The 7 Foods You Must Never Eat

author avatar Dr. Eric Berg 08/31/2023

In this article, we're going to talk about seven unhealthy foods you should never eat. I'll also tell you why they're bad for you, so keep reading to find out more.

Unhealthy Foods to Avoid in Your Diet

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1. Orange Juice

This might shock you, but here's what happens. Manufacturers pasteurize commercially sold orange juice, which means they cook the juice and destroy any nutrients in it. You don't get a lot of vitamin C from it. It's just sugar and water, which spikes up the blood sugar levels in your body. There's not a lot of nutrition from the juice after manufacturers cooked it because the process of heating kills a lot of the enzymes and nutrients.

2. Soy Protein Isolates

Soy flour in bowl and soybean | Unhealthy Foods You Must Never Eat

Soy protein isolates are a powdered food ingredient isolated from the other soybean components. You can find this powered food supplement usually in the following foods:

  • Breakfast cereals
  • White bread and baked goods
  • Soups and sauces
  • Power bars
  • Bottled fruit drinks

Make sure you read the ingredients on the products you are purchasing because a lot of weight loss food choices, like protein shakes and vegetarian patties, are made with these soy protein isolates. This is not natural food for humans because it is not fermented, does not do well in your body, and irritates the liver. Although some brands mix some vitamins and minerals into it, artificial sweeteners are still present in the formula.

3. High-Fructose Corn Syrup

That's a given item in our list of unhealthy foods, and its in a lot of sodas, drinks, and even salad dressings. Manufacturers put high-fructose corn syrup in many types of foods. It's like a filler now with a high amount of calories.

One bad thing about this is it can add a significant amount of fructose to your food items. When fructose enters the body, the liver needs to convert it first to glycogen or fat before it can be used as a fuel for energy. This means, your body needs some work to make fructose useful. What more, if you consume it in high amounts? The effect is really unhealthy.

Glycogen Definition: A form of sugar the liver and muscles easily store for later use in energy.

High amounts of fructose in the body may allow yourself to deposit excess fat, especially in your liver. A 2017 literature review showed that excessive amounts of it can:

  • Make you eat more food because it does not satisfy your hunger
  • Increase your risk of weight gain or obesity
  • Raise your chances of accumulating body fat
  • Increase levels of inflammation in the body

4. Commercial Meat with Nitrates

Beef close delicious | Unhealthy Foods You Must Never Eat

Nitrates are substances that function as preservatives in processed meats to prevent bacterial growth. They are also responsible for the salty flavor and the pinkish or reddish appearance in meat. Because of this process, there are increased chances of humans developing cancer when they eat meat, as one study showed.

When you buy bacon, sausage, or any meat, make sure it's nitrate-free, because otherwise, you may not know what you are getting. There are studies that show it is linked to cancer, and you don't want to go down that road. You want to do grass-fed paleo hormone-free instead.

5. Commercial Milk

If you are going for milk, make sure it's organic or hormone-free, at least, because there's a hormone called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) that has some negative effects on the body. So, I would avoid this.

6. TV Dinners

Food salad in restaurant | Unhealthy Foods You Must Never Eat

I used to live on pot pies and TV dinners, which are very low-quality foods. You have the protein, starch, and a dessert all at once. When you combine the protein with starch and sugar, you are going to massively spike your Fat Storing Hormone. This goes the same way with the pot pies where you have the crust, the meat chunks, and all the different starches in the junk food, which are not good.

Instead of opting for TV dinners and other unhealthy foods, you can follow a ketogenic diet that promotes a high-fat, low-carb meal plan. This diet aims to convert your fuel for energy from glucose to stored fat, making weight loss more effective. It would be great to pair this diet with intermittent fasting so your weight loss goals are more achievable. The fasting allows you to follow a cycle of fasting and eating periods, limiting your number of eating hours.

7. Fruits That Come from Third-World Countries

When you buy berries or fruits and it says it's from Mexico, Chile, or other third-world countries, there's a chance they might have used dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a tasteless, colorless, and almost odorless chemical compound infamous for its negative environmental effects. In terms of human health, this compound may be considered a carcinogen because it's an endocrine disruptor. This means it can interfere with the functions of the endocrine system at some doses. The disruptions can lead to developmental disorders, birth defects, and even cancerous tumors.

In America, it's illegal to spray with DDT. It was banned, I think, in 1972, but we are allowed to sell it to third-world countries. So, what's happening is we are bringing it back, and it is getting consumed.

There is a study that showed that children exposed to DDT had developmental problems. It revealed that children who had the highest exposure to the chemical had a decrease in their score points for both mental and physical abilities. The study was conducted on babies who are 6, 12, and 24 months old. This chemical is coming from the fruits imported from the third-world countries.

 

Don't forget to download, save, or share this handy infographic for reference:

7 Unhealthy Foods You Must Never Eat [INFOGRAPHIC]

With this list of unhealthy foods to avoid in your diet, you have a better idea which ones can interrupt your weight loss journey. Just remember not to consume sugary drinks and processed foods as these contain substances harmful to your overall health.

What other unhealthy foods can you add to the list above? Share them in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.

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