Did you know that there are foods you are eating every day that are killing you slowly? Most of us have a number of these foods on our menu, but if you combine all of these, you’ll get a deadly combo and you need to start making changes to your diet. So, analyse what you eat and start making the right choices today.

Here’s the list of 20 foods that are killing you slowly. Try to avoid or limit the intake of these foods as much as you can.

Canned tomato

Canned tomato sauce is a killer in disguise. It’s a hidden source of sugar and it would never even cross your mind that it could lead to increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even tooth decay. To avoid these issues, use fresh tomatoes to make the sauce yourself, or switch to pureed tomatoes without the extra sugar or salt and add your own spices. Or at least go for brands with less sugar and sodium.

Carbonated drinks

Carbonated drinks or sodas are one of your worst enemies. They can mess up everything, from your skin, blood sugar levels, to your hormones and mood. Forget the marketing and the labels that say it’s good for you or it contains nutrients or vitamins. All it has is a bunch of sugar, food dyes and preservatives. And sugar-free versions are no better as they’re packed with harmful artificial sweeteners. Buy a blender or a juice maker and make your own juice, please. And if you miss the bubbles, you can always add your homemade fruit juice to some sparkly water, and voila!

Sugar

If you have a sweet tooth, there are much healthier ways to satisfy your cravings. Sugar is highly addictive, and other than spiking your glucose levels and creating fat, it can lead to heart disease. Avoid sugar as much as you can to decrease the risk of diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and much more. Enjoy a bowl of fruit or add honey to your recipes instead of sugar.

Deli Meats

Deli meats such as salami, ham, bologna, etc. are full of nitrates, sodium, preservatives, and additives. All these substances can increase the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and even behavioral problems and learning difficulties in children. To decrease the negative effects, opt for deli meats from your local butcher instead of those from supermarkets. Or even better, learn to avoid them.

Margarine

Margarine is like a very lousy version of butter that’s made with hydrogenated vegetable oils and it’s more unnatural than you think. It’s pure chemistry. So what’s so bad about it? It’s the trans fats that can damage your heart, blood vessels, and mess up your cholesterol levels.  Switch to butter for a healthier alternative. Other healthy alternatives are olive oil and avocado oil that you can spread on your bread. Just please avoid margarine!

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs and similar smoked and salted meat contain lots of preservatives that are bad for your health. Experts compared the effects of eating hot dogs to the effects of smoking cigarettes. If you’re not convinced yet, you should know that hot dogs are high in sodium and toxins that increase your risk of cancer. If you can’t resist, at least make sure you get your dogs chemical-free from organic butchers or directly from farmers.

Potato Chips

All deep-fried food contains a dangerous substance called acrylamide. Potato chips are no exception. Acrylamide increases the risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and rectum cancer. So avoid the potato chips or make a healthier version at home. Put a little olive oil on sliced potatoes, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and bake it in your oven. We promise it tastes delicious.

Bottled Salad Dressings

Bottled salad dressings are full of sugar, artificial colours, and high fructose corn syrup. Once you drown your salad in this nutritional disaster, you might as well eat a bag of potato chips or a hot dog instead. Drop the bottled salad dressings, and use lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, or balsamic vinegar along with some olive oil for a healthy salad dressing.

Artificial Sweeteners

No, these are no better than sugar. In fact, they’re often worse. Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, neotame, acesulfame potassium, etc. might contain fewer calories, but they can still increase the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. You may not have noticed but many sugar-free gums contain aspartame, which is considered the most dangerous substance in the world. Sugar has healthy alternatives such as honey, maple syrup, and agave syrup, to name a few.

Alcohol

We’re sorry to break this to you, and again, many will disagree, but alcohol has no health benefits. It’s extremely high in calories, can cause dehydration, liver damage, weight gain, depression, and skin problems. Not to mention the bad decisions you make when under the influence. So, if you want to damage all your systems, from the brain to liver to skin, believe the marketing and drink alcohol daily. Otherwise, avoid it.

White Bread, Refined Flours

Grains are good, right? So bread must be good too? Well, not if its white bread made from refined flours. White flour is stripped of all the nutritional fiber, minerals, and vitamins, and all you get is grain waste mixed with chemicals to achieve the nice white color. But behind it lies the risk of weight gain, thyroid damage, and organ damage. Go whole grain instead!

Dairy

Yes, milk is the first food we eat when we’re brought into this world. But a mother’s milk is much different than a cow’s mother’s milk. In addition, as we age, we develop lactose intolerance. Dairy products are linked with low nutrient absorption, migraines, arthritis, cancer, allergies, and asthma. So again, forget about those clever marketing tricks. Switch to coconut milk or almond milk, it tastes great and it won’t slowly kill you like cow milk.

Barbecued Meats

The smell of barbecue might be hard to resist, but please try. The chemicals that enter the meat during the process are associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer and breast cancer. If you can’t resist, try to limit the intake of barbecued meat and consider adding some rosemary to your hamburger to reduce the amount and number of carcinogens.

Energy Bars

Energy bars might be necessary for athletes who need a quick burst of energy, but if that’s not you, try to resist these tasty calorie bombs. Energy bars contain a lot of sugar (we talked about sugar before), high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and can contain trans-fats. So this is basically candy that’s full of calories, sugar, and artificial ingredients. In other words, it’s a ticking time bomb.

Fast Food

Sure, fast food tastes good, it’s fairly inexpensive, and it’s everywhere. But what makes it taste so good? It’s the same things that are slowly killing you: trans-fats, sugar, salt, preservatives, additives, dyes, and other chemicals that enhance the looks and the taste of this food. Fast food can affect your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, mood disorders, weight gain, metabolic disorders, etc. So at least try to cut down on fast food.

Wheat

Wheat contains a carbohydrate that suddenly and greatly increases your blood sugar levels. This triggers high insulin production and weight gain. Over time, your pancreas will become overworked and you’ll become insulin resistant, and then you can get diabetes. And high blood sugar levels trigger the production of compounds that speed up the aging process and give you wrinkled skin. So you’ll age faster and be prone to diabetes, which in itself is a big issue.

Breakfast Cereals

Breakfast cereals aren’t harmless as their happy cheerful colours and toys inside the box might suggest. They actually contain sugar, artificial colouring, preservatives, GMO products, and they’re often stripped of the nutrients they had before processing. Try oatmeal with some fresh or dried fruit instead. It tastes great, and it’s actually good for you.

Commercial Fruit Juices

Don’t believe the big flashy labels that say 100% fruit. Most of the time, the secret is in the fine print. Commercial fruit juice often contains added sugar, coloring, preservatives, and it can lose its nutrients during pasteurization. Your best bet is finding a trusted local juice bar or making your own fruit juice at home. We’d go for the latter. Have some fun and explore new tastes.

Salt

Salt plays a big role in regulating our blood pressure. If you eat too much salt, you’ll have high blood pressure and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which is among the leading causes of death in the world. So, don’t cut out all salt as your body still needs it, just limit the amount and watch out for sodium levels in processed foods. Just 3.75 grams of sodium per day is a sufficient and safe amount. Anything above 6 grams poses a serious health risk.

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