Unhealthy foods are those foods which provide either less nutrition or no nutrition and also if consumed regularly can also prove to be harmful for people. The disadvantages of these foods are more than their advantages.
One such category if an unhealthy food is also known as junk food. These foods contain a high amount of Trans fats, a high amount of sugar and salt and usually lack important nutritional ingredients like fiber, fruits and vegetables. These foods include chips, gum, sweet desserts, beverages, high-sugar cereals, candies, etc.
These foods are highly desirable and affect brain in a negative manner. They are gaining popularity as these foods are readily available without any hassle of preparation. Furthermore, unhealthy foods are cheaper and more convenient to use. However, the prolong use of these foods can cause problems like aging, health issues, diseases, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Your health is dependent on your lifestyle and eating habits. Healthy food can lead to better and active lifestyle and unhealthy foods can lead to lethargic lifestyle with numerous health problems. Therefore, you should be careful while choosing what you eat and how you eat. This is not all about weight gain and weight loss. This is all about internal health, immune power and your strength of the body.
How to classify unhealthy food
You can determine which food is healthy and, which is not by following some parameters.
Foods are considered “Unhealthy foods” if they:
Contain no calories or large number of calories. These foods include deep fried foods and sweets with artificial sweetener.
Provide less or no fiber processed foods and bakery products.
Dissolved nutrients are already present in your body like drinks with caffeine.
Contain hydrogenated fat, which can cause obesity and heart diseases.
These unhealthy foods also include foods, which are canned for storage purpose like soup, vegetables and fruits. Baking product with high calories like donuts, cakes also damage health with the regular use.
Negative effects of consuming fast food
As fast foods are usually classified as unhealthy foods as they exhibit a wide range of negative impacts on health, which includes:
- High calories obtained from junk food can cause a problem of obesity and heart diseases. These calories are more than what your body need and regular consumption of these calories can lead to devastated health.
- Trans fats present in fries, mayonnaise, cheese can lead to the high-cholesterol problem.
- As fast food does not contain a good quantity of vegetable and fruits thus they are also devoid of basic minerals and vitamins.
- To make fast food more delicious high amount of salt and sugar is used, which can lead to the problem like diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Some additive elements of fast food are highly harmful for health like ajinomoto used in fast food. This Chinese salt is harmful for pregnancy and can lead to diseases like cancer.
Kids are also affected by unhealthy fast food on a large scale. As these foods are widely appreciated by kids thus, they are more vulnerable to negative effects of these foods. Some of these impacts on kids are as follows:
- Kids do not perform in school properly due to the absence of proper nutrition in their body.
- As fast foods contain a high amount of sodium thus kids are vulnerable to diseases like heart arrest, blood pressure and other heart diseases.
- One of the biggest problems that western countries are facing nowadays is a problem of obesity among children. This is due to large consumption of unhealthy fast foods.
- Children are suffering from liver diseases more frequently due to unhealthy foods.
- The presence of fructose and corn syrup in these fast foods can also cause diabetes in kids.
- Kids do not receive enough nutrients as they prefer these fats foods in fresh fruits and vegetables.
Fast foods are easily available and also cost cheaper, that is why people consume these fast foods in the large amount. However, one should remember that negative effects of fast foods are more than its benefits and taste not only in adults but also in children. Thus, you should be careful with the amount of fast food you are taking.
Tips for avoiding unhealthy foods
It is important to know how you can avoid unhealthy foods in your daily life. Here are some tips for avoiding unhealthy foods:
- Prepare your daily menu with care and should concentrate on what you are choosing for your menu and what is the nutritional value of your choice.
- Try to avoid slats and lots of cheese to enhance the taste of food
- If you have to go to the office, you should prepare your lunch before time so that you do not need to choose fast food due to lack of time.
- Avoid mayonnaise and prefer mustard or ketchup.
- If you want to try the fast food occasionally make a healthy choice while ordering.
- You can use olive oil dressing for your salads.
- Include lots of vegetables for your burgers and sandwiches.
- In case of meat prefer grilled, steamed or broiled food instead of friend food.
- In case of soup always prefer vegetable soup.
- You can also use a technique of portion control.
- Avoid fries and you can use salads and soups as starters.
- Avoid carbonated or alcoholic beverages and use water, milk, fruit juice, etc.
- Replace your desserts with fruits
- In intervals during your work use snacks like whole-grain cereals or fruits.
- Always consult the nutritional value of food before making your choice.
Unhealthy Meats
If you are one of those people who love to eat meat, then you should be careful while choosing meat for your diet. You can choose healthy meat options for you by avoiding unhealthy meats. These unhealthy meats include:
- Cat fish: This type of fish contains toxic chemicals like lead and mercury. These toxics can cause damage to your internal organs as well as can cause gastrointestinal problems. Other substances in cat fish like neurotoxins and carcinogens can cause diabetes and cancer.
- Bacon: This meat is high in fats and sodium, which can lead to serious health problems of cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Organ meat: You should avoid consuming frequent organ meats like liver. This can cause heart diseases due to the high amount of the cholesterol present within it.
- Hot Dogs: This is a form of processed meat but rich in content like sodium nitrite, monosodium Glutamate. These contents can cause diseases like cancer, heart problems and high cholesterol.
- Ground Beef: It is highly contaminated due to the presence of bacteria called E.Colli. This can result in bladder infection. This meat is also high in cholesterol and can cause many other health problems.
Unhealthy Oils
The most common form of unhealthy oil is any saturated oil. These can cause heart diseases, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Large intake of unhealthy oils can lead to obesity and over-weight problems. Some unhealthy oils which are highly saturated include:
- Beef fat
- Butter
- Pork Fat
- Chicken Fat
- Shortening
- Palm oil
- Margarine
Unhealthy Grains
Unhealthy grains contain a high amount of glycemia, which can cause many health problems. These unhealthy grains are refined, and they do not contain germ and bran. These unhealthy grains include:
- Corn Tortillas
- Corn Bread
- Flour Tortillas
- Crackers
- Pastas
- Grits
- Refined cereals for breakfast
- Pretzels
- White bread
- Buns, sandwiches
- White rice
Whatever, food you are choosing you should always consult its nutritional facts so that you can avoid unhealthy foods for better and healthy lifestyle!
