Eating healthy is good for you. It usually involves reducing red meat and eating more fruits and vegetables. Although this is a good starting place – much more than that is involved if you want to live longer. Some foods that Americans frequently eat are slowly killing you and will likely decrease your longevity.
Here are some foods that you should avoid – at least how often you eat them.
Pizza
There is no doubt that this is one of America’s favorite foods and there are always places around to get one at mealtime. The thing that makes it bad for you is the ingredients. The dough is refined and the meats are processed. Adding the cheese makes the whole thing high in calories, too.
Drinks with Lots of Extra Sugar
Sodas, most fruit drinks, and fancy coffees are all loaded with lots of sugar. This is in addition to the sugar and carbs in any other fast foods you may be eating at the same time. This creates a spike in your sugar levels and can help cause insulin resistance, diabetes, and possibly heart disease. Although diet soda contains artificial sugars – it is not any healthier.
Coffee can be good for you because of the antioxidants and other beneficial natural chemicals in it. The problem comes from the sugars in the creamers and syrups that you add to it, which will make it unhealthy.
Processed Pastries
These tasty foods have several artificial ingredients in them to make them last longer on the shelf. Ingredients include refined flour and sugar, trans fats, and other chemicals that can cause heart disease and diabetes. They also contain few nutrients.
Deli Meats
Certain deli meats – the ones that have been processed – contain ingredients that are not healthy. One of those ingredients is salt, which is about 400% higher than in unprocessed meat. Whether or not they are low-fat does not seem to make them much healthier. There is a definite connection between processed meat and higher mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
French Fries and Potato Chips
French fries and potato chips are among America’s favorite foods and they eat a lot of them. Although potatoes are good for you, the process of frying (or baking and roasting) them adds a carcinogen called acrylamides. It comes from the sugars that are in the potatoes. Besides that, they can easily lead to weight gain.
Ramen Noodles
When you want the right kind of nutrition for longevity, you also want to watch how many Ramen noodles you consume. This inexpensive and quick food can produce several health problems, such as liver damage because of the preservatives in the noodles, weight gain, and metabolic syndrome – particularly in women, and an elevated risk of heart failure.
Hot Dogs
This American favorite at sports events and picnics may be hard to pass up, but you will never find them on any healthy foods list. Like processed meats, hot dogs contain many preservatives and chemicals that have been found to increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. People that want a heart healthy diet will not want to eat many of them!
Foods with Lots of Sugar
Many foods have lots of sugar in them and this is what makes them so tasty. The list is large and includes ice cream, breakfast cereals, yogurt, and some sweeteners. Agave, for instance, has more fructose in it than most other sweeteners.
Eating healthy to live longer requires watching all you eat. Occasionally eating some of these foods will not harm you, but always keep them in moderation.
