If a dietician won’t eat a particular food, it’s a pretty good sign you shouldn’t be eating it either.
Certain foods are obvious no-goes: soft drink, donuts and lollies.
But others aren’t as obvious. You may be surprised to find out some foods you thought were healthy are actually doing you more harm than good.
“But it’s important to remember that no food should be labelled as ‘bad’, rather there are certain foods which should be eaten sparingly,” says Ashleigh Keep, Accredited Practising Dietitian.
“This is due to their adverse effects on our health and wellbeing.”
Here, she shares the five foods she tries to steer clear of.
Refined breakfastcereals
“Breakfast cereal, especially the refined kind, can often be high in GI due to their hidden sugars. Plus, they’re high in sodium and preservatives. Due to their low protein and fibre content, consumption of refined cereals do not lead to satiety meaning we are likely to excessively snack later on.”
Juice cleanse
“Whilst some people claim that juice cleanses detox the body, this is not the case. It doesn’t help that these juices are often full of sugar and missing the filling fibre you get from eating whole fruits.”
Shortening
“Used in many pre-packaged products such as cakes and biscuits, vegetable shortening is sky-high in trans fatty acids. Trans fats increase our LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol and reduce our HDL (‘good’) cholesterol which may increase our risk of heart disease or stroke.”
Frozen sugar drinks
“Drinks such as Frozen Cokes and Slurpees can often contain in excess of 21 teaspoons of sugar, which is equivalent to 3 cans of coke. We now know there is a clear link between drinking soft drinks regularly and weight gain and obesity, and of course, being overweight or obese can lead to a myriad of chronic health problems. This includes type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, some cancers and poor dental health.”
Processed canned meats
“Yes Spam, I’m talking about you. Processed meat with minimal protein, excess sodium, saturated fat and preservatives? No thanks!”
