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3 Things You Should Never Eat Again!


It's time to be grown-ups here and say, some of the things we eat on a daily basis are just NOT food.; they are not good for us, have no redeeming nutrition, and just should not be in the our cabinets and in our refrigerators.

 Very often, towards the end of a patient visit, the patient will say something like, "That's it, tomorrow I'm gonna quit smoking and eat only raw fruits and veggies, no exceptions!"  Now obviously this person is very motivated, but what do you think the chances are that this person will be able to make such drastic changes in their life, and make those changes stick?

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American MealUsually this patient-strategy is short-lived and they soon slip back into their old, destructive patterns.  There is really no benefit in making sudden, about-face changes to your lifestyle.  Any benefits to making drastic changes are usually minimal, and such quick changes can be very, very hard to maintain over the long haul. 

 Better, I think, is to make small changes over the course of a few months; each little change is something you can live with (or without), and really wont miss anyway.  After all, you didn't get to your present state of health overnight, it took you years.  Over the course of a few months, usually 3-6 months for most people, one can make remarkable, permanent changes in their diet and lifestyle.  So I want you to be motivated, no doubt, but you have to have some patience and staying power to really make changes that will count towards extending your healthy lifespan.

Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast FoodNew Years Eve is a great time to make changes in your life, but remember these changes only help if you make them Permanent.  With that thought in mind, here are three "foods" I would encourage you to NEVER eat, or give to your children again.

They have no redeeming value at all, and only lead to worsening health.  You don't have to stop all three if you don't think you can make the change permanent; just remove one at a time from your families menu. These foods are so easy and cheap to make, and seem to even be pseudo-addictive to some people; Multi-National Corporations often make them, or make some of their ingredients.  Never forget, the only thing you can trust large corporations to make is a profit, not healthy food.  So here are three things you should never eat again:

Doughnuts
Doughnuts are usually fried in canola or some other unhealthy oil, full of white sugar and white flour and most all varieties contain trans fat. Store-bought doughnuts can have 35-40 percent trans-fat.
An average doughnut will give you about 200 to 300 calories, mostly from sugar, and almost no true nutrients.  Doughnuts may be the worst "food" in the world.
Never again should you view doughnuts as a breakfast food, especially for your kids, as  eating a doughnut is one of the worst ways to start off your day. It will expose you to unhealthy chemicals, throw off your blood sugar and won't stay with you so you'll be hungry again soon. You are better off making your kids a quick fruit/berry smoothie with the recipe here.  There is no reason to ever eat a doughnut again.
French Fries
Potatoes are NOT a vegetable!  Their simple sugars are rapidly converted to glucose that raises insulin levels and can devastate your health. But when potatoes are fried at high temperatures, bad things happen. 

Anything fried at a high temperature, can lead to formation of acrylamide, a harmful substance we are learning more about every day. <The acrylamide link is to the FDA's site on acrylamide; it is very interesting to note that they admit it has caused problems in animals and in humans, and the FDA has initiated a broad study into the substance, BUT, you should make no special effort to avoid it...  What???> 

In french fries we have a food that is basically empty-calories, fried in questionable oils at very high temperatures.  Home-grown potatoes (see this article) may contain many more vitamins and nutrients that the corporations chemically-treated potatoes; and when fried in Grape-seed or Coconut oil may actually be an acceptable food.  Fast food fries have no redeeming nutritional value whatsoever, and you should never eat them again.

Chips
Almost every chip you buy, and this includes corn chips, potato chips, tortilla chips, are high in trans-fat. Chips, like fries, subjected to high heat lead to those nasty chemicals like acrylamide that we discussed earlier.  The dangers of trans-fats, which almost all chips contain, are well known.  You won't find any meaningful vitamins, minerals or proteins in chips; they are another thing that you should never eat again.


Meaningful, long-lasting change in your life will only happen one step at a time.  Maybe you can't ban all three of these substances from you life at once, maybe you can only stop one at a time.  Either way, the whole key is to start; even the smallest positive change will help a little.


By removing these unhealthy things from your cabinets and your frig, you will be saving thousands of calories yearly and protecting your organs from some potentially noxious chemicals as well.  Not only will you be improving your own health, you will also be setting a valuable example for your little ones.


The path back to good health is open to you, will you take that first step?  Below you will find links to three books that would make great first steps towards re-claiming your health; or great gifts for someone who needs to...
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These 3 books are perfect for any age and any level of conditioning.  You start where you are, and improve from there...
















6 comments:

  1. Good Post! I already don't eat Doughnuts (not very diabetes friendly :-)) and French fries are a rare treat. Chips... lol well, I have been know to consume a few :-/.

    I also, highly recommend the Primal Blueprint (and Mark's Daily Apple website). For the most part eating 'primal' is pretty easy. It takes some planning and dedication, but as a Type 1 Diabetic all meals take planning and dedication. And as you point out - removing these items from your cupboard / fridge - you save a lot of calories (and $$ too!)

    Unfortunately as a Diabetic all food - weather it be a potato chip or a carrot stick has adverse effects on my blood glucose and overall health. The exception is Konnyaku :-) If only there were konnyaku chips!

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  2. I have been reading about this Konnyaku since seeing your comment. Kinda yucky-looking, kinda intriguing... Sounds like a must-try. My wife thinks tofu is gross, just wait till she gets a load of this! It has no taste, right?

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  3. You might want to check out the work of my colleague, Dr Phil Bate, and read what he has said for years about the Paleo diet.

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  4. Thanks for the tip. I will read some of Dr Phil Bate's work...

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  5. Great post. I suspect that in the next ten years or so we will learn more about how the PROCESS of cooking a food makes it dangerous, regardless of the basic ingredients. Acrylamides are an example. Fast food is also usually fried in old oil that has been heated for a long period of time (in order to cook other people's orders). This creates free radicals.

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  6. JM - I agree. I think there are many things about nutrition and micro-nutrients we dont know yet...

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