Unhealthy foods are the main reason the world is fatter and sicker than ever before. Surprisingly, some of these foods are considered healthy by many people.
Processed ‘Low-Fat’ and ‘Fat-Free’ Foods
The “war” on saturated fat is the biggest mistake in the history of nutrition. It was based on weak evidence, which has now been completely debunked. When this started, processed food manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon and started removing the fat from foods. But there’s a huge problem food tastes horrible when the fat has been removed. That’s why they added a whole bunch of sugar to compensate. Saturated fat is harmless, but added sugar is incredibly harmful when consumed in excess
The words “low-fat” or “fat-free” on a packaging usually mean that it is a highly processed product that is loaded with sugar.
Food Often high in refined carbohydrates
There is a lot of controversy regarding carbohydrates in the diet. Some people think that the majority of our energy intake should be from carbs, while others think they should be avoided like the plague.
But one thing that almost everyone agrees on is that carbohydrates from whole foods are much better than refined carbohydrates.
Processed foods are often high in carbs, but it is usually the refined variety. One of the main problems is that refined, “simple” carbohydrates are quickly broken down in the digestive tract, leading to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels.
This can lead to carb cravings a few hours later when blood sugar levels go down again. This phenomenon is also called the “blood sugar roller coaster,” which many people who have been on a high-carb diet can relate to. Not surprisingly; eating a lot of refined carbohydrates is associated with negative health effects and many chronic diseases
Do NOT be fooled by labels like “whole grains” that are often plastered on processed food packages, including breakfast cereals. These are usually whole grains that have been pulverized into very fine flour and are just as harmful as their refined counterparts. If you’re going to eat carbs, get them from whole, single ingredient foods, not processed junk foods.
Fruit Juices… Which Are Basically Just Liquid Sugar
A lot of people believe fruit juices to be healthy. They must be… because they come from fruit, right? But a lot of the fruit juice you find in the supermarket isn’t really fruit juice.
Sometimes there isn’t even any actual fruit in there, just chemicals that taste like fruit. What you’re drinking is basically just fruit-flavored sugar water. That being said, even if you’re drinking 100% quality fruit juice, it is still a bad idea. Fruit juice is like fruit, except with all the good stuff (like the fibre) taken out… the main thing left of the actual fruit is the sugar.
Low-Carb Junk Foods
Low carb diets have been incredibly popular for many decades now.
In the past 12 years, study after study has confirmed that these diets are an effective way to lose weight and improve health. However… food manufacturers have caught up on the trend and brought various low-carb “friendly” processed foods to the market.
This includes highly processed junk foods like the Atkins bars. If you take a look at the ingredients list, you see that there is NO real food in there, just chemicals and highly refined ingredients.
These products can be consumed occasionally without compromising the metabolic adaptation that comes with low-carb eating. But they don’t really nourish your body… even though they’re technically low-carb, they’re still unhealthy.
Processed Food:
Food manufacturers want their processed food products to have a long shelf life. They also want each batch of the product to have a similar consistency and they want their foods to be easily consumed.
Given the way foods are processed, they are often very easy to chew and swallow. Sometimes, it’s almost as if they melt in your mouth. Most of the fiber has been taken out and the ingredients are refined, isolated nutrients that don’t resemble the whole foods they came from. One consequence of this is that it takes less energy to eat and digest processed foods.
We can eat more of them in a shorter amount of time (more calories in) and we also burn less energy (fewer calories out) digesting them than we would if they were unprocessed, whole foods.
One study in 17 healthy men and women compared the difference in energy expenditure after consuming a processed vs. a whole foods-based meal. They ate a sandwich, either with multi-grain bread and cheddar cheese (whole foods) or with white bread and processed cheese (processed foods). It turned out that they burned twice as many calories digesting the unprocessed meal.
