Proper nutrition today is an integral part of the life of a modern successful person. More and more people adhere to the principles of a healthy lifestyle, trying to compose their diet only from the healthiest foods. This desire is laudable, since correct eating habits allow you not only to stay in excellent physical shape, but also have a very positive effect on your overall health, prolonging life and improving its quality. In addition, children and adolescents, following the positive example of their parents, are increasingly abandoning harmful fast food in favor of healthy snacks.
Despite the overall encouraging trend, it cannot be said that junk food has completely disappeared from diets. Burgers, chips, fries and cola are in no hurry to capitulate to turkey and lettuce. This fact is confirmed by the fact that the proportion of overweight people is still high. It is especially sad that children are increasingly suffering from obesity.
Today we decided to talk about the most harmful and dangerous foods for children and adults and compiled our top 10 edible enemies of human health.
Fast food
The crazy rhythm of life of a modern person dictates its conditions. We learned to do almost everything on the run, including eating. It’s rare that anyone can boast that they don’t occasionally visit fast food establishments during their lunch break or while walking around the city with their children. And he does it in vain: burgers, fries and other similar dishes are real poison for the body.
- “Fast” food is inexpensive, widely available and allows you to quickly fill your stomach, but the effect of satiety does not last long at all and literally after a couple of hours hunger returns with a vengeance.
- Fast food contains flavor enhancers, including such a notorious and harmful component as monosodium glutamate (E621). This additive enhances the taste of the dish in such a way that food that does not contain it begins to seem bland and tasteless. At the same time, an addictive effect occurs quite quickly and the smell from public catering outlets attracts again and again. It has been proven that E621 negatively affects the functioning of the nervous system.
- Such a familiar snack as french fries is a real calorie bomb, which also contains trans fats, which cause obesity, atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks and strokes.
- Numerous studies have shown that trans fats can have an effect on cells, increasing the risk of cancer tenfold.
- Fried potatoes, even without any trans fats, become carcinogenic because catering staff repeatedly use the same oil.
What to replace
Oddly enough, fast food can be healthy. For example, try pampering your household with a healthy burger or bringing it to school for your children. Replace white rolls with slices of whole grain bread, instead of sauce, use natural yogurt without additives, seasoned with lemon juice and Provencal herbs, and instead of a fatty beef cutlet, put a piece of turkey fillet. Add more fresh vegetables - and a healthy and quick lunch is ready!
pixabay.com/
Alcohol
Dangerous even in small quantities. Drinks contain ethanol, which destroys liver, brain, and kidney cells. In beer you can find estrogens and the already known diacetyl. Fusel oils worsen hangovers and destroy the central nervous system.
Mechanism of harm: complex negative effect on the entire body. Destruction of the brain, imbalance of neurotransmitters, fatty liver disease, slowing of the filtering function of the kidneys.
Potential diseases: alcoholism, dementia, encephalopathy, heart pathologies, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis. Also kidney failure, mental disorders.
Enlarge picture
Snacks
Store shelves are full of various snacks: chips, crackers, salted fish and other nonsense in colorful bags. Schoolchildren are especially greedy for this kind of food, because these snacks have a bright taste due to the large amount of salt and flavor enhancers included in the composition, and they can be a quick snack between lessons and workouts.
Adults also often abuse such unhealthy foods, for example, sitting in front of the TV screen watching a movie or a match of their favorite football team.
The most harmless thing that such a food habit can lead to is extra centimeters at the waist. A heavy dose of salt, monosodium glutamate, dyes and flavors, if consumed frequently, can lead to the most disastrous and often irreversible consequences for the body, causing gastritis, gastric ulcers and even intestinal and stomach cancer. In addition, all organs suffer from such self-experiments, primarily the pancreas and liver.
What to replace
If every time you go to a store your hands are irresistibly drawn to the snack counter, force yourself to go to... the vegetable department with an effort of will. Potatoes themselves are not so harmful if they are baked rather than fried. In addition, the main problem with chips is that the seasonings for them are not made from natural vegetables, but from a mixture of starch, flour, flavorings and other harmful substances. So why not make healthy chips yourself?
Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture, and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Drizzle with a few drops of olive oil and season with coarse sea salt. Bake until done, let cool and enjoy a crispy snack without worrying about your health.
pixabay.com/
Instant vermicelli
What is the harm from instant noodles? These dishes attract not only their taste, but also their ease of preparation. Just pour boiling water over the noodles and leave for a couple of minutes without dirtying mountains of dishes. The product is based on flour, water and dried vegetables. It looks harmless, however, in addition to these three ingredients, the product contains a lot of salt, sugar and spices, which in such quantities are not beneficial.
Instant noodles: Unsplash
Instant noodles contain many nutritional additives. Along with noodles, you can “feast” on sodium benzoate (E 211), which causes or intensifies allergic reactions in the body. It also contains dyes and stabilizers. And the taste brightness of the product is added by the taste enhancer monosodium glutamate, which is addictive.
Sauces
Mayonnaise, ketchup and their various derivatives are invariably included in the list of the most harmful foods, which is not at all surprising given their composition.
Mayonnaise is a nuclear mixture of trans fats, stabilizers, flavor enhancers and preservatives. Such a lethal composition regularly supplies the body with bad cholesterol, thinning the walls of blood vessels and leading to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Such sauces cause damage to the liver, heart, and pancreas, weight gain, and general well-being worsens.
Ketchup is also a little better, since the content of natural tomatoes in it is negligible: all dyes, flavors, starch and sugar.
What to replace
It is better to avoid using mayonnaise and ketchup altogether, especially since there is a much healthier alternative in the form of natural yogurt with a drop of lemon juice. You can also make your own tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes, garlic and your favorite dried herbs, like thyme and rosemary. How good is homemade pesto! True, you can’t call it low-calorie, but it contains only natural ingredients. In a blender, beat the basil leaves with a little aromatic olive oil, pine nuts and grated Parmesan. The perfect base for bruschetta is ready!
pixabay.com/
Juice drinks
Juices seem healthier than sparkling water, but it's not that simple.
Especially when it comes to juice drinks. “Their labels look more like a scientific experiment than a food product,” says nutritionist Lindsey Pine. “Such drinks contain a maximum of 10% juice, but there are a lot of sweeteners and artificial additives.” And some even contain vegetable oils. It’s better to drink plain water, and if you really want a fruity taste, dilute pure juice with water.
Currently reading
