10 Foods You Should Never Eat

Do you have a sweet tooth? Ever have a late night craving for some fast food?

You probably answered yes to at least one of those questions and that’s fine. Sometimes you just need a candy bar. However, if your even semi health conscious you’ve probably wondered at some point about the nutritional value of the food in your pantry or how bad that cheese burger really is for you.

A lot of times those nutrition labels on the back of food packaging seem like a foreign language and don’t actually tell you the facts. Sometimes they are even plain deceiving.

Lets skip the boring nutritional label decoding and get straight to the fact of the matter: are there certain foods you should NEVER eat?

Absolutely. So let’s have a look at 12 of the worst things you can put in your body, and why your body will hate you for feeding it such crap!

#1 Ramen Noodles

They’re cheap and quite tasty, but at what cost to your body?

Ramen noodles are among the worst things you can possibly put in your body. Which sucks because I really love me some ramen. Bummer.

Why are they so bad?

Ramen are known for their long shelf life and how they almost never expire. Well that sounds like a great idea. Food that never expires is usually cheap and convenient which ramen is definitely known for.

It’s the science behind the long shelf life that make them so terrible for your digestive system (I’m ignoring the almost nonexistent nutritional value for a second). In order to achieve it’s ability to never expire Top Ramen and other ramen manufactures have to toss in a TON of preservatives. Not only are they terrible for your body, but also extremely harsh on your digestive system.

There was actually a study done on this by Dr. Braden Kuo at Massachusetts General Hospital. Take a look at this video for more information on ramen in the digestive track.

Aside from the all the preservatives ramen might not seem all that bad. However, it’s that little packet of sauce that make them so tasty right? Without the sauce the ramen plain sucks.

Well that little packet is actually two servings not one, and full of sodium. I don’t know about you but last time I made my ramen I didn’t pour in half the packet, I dumped the whole damn thing in there. So it’s safe to say, cutting ramen noodles out of your diet all together would be a good idea, unless they’re home made. That’s a different story.

#2 Froot Loops

Man, when I was kid I could SMASH some fruit loops. Hell, I could still devour some fruit loops to this day. That is, until I learned how bad they were for me…

The first thing listed on the nutrition label is sugar. And that’s what makes them so damn good. You see, Froot Loops actually contain no genuine “fruit” in them. It’s all just clever marketing from Kellogg’s and that toucan Sam character.

Not only are they full of sugar, but they’re also full of preservatives. Anything with preservatives is bad, I’m sorry. You may hear this or that but in the long run, it’s only going to harm your body and have a negative effects.

Now Kellogg’s is clever, they’re no dummies when it comes to marketing a “healthy” cereal. So let’s break down the “nutritional” facts they throw at us on the box and label.

On the front of the packaging they tell us it’s filled with fiber and “whole” grains. These “whole” grains include wheat-flour which is not even a whole grain by definition! It also contains hydrogenated vegetable oil which is a trans fat. In case you were unaware, trans fats are the bad fats and you want to cut them out of your diet when possible.

Froot Loops also contains several dyes and artificial colors ,do you really want to put that crap in your body?

So next time think twice before busting out those Froot Loops in your pantry (which are indeed delicious).

#3 Doritos

How many Doritos do you eat in a sitting? The whole bag? Wrong.

You’d be surprised how many actual chips are in 1 serving. There’s certainly not as many as you would like, that’s for sure. A serving, according to the labeling on a bag of Doritos, is about 12 chips, but who’s counting? Well you should be. Doritos may be marketed as a “healthier” alternative to the classic potato chip, but it is by no means “healthy”.

As far as potato chips go, Doritos are definitely among the healthier selections. However, they are by no means anything you want to be putting in your body on a regular basis.

Let’s break down the actual nutritional value of a serving of Doritos (12 chips!).

In one serving alone you’re looking at about 150 calories and that’s just from 12 measly chips. That really sucks. You’re still going to be hungry after, trust me. But aside from the calorie count, it still gets worse. Aside from the high sodium and virtually non existent nutritional value (besides the 2grams of fiber) there’s more to be feared in the ingredient list than anything else.

Doritos are full of chemicals. It’s plain and simple. Including but not limited to Corn Maltodextrin, Sodium Acetate, Artificial colors, Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate…damn that’s a lot of chemicals.

How are those 12 chips (if your responsible) tasting now? Probably not so good…

#4 Doughnuts

Well damn, first I’m taking away your Doritos now the doughnuts too?

I’m sorry but doughnuts are just bad for you. It’s as simple as that. It hurts me to admit it too, because man do I LOVE doughnuts. However, sacrifices must be made unfortunately. I’d much rather kill off the doughnuts than kill my health.

It seems crazy to me how doughnuts are often times viewed as a breakfast food. How crazy is that? Having a doughnut is bad enough for you in and of itself however, it has to be the WORST possible thing you could eat to start off your day. Let’s break down the nutritional value of a doughnut shall we?

First off doughnuts are fried. Not only are they fried but they are made up of about 30-40% trans fat (the bad kind of fats). This all those trans fats comes from the high amounts of white flour and sugars. On top of all of this the average doughnut contains almost a whopping 300 calories.

So please, next time you feel the need for a doughnut for your breakfast, think twice. I actually think it would even be better to skip breakfast all together than have a doughnut…and skipping breakfast is a cardinal sin as you probably already know..

#5 Lunchables

Hopefully at this point in your life you have grown past the use of lunchables. If not, it’s probably best you keep that information to yourself, because only God knows your reasoning and it’s probably best it stays that way for your own sake.

But if you happen to be “that” guy (or girl for that matter) or you feed your kids lunchables on a daily basis, allow me to show you the facts and explain the virtually nonexistent nutritional information on a good old fashioned lunchable.

For the purpose of this post, let’s have a look at one of the more “classic” lunchables; the turkey and american stacker.

For starters, you’re looking at a whopping 19 grams of fat where 9 grams of that are saturated fat, 900mg of sodium and on top of all of that various preservatives that are just plain terrible for your body. Oscar Meyer throws in things like starch to the cheese (wtf?), hydrogenated oil, high-fructose corn syrup and sodium nitrate.

As I’ve stressed before, preservatives are among some of the worst things you can put in your body (it has long term negative affects that can be just as bad as smoking). You going to find them all over the place, not just in lunchables. The best way to avoid them is to stay away from the prepackaged meats section all-together. It’s your safest bet.

#6 Diet Soda

I’m not positive this is diet soda is actually considered a food, but I wanted to throw it on this list because of how bad it is for your body (as with everything else I’ve mentioned in this post).

A lot of people think when they chose a diet soda over regular soda they’re making this great sacrifice and feel great about themselves because they are making a “healthy” choice.

Well, kudos to you for making an effort but that’s not quite the case. In fact, far from it.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news here but not only is diet soda terrible in taste it’s terrible nutritionally as well.

Diet or light soft drinks are nothing more than clever marketing from their companies like Coke or Pepsi. While they often boast of having “no sugar” they are simply loaded with artificial sweeteners which you are (arguably) much worse off ingesting than if you were to just have drank regular soda with real sugar (which most companies don’t use anymore anyway).

So instead of worrying about which soft drinks and sodas have the “good” kind of sugar and which don’t, why don’t you just go ahead and cut out the soda all together and do you your body a huge favor?

#7 French Fries

Sure they are made from potatoes, but after you throw them in a deep fryer and load them up with oil and salt, french fries lose their entire nutritional value (if there was any to begin with).

So let’s break down some of the nutritional value of the average french fry.

First off french fries are FULL of “bad” fats. Fats such as saturated fats are known to clog arteries and lead to a heart attack or even diabetes. This primarily comes from the way they are cooked which is typically loaded with oil and deep fried. Sounds delicious right?

But wait there’s more…

Not only are French fries full of the “bad” fats, but they are also loaded up with “bad” carbohydrates. You may have heard how baked potatoes have carbs in them which are good for weight lifters. However, those are found in BAKED potatoes and do NOT apply to french fries from McDonald’s. Sorry. Hate to be the bearer of bad news here…

If you absolutely must have some french fries at least be sure to hit the gym after or eat them after you have already been to the gym. This way your body is less likely to store them as fat and/or turn them into sugar. Instead you will burn them off. But still, it’s probably just best to stay away from them all together.

#8 Energy Bars

As much as you probably like to believe that energy bars are the perfect pre-workout snack, the fact of the matter is: they’re not.

You see energy bars are generally filled to the brim with high-fructose corn syrup, which in general is one of the worst things you can put in your body. This is what gives you the “energy” that an energy bar supposedly gives you.

Similar to french fries, energy bars are also full of saturated fats (the bad fats). These are known to lead to heart disease, heart attacks and diabetes as I mentioned above.

If you look past all the crap that is in them, you still have to take into account the extremely high calorie count. Energy bars can have any where from 200 calories to upwards of 400+ calories! That’s a lot of calories, and even if you are working out hard, you’ll be hard pressed to work that entirely out your system.

A much better alternative to the common energy bar is simply fruit. Fruits are one of the best sources of energy. They will leave you refreshed and awake. In turn you will not only get more energy, but fruits are also much better for your body (obviously).

#9 Ice Cream

Every one loves ice cream, and if you don’t you are truly missing out. However, ice cream is still among some of the worst foods you can possibly put in your body. But why?

Ice cream is loaded with sugar. Seriously it’s full of the stuff. Not only is it full of sugars, but it’s also very easy to eat a lot of it. This is generally caused by the texture and feel of it, and you simply have to eat more of it to feel “full”.

In a common 1/2 cup serving of ice cream you are looking at almost 21g of pure sugar. That’s A LOT of sugar for such a small portion and a half cup is a pretty small serving in general.

What’s so bad about all that sugar though?

Sugar is known to temporarily weaken your immune system which is what your body needs to fight germs and disease. But for us weight lifters, we hate sugar because it suppresses our body’s human growth hormone. This is a hormone that we want our body to be producing more of to put on lots of muscle and if you are loading up on sugar your going to affect this process.

So if you can’t stay away for the sake of your health at least stay away for the sake of your gains in the gym!

#10 Sports drinks

As with diet soda, I guess sports drinks are technically not a “food”. However, I felt it was important to add it to the list because I see so many people pounding these drinks on a daily basis without even knowing the affects it has on their bodies.

Sports drinks are just that, a drink for those who play sports. In other words athletes. Athletes such as soccer players who run a lot will benefit from a sports drink. Unless you are heavily active you really need to stay away from the Gatorade or Power-aid type drinks. Here’s why:

To put it simply they are full of sugar and sodium. The whole concept of a sports drink is to replenish your sugar and sodium levels and help keep you less fatigued. However, if you aren’t playing a soccer match or being extremely active you are just feeding your body useless excess nutrients that it has no idea what do with; often times storing them as fat.

In short, stay away from these types of drinks unless you truly need them. A much better alternative is simply a glass of water.

Conclusion:

As with everything in life, everything is better in moderation. If you feed your body too much of anything, it can be detrimental to your health.

With that said, the foods I’ve mentioned above are simply some of the more unhealthier choices you have at your disposal. If you watch what you eat and remain vigilant of what you are putting into your body on a daily basis, you are on your way to living a more healthy lifestyle. It’s as simple as that.