Browsing the pantry aisle, you’ve probably scratched your head over the long, strange ingredients listed on package labels. Even the most health-conscious shoppers can have a tough time knowing which boxed foods to avoid.
That’s why it’s so important to build your diet around whole, fresh foods like fruits and vegetables. Your diet should also include plenty of:
Nuts and legumes
Whole grains
Skinless poultry and fish
Low fat dairy products
It shouldn’t include any of the following healthy eating pitfalls.
Don’t Mistake Margarine for a Healthy Fat
It’s a myth that margarine is a smart replacement for butter. Even though it has less saturated fat, many varieties-especially hard margarines-contain trans-fat. Trans fat increases LDL, or “bad” cholesterol and decreases HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Most brands are high in salt and calories too.
Drop That Bacon
Diets high in red and processed meats are linked to higher rates of obesity, heart disease and colon cancer. In fact, eating just two ounces of processed meats like bacon per day may raise your colon cancer risk by up to 17 percent.
Say No to Both Regular and Diet Soda
Regular soda contains various types of sugar-some cans may actually be up to 60 percent fructose. All that sugar can:
Add to your waistline
Put you at risk for diabetes
Promote tooth decay
It also raises your daily calorie intake without providing any real nutrients. Those excess calories can contribute to obesity, which makes you more prone to cancer and heart disease.
But diet soda is not a smart swap. Some evidence suggests the artificial sweeteners in diet soda may trigger cravings and make you store calories as fat, rather than burning them. For a fizzy, thirst-quenching alternative, choose iced sparkling water with muddled fruit.
Pick a New Movie Night Snack
“Microwave popcorn contains high levels of salt and the chemical diacetyl. Diacetyl gives popcorn its butter flavor and it’s just one of almost 50 chemicals that get released into the air when popcorn heats up. While small doses of diacetyl may be harmless, exposure to large amounts has been linked to a serious breathing condition called popcorn lung, so don’t hover over the bag to breathe in the buttery aroma.
When you also consider the excess calories and salt, you’re better off just popping plain kernels. Throw kernels in a brown paper bag, microwave, and then add your own flavors like:
Olive oil and cracked black pepper
Chili pepper and lime
Dark chocolate drizzle
Avoid Unregulated Energy Drinks
From 2007 to 2011 alone, over 20,000 Americans were sent to the emergency room thanks to energy drinks.
Energy drinks may be marketed as “supplements” to avoid FDA regulation. Supplements don’t have to list their ingredients or nutrition facts and get to sidestep FDA safety testing.
Even when brands market themselves as “sodas” because they want FDA approval, the amount of caffeine, sugar, vitamins and chemicals in energy drinks can be extreme. Most brands contain 80 to 350 milligrams of caffeine-the recommended daily limit is 400 milligrams for adults. Drinking more than one a day could easily lead to heart problems, dizziness, nausea, panic attacks and more.
Pass on Canned and Instant Soups
The daily recommended limit for salt, or sodium, is 2,300 mg for healthy adults. Some people-like those with heart disease-should stick to less than 1,500 mg a day. But with instant soup, it’s possible to slurp up most or all of that in one sitting.
Canned soups may have 400 milligrams of sodium or more per cup. High sodium intake can raise your blood pressure, cause you to retain fluid and worsen heart failure symptoms like shortness of breath.