What we all think of first is to eat. We need food for survival, so it’s become an activity that we do multiple times a day. What we eat is also questioned, and for good reason, as our bodies are pure evidence of what we ingest.
With every snack and meal that we consume, we’re giving our body the opportunity to refuel itself, this by the nutrition that the food contains. Everyone however is guilty of falling short, as the odds are usually stacked against us. Regardless of how fit we are, we’ll always fall to temptation.
In actual truth, the cards are stacked heavily against us. This because of the food marketing industry, who convinces us that we’re eating healthy while they promote their most profitable filler products. Realize they’re not always the healthiest of food choices.
Processed foods packaged as healthy foods in particular, which are designed to addict us, just keeps us consuming more. Then there are the public health guidelines on nutritional values, which are often misguided, such as avoid healthy foods like saturated fats, this in favor of certain grains.
What this produces is a nutritional nightmare that’s evidenced by the popular foods eaten by most, who actually thinks they’re eating healthy, but are instead getting the energy sucked right out of them, while making them obese.
Avoid The Energy Draining Foods
Eating better is knowing which foods to avoid for getting the best results. So take a moment and review your daily diet, and find which ones are the most common that are deemed unhealthy. These are the offenders which will sap your energy while making you gain weight.
Fancy Coffee Drinks
Most specialized coffee drinks are loaded with excessive sugar and syrups, while the non-fat variety of specialized coffees contain artificial sweeteners.
A cup of black coffee with minimal cream and sugar is recommended, and most claim the healthiest way to start your day. Some fancy coffees can contain up to 35 grams of sugar, which is close to 9 teaspoons.
Any Type Of Soda
What they all contain is excessive sugar and artificial sweeteners. Aspartame, for instance, used as a sugar substitute in diet soda, contains over 90 known side effects, health risks such as birth defects, brain tumors, emotional disorders, diabetes, and epileptic seizures.
Each sip of soda pop will expose you to: phosphoric acid, which interferes with calcium absorption that can lead to osteoporosis and weaker teeth and bones, benzene, a known carcinogen, artificial food coloring including caramel, which is also carcinogenic, and sodium benzoate, a common preservative which causes DNA damage.
Certain Fruit Juices
Factory manufactured orange juice can contain massive amounts of added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial flavors and color.
Even natural “pure” brands can contain too much fructose, this without the fiber, antioxidants, and the valuable phytochemicals which are found in the natural fruit.
Studies show drinking large amounts of any fruit juice can increase weight, causing ones insulin to spike, while neutralizing the benefits of the nutrients.
Those suffering from Type 2 diabetes, heart disease or hypertension, are now recommended avoiding certain fruit juices altogether, this until their uric acid and insulin levels become normalized.
Commercialized Yogurt
Traditionally fermented yogurt is full of healthy bacteria (probiotics). In ancient times, preserved food was through a process of lacto-fermentation, which adds beneficial micro-organisms that increases the healthy flora in the intestines.
What’s available at the local store isn’t the same. The pasteurized yogurts provide very little of these health benefits, as what the pasteurization process does is they destroy the valuable enzymes and other nutrients.
Most commercial yogurts also contain artificial sweeteners. So for healthier yogurt, try plain or Greek yogurt, and then add your own sweetener such as cinnamon, stevia, or fresh fruit.
Certain Fruit Smoothies
Fruit smoothies are often considered to be a convenient solution for your daily fruit and vegetable requirements. Unfortunately, most contain too much fructose, while additional sugar or artificial sweeteners are added on top of that.
While you can make a healthy fruit smoothie at home, its always best to go easy on the fructose heavy fruits, while adding spinach and coconut oil instead. Know that most commercial smoothies are also high in preservatives as well.
Bag Full Of Bagels
Bagels are just huge chunks of heavy doughy bread. One bagel can contain up to 50 grams of refined carbohydrates that quickly turns into sugar, which increases insulin levels, causing resistance.
This medical condition is the foremost underlying factor and trigger for almost every chronic disease that’s known to mankind, including heart disease.
Boxed Cereal
The majority of the popular store bought cereals contain empty sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and genetically modified corn. These are the cereals most commonly marketed to children.
Even most of the so called “healthy” adult cereals should be avoided, as they usually contain refined carbohydrates. What most don’t recommend is eating any type of prepared cereal.
Manufactured Muffins
The majority of muffins, especially the store bought variety, are high in empty sugar and refined carbs with low nutrition value. This especially true for the “low-fat” variety, or the ones which contain healthy sounding ingredients such as bran or carrots.
Eating these muffins is similar to eating a piece of cake, bagel, or syrupy pancakes. What they do is cause ones blood sugar and insulin levels to spike, followed by an energy crash.
Why Fructose Is Bad For You
It’s the fructose from the added sugar, and not usually from the fruit that’s bad. Fructose can be as detrimental as table sugar, as it’s a single sugar molecule. Granulated white table sugar, sucrose, is made up of two single sugars, glucose and fructose.
Once table sugar reaches your intestines, the sucrose is split into glucose and fructose. The glucose is absorbed immediately, while most of the fructose converts to glucose, and remains.
If fructose is taken alone, it’s not converted as quickly to glucose, and not absorbed that well into bloodstream. Large amounts of fructose also can’t respond to the body’s need for insulin, so more insulin is required. The liver then converts the excess fructose into body fat.