Taking care of your health is crucial. You should start with adjusting your bedtime routine to get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and, most importantly, maintain a proper diet. Get rid of all your unhealthy eating habits, if you really want to stay fit.
Many things we like to eat and drink do more harm than good to our bodies. Want to learn more about them? We have got you covered. Here are the 24 unhealthiest foods for your body—some of which will surely leave you surprised, so make sure to read the article till the end.
Sugary Drinks
Consuming sugar-sweetened beverages too much is absolutely unhealthy. The excessive sugar content in these drinks significantly increases obesity, the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, skin disease, tooth decay, and arthritis. It could also affect your mood and drain your energy.
Sweetened Breakfast Cereals
Instant breakfast cereal has been a part of our daily routine for a long time now. They make our breakfast convenient, providing us with all the necessary nutrients, especially if they are low in sugar and served with whole grains and fresh fruit. But there are many kinds of breakfast cereals available these days that are loaded with sugar and refined grains. High sugar consumption could be very harmful to you and usually increase your risk of many health conditions and diseases. Instead of having sweetened breakfast cereals, go for eggs, chia seeds, different types of fruits, and many other healthy breakfast items.
Fried Foods
Several studies have been carried out on the subject of fried food consumption according to which, eating different types of fried foods that are high in calories and usually salt significantly increases the risk of chronic disease. To be more specific, fried food consumption may lead to health problems like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Potato Chips
Potato chips are considered among the unhealthiest foods for your body. They are not only high in calories that lead to weight gain but also contain a chemical known as acrylamide, especially in burnt chips. This chemical could greatly increase your tendency to develop cancer, which is an extremely deadly disease.
Quick Fact: Regardless of the flavor, each potato chip contains 11 to 14 calories, which is why eating chips lead to an unhealthy diet.
Low Carb Junk Foods
Low-carb diets are extremely popular when it comes to weight loss. You have a lot of options to choose from if you are changing your eating habits, however, you should watch out for low-carb replacement food items that are processed. These are often highly processed foods, which are packed with additives. If you’re on a low-carb diet, aim for foods that are naturally low in carbs, which include eggs, seafood, and leafy greens
Fast Food Meals
In general, all the different fast-food chains around the world are popular for serving junk food. The food items on their menu are basically mass-produced and don’t contain sufficient nutrients. The ingredients used in making fast foods and the way they are prepared may increase your disease risk and could even lead to obesity if consumed regularly. People should definitely avoid fried items that are available in their favorite fast-food restaurants and go for healthier options.
Candy Bars
Candy bars are one of the unhealthiest foods for your body. They’re extremely high in sugar content. Candy bars are prepared with processed fat and refined, which makes them very low in nutrients. The way your body metabolizes and digests these sugar bombs, will leave you even more hungry. As we said, these are sugar bombs that could make you diabetic and obese.
Frozen Entrees
According to research conducted by the CDC, over 70% of the total amount of sodium our body intakes comes from a variety of processed and prepared foods like frozen entrees or more commonly known as frozen foods. Consuming sodium in high quantities can shoot up your blood pressure, significantly increasing your risk of heart disease. For frozen meals, especially avoid those that are seasoned with added sugar as well as high-fat sauces.
Pancake Syrup
You typically top your pancakes and waffles with pancake syrup. Yes, it is extremely delicious and we all agree with that but it contains high-fructose corn syrup, which is very high in sugar. It can lead to some of the biggest health problems in the world like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. So, make sure you’re consuming pancake syrup in limited quantities.
Frosting
Considered among some of the unhealthiest foods for your body, frosting, which is also known as icing, contains high sugar and fat content. Some of the major health problems it can result in include diabetes, weight gain, heart disease, and liver dysfunction. It could even lead to infertility in women because of containing loads of trans fat. As discussed, frosting has high sugar content, which also causes frosting cavities and tooth decay.
Energy Drinks
If you’re someone who is health-conscious, it wouldn’t be hard for you to figure out that those who consume energy drinks a lot might be prone to a myriad of health conditions. The purpose of high sugar content in an energy drink is to keep you awake for a while, but at the same time, it contributes to insulin resistance, making you more vulnerable to diabetes. Tooth decay and enamel loss is also a common problem triggered by access consumption of energy drinks. Plus, they contain a lot of caffeine, which could dangerously shoot up your blood pressure.
Frozen Pizza
Frozen pizzas are popular meal choices for university and college students, working individuals living on their own as well as busy households. Since this type of food can be easily reheated and eaten anytime, it is considered a convenient option. However, the downside of frozen pizzas is that they are processed foods containing high amounts of sodium, sugar, and calories. The artificial preservatives used in these edible items are also very harmful to one’s health.
Hot Dogs
If you talk about the calorie composition of hot dogs: then it is the type of made that has up to 80 percent of its calories based on fat. The worst part about it is that much of the fat in a hot dog is the unhealthy saturated type. Eating processed foods like hot dogs on a regular basis is usually linked to an increased risk of heart disease and colorectal cancer. The unhealthy side of the hot dog has also been presented by a recent report released by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC).
Sprinkles
Sprinkles are among the unhealthiest foods for your body. They are high in carbs, sugar, and calories. Consuming too much of them is usually linked to many different types of illnesses. Since they have an access amount of sugar, they can lead to diabetes, obesity and tooth decay, especially in young children, who like topping almost everything with sprinkles.
Fruit Cocktail
Fruit or cocktail or canned fruits are among those foods that are widely considered healthy but actually are not. It is mainly because consuming them in large quantities can often cause harm to your health, especially if they contain artificial and unhealthy contents other than fruits. The addition of corn syrup with loads of sugar that is added to the fruity mixture to increase its shelf life and enhance its sweet taste ruins everything. It is very high in calories and contains fructose and glucose. While glucose is directly absorbed into your blood and helps you gain energy, fructose makes its way to your liver for processing and often ends up building fat in it. This could lead to a variety of health problems.
Chicken Nuggets
Served by some of the most famous international fast-food chains, Chicken nuggets are one of the unhealthiest foods you can eat. Despite its small size, every single nugget contains 3 grams of fat and almost 50 calories. The chicken, in this case, usually contains more fat than meat, and on top of it, to complete the nugget-making process, it is either breaded or battered and fried before being served.
Donuts
According to a health article by Cleveland Clinic, donuts have been included in the list of worst breakfast foods. They contain 250 to 550 calories and of course, 15 to 30 grams of sugar, which is actually the real problem. Consuming large amounts of sugar in a small package causes your body to pumps out insulin abruptly and in a huge quantity to try to maintain the blood sugar level. This sudden spike of insulin is not good for your health.
Fondant
Made of 100% edible icing, it is safe to eat fondant. However, a lot of people remove the layering while having the cake because they usually don’t like the flavor or texture of fondant.
People who like eating fondant must be careful not to consume fondant in large quantities since it contains high sugar content, which could lead to several health problems.
Deli Meats
Instant lunch meals, which are based on deli meats like deli cold cuts, and bologna, are unhealthy because they are loaded with sodium and often fat, as well as some preservatives like nitrates. Also, according to a medical study, eating 50 grams of processed meat a day would significantly raise the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 18 percent.
Margarine
Margarine is a popular breakfast item that is used as an alternative to butter. It usually contains trans fat, which raises the level of bad cholesterol and lowers the level of good cholesterol. Margarine also makes blood platelets stickier, which could significantly increase heart disease risk. Margarine either comprises hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils containing trans fats, which shouldn’t be consumed in excess amounts.
Canned Soup
Canned soups are usually teeming with sodium in the form of salt. Some even contain a lot more than half of the recommended daily sodium limit, which is around 2000mg. This may, consequently, lead to high blood pressure. If you want to stay healthy, make sure that your goal is no more than 700mg sodium per serve, so it is better to avoid consuming canned soup regularly.
Bacon and Sausage
Consuming bacon, sausages, and hot dogs too often is very bad for your health. In fact, these are among the unhealthiest foods for your body. Meat that has been processed in any way to flavor and/or preserve it—is absolutely not good for your wellness, according to medical surveys. A large number of studies have been conducted that surprisingly found links between the consumption of processed meat and different types of cancer, as well as other chronic health problems like heart disease and diabetes.
Boxed Mac And Cheese
Boxed mac and cheese may contain unhealthy preservatives and chemicals. After testing many different cheese products, medical researchers have found out that most of them contained chemicals called phthalates, which are man-made substances that usually interfere with human hormones. The cheesy powder used in the sauce for flavoring packaged macaroni and cheese contained the highest levels of phthalates.
Dried Fruit Snacks
Snacking on dried fruit boosts your nutrient and fiber intake as well as supplying your body with excessive amounts of antioxidants. However, at the same time, they are very high in calories and sugar content. They can cause serious health problems when eaten in large quantities. This is one of the biggest reasons why dried fruit snacks should only be eaten in small amounts, preferably along with foods that are richer in nutrients and healthy.
There you have it—a detailed round-up of the 24 unhealthiest foods for your body. Try your best to avoid consuming them if really want to improve your long-term health and stay fit forever.
