Let’s have a conversation about foods you should never eat.
Everyone is talking about food these days, it seems. Do this diet, avoid this food. Bash Gwyneth Paltrow for saying she’d rather die than feed her children Cup-A-Noodles.
You agree with her, right?
Besides examining Cup-A-Noodles, let’s look at a few foods that I will, with good reason, advise you to avoid. Here are 10 foods you should never eat.
1. Artificial Sweeteners
Splenda. Equal. Sweet’N Low. Truvia.
Think these are natural? Read the ingredients.
Then look those ingredients up, because you won’t know what they are.
Basically, just avoid anything that says “Sugar-Free”, “Low-Fat”, “Light”, or “Diet”. These products remove sugar or fat but then bulk up on sodium or artificial sweeteners to replace the flavor.
Artificial sweeteners have been linked to cancer and are definitely among the top foods you should never eat. Want something without added sugar? Eat an apple.
2. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Ah, the fun that is GMOs.
This food could be anything from Tostitos (corn and soy are the biggest producers of GMO crops) to cheese.
Why cheese?
Because the cows that you get your milk from are getting GMOs too (they are unnaturally fed corn, which is why they are sick and on antibiotics, which is why YOU will get sick and end up on antibiotics).
GMOs are in almost everything, which makes it hard to put on the list for foods you should never eat.
Genetically modified food is huge in the United States, but don’t let that be your reason to buy it. The DNA of the food is artificially altered and it’s going into your body. Your body has been processing normal, real food for thousands and thousands of years.
Genetically modified food may look like real food, but the fakeness of it will corrupt your body’s health and end up in your baby’s bloodstream.
3. Non-Organic Produce
I do love organic food but don’t quite consider it to be as luscious as the food you grow yourself.
I view it as the lesser of two evils because they’re still using pesticides on it, they just aren’t the same pesticides that they’re using on non-organic food.
Plus, I hate the way non-organic apples look shiny, like some poor girl’s lips in a Cover Girl commercial (can you say animal testing? Someone please tell Taylor Swift that she’s advocating for animal suffering). That’s not natural.
Organic food also tastes better—bananas, apples, spinach, blueberries—and current regulations prohibit GMOs if it’s organic. It’ll spoil sooner, but it tastes like food is supposed to taste and FYI, rotting food is completely natural. You shouldn’t be putting anything into your body that won’t eventually rot.
4. High Fructose Corn Syrup
But you love it! Right?
It’s in sodas, candies, ice cream, sweet tea, and bread. And there’s more where that came from.
Not only is this GMO (corn, people!) but it’s also a revamped way of making sugar. Manufacturers can use less high fructose corn syrup than sugar and achieve even more sweetness.
The problem? It’s totally screwing with the way your body processes insulin. Hello, diabetes.
5. Sick Animals
Eating sick animals is as simple as picking up a package of hamburger meat at your local supermarket. So put this on your list of foods to never eat.
Where did it come from?
What kind of life did it live?
Was it sick; was it on drugs or hormones?
And even more importantly, what did it eat?
Because you are what you eat. If you’re picking up meat at the grocery store, even if you’re purchasing organic meat or grass-fed meat, consider what it ate, how it lived and died, and what part you play in it.
Local meat is way better. But be sure to find out just how local it is before buying.
6. Farmed Fish
Again, this just isn’t natural. This is like a children’s book of “Which One Doesn’t Belong?” Imagine a series of farm animals and your child points to the fish and says, “That one! The fish doesn’t live on a farm!”
Well, now it does, Junior.
Farmed fish is unhealthy. They typically live in small areas with lots of other fish, therefore being prone to disease and bacteria. They are also fed… guess what, GMOs.
In what world did fish ever eat corn?
The world in which fish became one of the things on your list for foods you should never eat. Go fishing and do the dirty work yourself, or, if you don’t have time and are still trying to pack in that omega-3, buy wild fish at the store or market.
7. Sugar
Wow, you’re surprised to find this on here, right?
You’re saying, “But you said to avoid artificial sweeteners, not real sweeteners!”
Relax, my friends. I will introduce you to some alternatives that will be your buddies until you put added sugar on your list of foods to never eat for good.
Refined sugar is in cakes, candies, bread, salad dressings, meats, soups, and countless other things.
Try these other options that are less taxing on your body and health:
- Agave nectar (sweeter than sugar with a lower glycemic index!)
- Honey
- Unrefined sugars like coconut nectar or raw organic sugar
- Maple syrup (REAL maple syrup, NOT Aunt Jemima! She steered you wrong, girl)
Many people argue that sugar and sugar and our bodies process it the same. I would disagree with this, as apples contain fiber that helps your body absorb it over a period of time. This differs from candy where your body gets an instant sugar high.
Swap out refined sugars for more natural ones until you’re ready to kick added sugar and all its toxic effects for good.
8. Artificial Colors, Flavors, and Preservatives
Your body never ate these in the millions of years since humans have been here, so it has no idea what to do with them.
So these are in the foods-you-should-never-eat pile. Just don’t eat them and save yourself a trip to the toilet.
Examples include vanillin (in Hershey’s chocolate), aspartame (in Light Yoplait Yogurt—I told you about the “light”, people!), and BHT (also used in lighter fluid, and, in your frozen chicken nuggets).
9. Hydrogenated and Partially-Hydrogenated Oils (And Refined Oils)
These oils have been heated up to extreme temperatures so that they resemble a material akin to plastic.
Classic example: the hydrogenated oil in Jif peanut butter.
These oils are not naturally occurring at these temperatures and are not healthy when heated to this point. Stick to natural peanut butter and check your other snacks and processed foods for hydrogenated oils.
Other refined oils such as canola oil are often made from GMO crops as well, something we want to avoid.
They can thicken the blood and do other nasty things to your body. Foods you should never eat, meet Jif!
10. Processed Foods
You totally knew this was coming. If it comes in a box, it’s probably not ok, so these are among the foods you should never eat.
If it won’t rot at some point in the near future, it’s probably not benefitting your health. Stick to the produce section of your grocery store, and if you want to splurge, go for organic fresh fruit or organic dark chocolate.
Or, if you really must, eat healthy 90% of the time and then have your damn Cup-A-Noodles on the side.
Eating healthy is not that hard. Yes, of course, it’s an adjustment. However, it’s an adjustment that’s a huge investment to your health and will make you feel better. You’ll also be supporting a healthier planet and world by not buying toxic substances and then putting them into your body. Happy eating! 🙂