meats or sausages

Sausages are bad for your health, both in the medium and long term.

The problem is that they are obtained from animals subjected to growth hormones, antibiotics, and other harmful drugs.

11. Raw sprouts and other roots

It is customary to use alfalfa and other roots in dishes to add flavour. However, eating them raw can mean you’re consuming harmful bacteria.

To prevent infection, it’s best to cook them before adding them to dishes.

12. Raw eggs

These are harmful, as raw eggs can contain salmonella, which is a bacterium which causes gastrointestinal infections.

13. Margarine

It contains high amounts of trans fats, which is associated with heart disease, obesity, skin diseases, and bone deterioration.

When heated it releases free radicals, which are toxic molecules for the body.

14. Microwave Popcorn

The bag containing the corn contains perfluorooctanoic acid (C8) and is a polluting substance for the blood.

15. Sausages and bacon

They’re full of saturated fat and sodium.

What we should eat

There are many healthy options available. They’re also easy and quick to prepare and will leave you satisfied.

• You can eat oatmeal, which is rich in vitamin B, proteins, calcium and fibre. You can add fruit, honey for flavour, or dried fruits.
• Yogurt is another option that you have for high protein content. Also, it doesn’t contain unnecessary sugar.
• Another alternative are eggs, as long as you cook them. You can cook them in different ways.

What to do

Restricting or eliminating these foods can be really difficult, even more so when every day is spent running around and being very hungry.

This means that often you eat whatever is in front of you. Therefore, preparation and perseverance are the key.

This being the case, always carry healthy food and snacks around with you. This way you’ll avoid falling into the temptation of buying and eating junk food or processed foods.

Avoid fried foods in restaurants or fast food, because most of them use trans fats when frying.

Try to make sure that your diet is basically made up of natural and unprocessed foods. You’ll see that your body will thank you forever.