You might have a misconception that all foods are good for your health. All the foods that are pleasing to the eyes are nutritious. But the fact is that there many foods that fall in the category of unhealthy foods. Whenever you prepare your meal, the main aim is to add more nutritious and healthy food items to your diet. But sometimes, to make your food look more attractive, you end up adding some creamy dressings to your salad and so on. It may look harmless, but the truth is that they are not suitable for your health.
This way, you made your healthy meal into an unhealthy one with excess sodium, fats, or sugar. Yes, it is a bit confusing to identify the healthy foods and the ones that you must avoid. There are a lot of misleading pieces of information regarding the foods. We are influenced by their social media, advertisements, and the labels on the items. It is not always the same as what is given on the ingredient list, so you must know what is right and not. So here is a list of a few foods which are harmful to your health.
Contents
Water With Vitamins
Vitamins are an essential component of your body. Same way, water also plays a vital role in life. But if you combine water and vitamins with some additives like sugar and food coloring, you create an unhealthy product. Added sugar is harmful to your health. Worse than sugar is the source of sugar, like sugary drinks. Liquid calories are not considered or identified as food by your brain. So when you consume them, you are consuming more calories. Increased intake of such diets can cause severe health issues like cardiac problems, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, etc. Not only that, they can increase your fats and lead to obesity.
Instead, you can opt for drinking plenty of plain water, taking multivitamins supplements with no added sugar, or adding a citrus element to the water to give flavor, or have some tea or coffee.
Salad Dressings
Of course, your salad will look great with some toppings and extra added elements. And the salad is indeed a healthy option. But do you know that by adding salad dressing, you are making it an unhealthy choice? Most restaurants decrease the healthiness of your salad by just making it look great. Thus you are falling prey to the intake of excess saturated fats, sodium, added sugars, and calories. It may lead to various heart problems like artery blockage and increased cholesterol levels.
Instead, you can prefer healthy and plain salad dressing with vinegar or olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.
Yogurt
Yogurt with natural flavor is considered healthy. But when you add toppings of sugar, it becomes unhealthy. Most yogurts you will find at stores are packed with added sugars and bad for your health. However, they are low in fat but are flavored with extra sugars. Yogurts that you buy are mostly pasteurized; thus, the probiotic bacterias are killed.
Instead, go for full-fat and regular yogurt that has probiotic bacterias alive. You can make your yogurt and add some fresh fruits if you want some flavor in it.
Gluten-free foods
Most of the US population avoids gluten. And to have a gluten-free diet, they end up consuming processed junk foods that are bad for their health. Gluten-free products available in the stores have more amounts of added sugars, starches, and rice and wheat flour. Thus they are not nutritious and not low in carbs too. Therefore these are low in essential nutrients and also cause increased blood sugar levels.
Instead, try not to avoid gluten-containing foods. And if you are a person with gluten sensitivity, you can opt for gluten-free natural products like unprocessed animal and plant foods.
Pizzas
Pizza is one of the most popular junk foods in the world. Of course, it looks tempting and is excellent in taste. But the fact you must know is that most pizzas are prepared with unhealthy and harmful ingredients for you. For example, ingredients like highly-processed meats and highly refined dough are used to make pizza, which is detrimental to your health. They offer you a high intake of calories too. Added salts and flavors can lead to some chronic illness and health issues.
Instead, you must avoid having pizzas from outside and prepare them at your home with some healthy ingredients. And there are some options in restaurants too where healthy pizzas are served.
Ice-cream, Cakes, Pastries, And Cookies
Mouth-watering items that everyone wishes to add to their diet are ice creams or some cookies and cakes. But if you consume them in excess, they are unhealthy for you. These packed items are prepared with refined flours and refined sugars and, of course, have added fats. They are for sure tasty and tempting. But they have no essential nutrients or health benefits, and they are packed with calories and additives harmful to health.
Instead, you must avoid overeating these foods. And if you are having cravings for desserts, you can opt for some fresh fruits, dark chocolates, or make your ice cream at home with fresh fruits and appropriate sugars.
Conclusion
So by now, you might have learned that the foods that look pleasing to our eyes or taste buds are not always healthy. You must be aware of what food you are eating and its after-effects. If you want to remain healthy and free of chronic illnesses, you must avoid the food mentioned above, containing high sugars and processed foods. You must pay attention to what your body needs. Thus you can build a healthy relationship with the food. Please do not fall prey to the packed items and their so-called labels. Often what is written is not valid. To achieve one nutrient, they sometimes cut down all the other essential ingredients.
You are the only person who is responsible for your body. So you must learn to avoid unhealthy foods. Eat healthily and remain fit for a longer time. I prefer making your healthier version of foods at home rather than buying foods with artificial sweeteners or added elements from stores.
