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Five "Health Foods" That May Be Making You Sick!
photo credit: Jess BeemouseThere are many of us who are dieting and trying to live a healthy lifestyle. We exercise and go out of our way to eat the best foods we can. Most of us already know that trans-fats, white sugar and white flour are not the best health choices, especially if we want to keep our weight down.
Unfortunately some of the very foods that we think are healthy are ones that can cause a lot of trouble for our bodies, and even make us ill. Below is a list of some surprisingly unhealthy “health foods.”
Artificial Sweeteners
Many people who are dieting, whether it is low calorie or low carb diets, will opt for beverages with artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Admittedly sugar is certainly a troublemaker and should be avoided, but artificial sweeteners are actually worse for you and could even be dangerous to your health.
All the artificial sweeteners are bad, but one of the worst sweeteners for us is NutraSweet (Equal, aspartame). There are over 92 different health related side effects associated with aspartame consumption, including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy/seizures. There are more adverse reactions to NutraSweet reported to the FDA than all other foods and additives combined.
A much better alternative to chemically derived sweeteners is stevia, which comes from a plant. It has been used for centuries with no know side effects. It can be purchased in most health food stores in the United States.
Sports Drinks
Although marketers would have us believe that sports drinks are what the body needs when exercising heavily, the truth is that sports drinks are filled with sugar (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) and salt (potassium and sodium) as well as artificial flavorings and colorings. Add a little salt to Cool-Aid and you have about the same thing. You would be much better off drinking spring water or diluted freshly squeezed juices while exercising.
Most Energy and Sports Bars
Most sports and bars are also filled with things that are not the best for our bodies, and are little better than candy bars. Many of them contain sugar or artificial sweeteners, chemicals, preservatives, and synthetic nutrients. Check the ingredients before you buy an energy bar. Try to find one that is made with whole foods, such as oats and flax seeds, fruits, and natural sweeteners.
Soy Products
This is one of the most surprising ones of all, after all soy has been used for countless generations in Asia. But the way we now use soy is very different than the way the Asians have traditionally used it. The ancient Asians knew that the soybean was hard to digest, so they had extensive fermenting processes that broke down most of the indigestible components, making it much healthier to eat. Examples of this would be products like soy sauce, tempeh, and miso. These were used in small amounts as condiments and flavorings, not as a meat replacement.
But the way we use soy as a meat alternative (texturized vegetable protein or TVP) can be very unhealthy, since soy contains large amounts of toxins or anti-nutrients. Some of the problems the anti-nutrients in soybeans cause are conditions of the pancreas, cancer and thyroid problems. Soybeans also can block the body’s absorption of essential minerals.
Granola (and Other Unprepared Grains)
For the last 30-40 years granola has been synonymous with heath food. But eating unprepared grains, or grains that have not been soaked, fermented or sprouted, has only come about in the last 50-100 years. People who lived before our time understood that unprepared grains could cause dietary distress.
There are anti-nutrients in grains (like there are in soybeans), such as phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, that make them harder to digest. These antinutrients can cause serious problems like Crohn's disease, colitis, and even mental disorders. Our failure to prepare our grains properly is one of the reasons that celactic disease is so prevalent now.
So, stay away from the granola. Oatmeal is an excellent addition to our diets, but use whole rolled oats (not instant) and soak them overnight before boiling them for breakfast. Go to our recipe blog at http://coconut-recipes.blogspot.com for a good recipe for coconut oatmeal.
Good breads to eat are those that have properly prepared grains, including whole grain sourdough and sprouted grain breads. You can usually find these in specialty grocery stores and health food stores.
If you are trying to lose weight and/or eat healthier, remember that just because a company markets a “healthy” product well or a health food store sells it, it doesn’t mean that it is really healthy for you. Do some research before you grab that sports bar, or better yet, reach for an organic apple, cherries, or some other natural (not processed) food. Your body will thank you and reward you for it.
Foods That Fight Disease
Most citizenry know that calcium is goodness for bones, fibre is beneficial for stultification, and iron is full for bloodshed, to name a few. But once you go beyond the basics, the picture gets murky. Here's a quiz to see however well you know which foods or nutrients tin keep or promote which diseases. Feel free to cheat. The questions aren't really a test of well you read (and remember) every issue of Nutrition Action. They're just a sneaky means to engender you to look at the answers, which contain a wealth of information on your dieting affects your wellness.
You whitethorn wonder why so many questions ask which food is littlest plausible to forestall a problem. That agency, instead of finding just I thing that works, you learn about 3 or four that do (and ace that doesn't). Each question has only single answer. Which is smallest probable to lower berth your gore press. whole-grain bread While further research is needed, grounds suggests that multitude WHO rust benevolent sources of lutein (similar kale, spinach, and other leafy greens), consume More Pisces and nuts, and take a daily multivitamin-and-mineral supplement rich person a frown peril of cataracts and macular degeneration. The same danger factors that harm lineage vessels to the heart besides hurt line vessels to the penis. So far, the attest on risk of exposure factors for sexual dysfunction in women is scarce.
Preliminary certify suggests that high-dose Zn supplements (Thomas More than 100 mg a Day) English hawthorn increase the risk of infection of prostate gland Cancer. Too much calcium (Sir Thomas More than 1,500 mg a Clarence Day) Crataegus laevigata too raise the hazard. In contrast, lycopene-ample foods (alike(p) tomato sauce), Pisces the Fishes, and soybean foods Crataegus oxycantha protect the prostatic, though recent studies on soy sauce wealthy person been disappointing. A big trial is testing whether selenium and vitamin E toilet glower genus Cancer jeopardy.
Studies suggest that vulcanized fiber--especially from breads and cereals--lav lour the gamble of impairment, diverticular disease, heart disease, and diabetes. Earlier studies indicated that character might foreclose Colon Cancer the Crab, but two prominent clinical trials that randomly assigned masses to either a first gear- or high- found no difference in precancerous Aspinwall polyps. K chloride, which is used in saltiness substitutes, bathroom turn down line of descent pressing and the chance of stroke. Atomic number 19 citrate appears to likewise preclude kidney stones and bone loss. Fruits and vegetables the best sources of potassium citrate.
supplements commode cause a dangerous irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest. Coffee (not decaf), nuts, exercise, and -copious foods (equal wheat bran) appear to reduce the take chances of gallstones. It May as well aid to mother to a greater extent protein from plant foods (equivalent beans) than from animal foods (same meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy farm). Women, anyone over 60, and the overweight give birth a higher adventure of gallstones. Cancers that linked to overweight: breast, colorectal, esophageal, kidney, uterine, and possibly gallbladder and pancreatic.
Excess weight depress a man's odds of surviving, but not getting, malignant neoplastic disease. a (taking vitamin E). So far, vitamin E has failed to live up to predictions that the antioxidant would slow cognitive decline in older mass. However, staying lean and active protect your brain by warding off diabetes. Keeping a lid on descent pressure sensation (by cutting salinity and boosting fruits, vegetables, and low gear-fatness foods, and, if necessary, by taking medication) should take down your run a risk. And a new study suggests that eating Fish III times a week assist forbid
Foods To Avoid On The South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet is a plan that is set for right carbohydrates and right fats for a healthy life. Many considered it as the “big thing” in the series of diet fads today. However, as the number of people who consider the South Beach Diet as a popular diet from different parts of the globe, many people are still not aware about the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet.
So what then are the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet?
Before knowing the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet, one should first know the overall concept of the South Beach Diet. So generally, the South Beach Diet is specifically divided into three different phases. Each phase has its own distinction and limitation. However, knowing the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet requires a great focus on the phase one of the diet. Why? It is for the reason that the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet are largely found here.
The phase one of the South Beach Diet is considered to be the strictest phase of the diet. Perhaps, it is for the reason that there are so many foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet. So among the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet specifically on the phase one are beef rib steaks, honey-baked ham, breast of veal, all yogurts, ice cream, milk including whole, low-fat, soy, and full fat cheeses, beets, carrots, corn, yams, fruits and fruit juices, all alcohol. It is also necessary to remember that aside from those foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet, there are also some sorts that are included in the foods to avoid in the South Beach Diet and these include all starchy foods such as bread, cereal, oatmeal, matzo, rice, pasta, pastries, baked goods, crackers, etc.
As you will notice some of the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet are really carbohydrates. These mentioned foods are considered as foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet for so many reasons. One of the big reasons is that the theory states that once weight decreases, the followers of the diet begin to metabolize carbohydrates properly and the longing for carbohydrates will consequently disappear. It is also important to know that another version of the such reason for having those foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet is the goal that is to eat three balanced meals a day, and to eat enough so that the dieters don’t feel hungry all the time, and the expected weight loss during the phase one of the diet is eight to 13 pounds.
On the second phase the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet then reintroduced back into the diet, so in this phase up to the last phase, the presence of the foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet are not at all a necessity. However, if we will look at the overall principle and rules of the South Beach Diet, we can see that the South Beach Diet advises those looking to lose weight to be aware of such foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet. The logic for these foods to avoid on the South Beach Diet holds that the fat are replaced with carbohydrates, and are therefore still fattening.