In this day and age people tend to eat more processed food including junk food due to their hectic competitive life style. But these foods contain unhealthy ingredients which cause dangerous health problems. Listed below are some of the harmful ingredients commonly found in our food.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
HFCS is a sweetener anonymous to most consumers, but used heavily by the food industry, especially in sweetened liquid refreshment. It is manufactured out of genetically modified corn and processed with genetically modified enzymes. HFCS is comparable to the normal table sugar but much cheaper to produce than sugar. So you will find it in soft drinks, junk food and processed food type of products. HFCS thwarts the hormone Leptin, which is responsible for telling your brain that you are full.
Consuming in large quantities, HFCS can lead to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and more. For that reason it is better to limit products that contain HFCS or avoid it completely.
Trans-Fat (Partially Hydrogenated Oils)
Trans-fats are scientifically mass-produced by adding hydrogen to the liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. It is more detrimental to your arteries than saturated fat. Trans-fats boost your LDL or “bad” cholesterol and decrease HDL or “good” cholesterol that makes you more at risk to get heart diseases. Trans-fats are commonly found in fried or battered food like cake mixes, French fries, frozen meals, ready meals, snack food and more.
Food manufacturers can label them as Trans-fat free even if they contain up to 0.5 mg of trans-fat per serving. Therefore it’s much better to read the food labels before consuming them. If you see hydrogenated in the ingredient list try to avoid the product. It doesn’t help your health if you want to choose product with high saturated fat just to avoid tiny amount of trans-fat. Therefore find the right balance and consume these products in minimal amount.
Artificial Sweetener
Artificial sweetener is 180 times sweeter than sugar. It is an excitotoxin that boosts free radical growth that can accelerate aging and other health problems. Some of the common health problems include, cancer, dizziness, cramps, rash, fatigue, diarrhea, headache, sleep problems, memory loss and more.
Artificial sweeteners are mostly found in products promoted as sugar free or diet such as diet sodas, jellies, baked goods, fruit juices, ice cream and more.
It is an attractive substitute to sugar because it contains zero calorie which means no nutritional value. But this does not mean it will not lead to weight gain because artificial sweeteners can increase your appetite which will lead you to eat more.
So your best route is to choose natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup etc. They will help you to stay lean and healthy plus you will be adding lot more nutritional values to your diet.
Artificial Coloring
Artificial coloring generally found in candy bars, cereals, snack food, soda drinks, and especially those advertised for children. They will be listed on the ingredients as blue 1, blue 2, red 3, yellow 5 and more. These coloring do not add any nutritional values and the bad thing may cause health issues such as chromosomal damage, thyroid tumors etc.
So the next time you go shopping, choose foods colored with natural colorings like beta-carotene and carmine instead of artificial ones.
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