Health Foods to Avoid

Are there health foods to avoid?  If it's a health food why should i avoid it?  Well, there is a lot of misinformation given out these days on what you should eat to maintain health.  Much of it come from the "experts" on health and nutrition.  They may even believe they are giving out good information because they were taught wrong to begin with.  Read The Truth about Fats and Oils  for an example.

I am sure that you have seen the ads for the 5 foods to avoid and never eat.  There might be one on this page.  These ads are for a weight loss program and want you to sign up for their program.  Not that there is anything wrong with the program, you just don't need it to learn what foods to avoid to maintain health and lose weight.  Although they do have some of the same items listed here, they have different reasons to avoid these foods.  It is worth listening to though.

The ones I am going to list are what the "experts" call health foods.  These "health" foods have hidden calories and fat as well as empty nutrition.  They can damage the immune system, cause weight gain, allergies and more.  They are health foods to avoid.  Read on to find out more.

Dr. Fuhrman
Dr. Fuhrman

Whole Wheat Products

1st food to avoid

Most whole wheat products are touted as health foods and most are foods that you should avoid.  Although grains such as whole wheat, buckwheat, spelt and oats are health foods, most of the whole grain products in the grocery stores are made from processed wheat. 

Whole wheat is still a healthy grain, if you don't have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, it is just that what is usually sold as whole wheat is not whole wheat.   It may say whole wheat, in most cases it is made from white flour with a little of wheat flour, the bran or coloring added back in.  It is still highly processed food and most of the nutritional value has been processed out. 

You have to read the label carefully.  It may say whole wheat but that doesn't mean it is a whole grain.  To qualify as a whole grain all three parts of the grain have to be retained in their original proportions. A lot of whole wheat products are actually highly processed. 

Processed wheat products are shown to increase the rate of obesity, autism, allergies, depression, diabetes and cancers.  Some of the reasons why:

  • Fiber - Many whole wheat products are so processed almost all of the benficial fiber has been lost along with the majority of there nutritional value.
  • Gluten - Gluten and lectins, the proteins that are the most difficult to digest, are major components of grains.  This is why many people develop allergies and gluten intolerance.
  • Insulin - Highly processed flours are more easily absorbed into the bloodstream than are the course ground flours.  Most whole grain products are made with mostly fine ground flours.  The rapid rise of glucose triggers the fat storing hormones causing weight gain and may contribute to diabetes.

Not all whole grains are highly processed foods and foods to avoid. They should be a part of a healthy diet.  Some of these are quinoa, bulger, buckwheat, millet, brown rice and oats.  Also, soaking whole grains like brown rice, buckwheat and quinoa for 24 hours before cooking, increased their nutritional value.  Certain phytonutrients and vitamins get release when the grain starts to germinate.

If you take a look at the healthy food pyramid you see that whole grains and potatoes are starchy vegetables and are listed together.  Even the good whole grains are carbohydrates and should be a limited part of the diet.

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Reference: Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman



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