3 Ingredients You Should Avoid At All Costs

3 Ingredients You Should Avoid At All Costs

We all know that there are foods we should limit in our quest for optimal health. Processed food, junk food and copious amounts of alcohol have become part of our standard daily diet. But there are some ingredients that we should especially avoid as much as possible. You might be surprised at one, or even a couple.

1) Sugar. No surprise there. We have become more aware that dietary fat has been wrongly vilified. An overconsumption of sugar has been found the culprit for the plethora of metabolic diseases that are causing a catastrophic health disaster in our country and around the world. Added sugars are found in virtually every processed food and even in savory foods we wouldn’t expect. On top of this, pasta, bread and other ingredients break down into sugar immediately starting with the enzymes in your saliva. It’s everywhere and hard to avoid.

Tip: Read the ingredient labels on the foods you eat. The word “sugar” is represented in many ways. But minimally, anything ending in -ose is sugar.

2) Vegetable oils. This includes canola (which just stands for Canadian oil), soybean, corn and seed oils. While we are led to believe that because these are produced from vegetables that these are good sources for cooking and for dietary fat intake, this is certainly not the case. Unfortunately, the way these products are processed include toxic solvents and industrial chemicals as well as high heat that can degrade the product. Research has shown that not only are these products not good for you, they can have a negative impact on your DNA.

Tip: Stick with cold processed oils such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil (in a dark bottle), coconut oil, avocado oil and macadamia nut oil.

3) Gluten. Not everyone is specifically affected by gluten. But more and more research has shown evidence that it is doing more damage to the average person than initially thought. Issues tied to gluten include auto-immune disease (especially Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis as well as Celiac), leaky gut syndrome (which has become increasingly common) and increased sensitivity to highly allergenic products.

Also, realize that today’s wheat is not the same as our ancestors used in the past. Over time, wheat (and therefor gluten) has become hybridized and is a much different product than hundreds of years ago, not to mention the changes in how it is processed.

Tips: While more research needs to be done, I have seen many clients have reduced symptoms of skin issues when cutting gluten from their nutrition plan. There is NO downside to reducing your consumption of wheat.

There are many additives, preservatives and chemicals added to our “food products” today which make up much of what people eat today on the “Standard American Diet.” Unfortunately, that has brought about metabolic disease, inflammation and poor health. By focusing on clean, whole food that contributes vitamins, minerals and nutrients to our body, food can become medicine to our health instead of the diseases we are seeing so common place today.