The Five Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat

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The Five Absolute Worst Foods You Can EatBy Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael DroegeThere are no "bad" foods, right? Only food you should eat inmoderation? Well, not really. The following foods are so bad for yourbody that I really can't see any reason to eat them. Not only do theyhave zero nutritional value, but they alsogive your body a healthy dose of toxins, which should make the ideaof eating them really hard to swallow.DoughnutsDoughnuts are fried, full of sugar and white flour and most allvarieties contain trans fat. Store-bought doughnuts are made up ofabout 35 percent to 40 percent trans fat. An average doughnut willgive you about 200 to 300 calories, mostlyfrom sugar, and few other nutrients. It's too bad that Americans viewdoughnutsas a breakfast food as, nutritionally speaking, eating a doughnut isone of theworst ways to start off your day. It will through off your bloodsugar and won't stay with you so you'll be hungry again soon. You arebetter off eating no breakfast at all, or better yet grabbing a quickglass of Living Fuel.SodaOne can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors andsulphites. I can't think of any good reason to ever have it. The dietvarieties are also problematic as they are filled with harmfulartificial sweeteners like ASPARTAME. Studies have linkedsoda to osteoporosis, obesity, tooth decay and heart disease, yet theaverage American drinks an estimated 56 gallons of soft drinks eachyear. Plus, drinking all that sugar will likely suppress yourappetite for healthy foods, which pave the way for nutrientdeficiencies.Soft drink consumption among children has almost doubled in theUnited States over the last decade, which is not surprisingconsidering that most school hallways are lined with soda-filledvending machines. Schools often make marketing deals with leadingsoft drink companies such as Coca-Cola from which they receivecommissions--based on a percentage of sales at each school--andsometimes a lump-sum payment, in exchange for their students' health.School vending machines can increase the consumption of sweetenedbeverages by up to 50 or more cans of soda per student per year. Ifyou routinely drink soda--regular ordiet--eliminating it from your diet is one of the simplest and mostprofound health improvements you can make.French Fries (and Nearly All Commercially Fried Foods)Potatoes are bad enough when consumed in their raw state, as theirsimplesugars are rapidly converted to glucose that raises insulin levelsand candevastate your health. But when they are cooked in trans fat at hightemperatures, all sorts of interesting and very unpleasant thingsoccur.Anything that is fried, even vegetables, has the issue of trans fatand the potent cancer-causing substance acrylamide. Foods that arefried in vegetable oils like canola, soybean, safflower, corn, andother seed and nut oils are particularly problematic. Thesepolyunsaturated fats easily become rancid when exposed to oxygen andproduce large amounts of damaging free radicals in the body. They arealso very susceptible to heat-induced damage from cooking. What isnot commonly known is that these oils can actually cause aging,clotting, inflammation, cancer and weight gain.You can read the article "Secrets of the Edible Oil Industry" formore information http://mercola.com/2001/aug/1/oil.htm . It istheoretically possible to create amore "healthy" French fry if you cook it in a healthy fat like virgincoconut oil. Due to its high saturated fat content, coconut oil isextremely stable and is not damaged by the high temperatures ofcooking. This is why coconut oil should be the only oil you use tocook with. I am fond of telling patients that one French fryis worse for your health than one cigarette, so you may want toconsider this before you order your next `Biggie' order.ChipsMost commercial chips, and this includes corn chips, potato chips,tortilla chips, you name it, are high in trans fat. Fortunately, somecompanies have caught on to the recent media blitz about the dangersof trans fat and have started to produce chips without trans fat.However, the high temperatures used to cook them will potentiallycause the formation of carcinogenic substances like acrylamide, andthis risk remains even if the trans fat is removed.Fried Non-Fish SeafoodThis category represents the culmination of non-healthy aspects offood. Fried shrimp, clams, oysters, lobsters, and so on have all theissues of trans fat and acrylamide mentioned above, plus an addedrisk of mercury. Seafood is loaded with toxic mercury and shellfishlike shrimp and lobsters can be contaminatedwith parasites and resistant viruses that may not even be killed withhigh heat. These creatures, considered scavenger animals, consumefoods that may be harmful for you. Eating these foods gives you aquadruple dose of toxins--transfat, acrylamide, mercury and possibly parasites or viruses--withevery bite.If you have a taste for seafood, there's an easy solution. It's bestto avoid yourlocal fish fry and try the only fish I now eat--the delicious wildred Alaskan salmon that was proven through independent lab testing tobe free of harmful levels of mercury and other contaminants.