Health hazard in food: It is better to avoid these foods

Healthy eating is trendy: young influencers in particular often boast on social networks about how healthy and conscious they eat. But is that really true? What about products like white rice or home-pressed fruit juices, for example? They may look healthy, but they aren’t. At least not if you eat them in large quantities. We will tell you where the problems lie with these and other foods and what healthy alternatives are.

Unhealthy salad

It is often our own laziness that lets us fall into the typical nutritional traps. The same goes for the pre-packaged salad. This has the hypocritical advantage of saving you the hassle of cleaning and cutting, but that is exactly where the problem lies: A three-year research project by the Max Rubner Institute showed in 2019 that 42 percent of the ready-to-eat mixed salads were above the guideline for the total bacterial count.

This was because by cutting the leaves, the natural protection against bacteria and fungi is lost. The cell sap that forms on the cut surfaces not only attracts germs, the plastic packaging also offers a perfect breeding ground for them to spread, because it is warm and humid under the film.

Incidentally, the salad becomes even unhealthier if you garnish it with ready-mixed dressing. This not only contains a lot of sugar, but often also other undesirable ingredients.

Better alternative: Instead of using the prepared salad mixes, simply chop them up yourself. You should also switch to a homemade vinaigrette made from vinegar, oil and a dollop of honey. It’s super quick to make and healthier too.

Preserves & cans potentially carcinogenic

Of course, it is usually more convenient to add the corn straight from the can to the salad instead of cooking it fresh and laboriously peeling it. However, the “canned food” is not really healthy: Often a lot of salt or sugar is added to canned vegetables or fruit.

In addition, many canned goods are coated with the hormone-like pollutant bisphenol-A (BPA). This is on the EU list of the most dangerous chemicals and can migrate into the contents of the can. That not only sounds unappetizing, it is also unhealthy, because even small amounts of BPA are enough to disrupt the body’s hormone balance.

Better alternative: If you want to be on the safe side, it is better to buy fresh or out of the jar.

White flour should be avoided

Stay away from white flour! This contains no significant minerals or vitamins for your body. Instead, the body even needs its own reserves of vitamins and minerals in order to be able to digest the white flour at all. It also converts the white flour into pure sugar, which in turn has a negative effect on blood sugar levels.

Better alternative: Instead of the less filling white flour rolls, you should better switch to nutritious wholemeal bread in the future. The same applies to noodles, biscuits and other pasta.

In the long run, this approach saves a lot of empty calories, prevents food cravings and provides your body with more vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Reis

Rice is also not nearly as healthy as it might appear at first glance, at least when it comes to white rice: it is ground and polished during production, which means that the nutrients in the husk are lost.

Better alternative: So it is better to use unpolished and unpolished whole grain rice. Compared to white rice, it contains more vitamins, minerals and fiber.

If you can’t find whole grain rice in the supermarket, then parboiled rice is an alternative: it’s not as healthy as whole grain rice, but the vitamins and minerals in the husk are pressed into the inside during production. In this way, at least 80 percent of it is retained.

It’s about the sausage

A vegetarian lifestyle has many advantages, but not eating sausage is really crucial for your health: it has been classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The same goes for ham.

This is due to the chemical preservatives found in processed sausages and finished red meat products. These are unhealthy and increase the risk of colon cancer.

Do not underestimate light products

Not only the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is a self-confessed fan of Diet Cola. Many people choose “light” products because they contain less fat and less sugar. Instead, the products are often mixed with flavor enhancers, aromas and sweeteners. Especially the latter can have an appetizing effect and make you “addicted” to more.

Smoothies, self-squeezed juice

Fruit juices not only look great, their consumption also promises to contain many vitamins. But that is only the half truth.

In fact, when squeezing fruit, a lot of the fiber it contains is lost. This means that after drinking a glass of orange juice you are not full afterwards. But at the same time you need five oranges for the production.

Better alternative: Just eat the fruit instead of squeezing or pureeing it. You can also minimize fructose consumption.

Sweet temptations

Cornflakes

For many people, the morning portion of cornflakes is an inevitable way to start a good day. Unfortunately, the sweet cereals are usually anything but healthy. They are considered to be sugary calorie bombs that, on top of that, hardly fill you up.

Better alternative: Reach for whole grain oatmeal with fresh fruit.

energy bars

Energy bars are also often advertised as healthy. But the truth is they contain a good dose of processed soy or milk proteins, sugar, artificial flavors and trans fats. So better keep your hands off it.

Popcorn

For that little cinema feeling at home, good old microwave popcorn is often used these days. Unfortunately, that’s not healthy either.

The reason for this is not only the high salt or sugar content, but also the dangerous butter flavor diacetyl. This can cause a dangerous lung disease called popcorn lung. Also, microwave popcorn is often made from genetically modified corn.

Better alternative: The better and healthier alternative is the homemade popcorn from the pan.

Organic does not automatically mean healthy

If a product is labeled “organic”, many people automatically consider it healthy. But that is a fallacy: In fact, the declaration only provides information about the cultivation of the ingredients. Organic chips or organic pizzas are mostly still unhealthy because of the added sugar or salt.

Exception: When it comes to vegetable broth, using certified organic products is the better choice: In contrast to conventional vegetable broth, these must not contain any flavor enhancers such as glutamate. The same goes for flavorings and sugar.

Pizza, chips and Co. in moderation

We all know it: after a stressful week at work, we sometimes crave an unhealthy burger and an even unhealthier portion of fries. That’s fine too, as long as it stays with the one. But once you combine the exception with other “nutrition traps,” it becomes a long-term concern for your health.

A ready-made pizza every now and then does no harm to your health. However, she is not really healthy. It is therefore important that you avoid unhealthy foods such as sweets or crisps on the other days of the week and instead eat a balanced and fresh diet.