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Nathan Waters

Not So Healthy 'Health' Foods


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Most people think they eat pretty healthy, but what I’ve found is that there are lots of different definitions of what ‘healthy’ really is.

There are a lot of foods that many consider to be healthy, but in reality, they are damaging to your health and could be slowing your results.

Big organizations like to use the words ‘healthy’, ‘organic’, ‘gluten-free’ , ‘low fat’, etc. They draw you in with these terms and lead you to believe that what you are purchasing is healthy, when they most certainly are not. Even the packaging they use is misleading, the latest is the brown, organic looking containers – word to the wise here, you can’t dress up crap!

So, to keep you on the straight and narrow, here are some foods that you may have thought were helping but were actually harming you.

JUICES AND SMOOTHIES

Just because it’s got fruit in it, doesn’t mean it’s healthy – and just because it’s got protein in it, doesn’t mean its good for you.

As most will know, high amount of fruit each day isn’t good for you – fruit contains fructose which is a class of sugar. While it is better than table sugar, the end results is still the same.

Now, add to this that the fruit being used here is turned into liquid, the insulin/blood sugar response is a lot higher than if you were to just eat the apple or orange as a whole. Any spike in insulin/blood sugar, especially a high spike which is what happens when you consume liquids such as a juice or protein shake, will cause fat storage. Due to the fact that liquids are in and out of your system so quickly, the rapid spike in insulin/blood sugar will cause you to ‘crash’ not long after you drank it. So, what you’re left with now is a craving of another lot of juice or something sugary to give you that ‘hit’ of energy. So, drinking juice to loose body fat just won’t work.

When the juicer breaks down the fruit, it strips it of all it’s nutrients, so now all you are left with is a high sugar liquid with little benefit to you. If you’ve ever tried to make your own juice, say orange juice, you’ll know that it take a lot more than one orange. So when you sit down and drink you fruit juice, you are having a lot more than one orange, more like 4-5 oranges. Would you normally sit down and eat 4 oranges? I know I wouldn’t.

PROTEIN SHAKES AND MEAL REPLACEMENTS

Not all protein shakes were created equal. Commercial protein shakes contain poor sources of protein such as soy, which we will get to in just a minute. They contain so many other products that trying to read the ingredients list turns into reading a novel! The have glucose, dextrose, colours, preservative, and ‘propriety blends’ that contain so many ingredients that they don’t have room to list them all. So what you are really drinking is a flavoured milk shake with a very small percentage of protein and a very large amount of sugars and carbohydrates.

For fat loss, they don’t work, for muscle gain, they don’t work.

As mentioned in the Juices and Smoothie section, liquids are in and out of your system so quickly that they cause a rapid spike in insulin/blood sugar, which causes fat storage and a ‘crash’ not long after it is consumed.

So, don’t waste your money at the supplement store or on the latest Rapid Loss program– source a pure form of protein and hack the taste, but reap the rewards.

SOY PRODUCTS

It seems like that latest fad is to drink soy milk and eat soy products – even I fell into the trap! Now that I know more than what I did back them, I’m making sure that everyone knows the harm soy products can do. When I say soy products, I’m referring to the soy milk, edame, and soy protein. Miso, natto, tempeh and tamari are ok, in small amounts.

Now, if you’re a lover of soy milk, then you will probably never want to drink it again after this.

Consuming soy products have been linked to:

  • Hay fever

  • Asthma

  • Breast cancer

  • Cyctic fibrosis

  • Endometrial cancer

  • Hypothyroidism

  • And a whole lot more

For females, soy products can make you more male – you may experience some hair growth in unwanted places including face and arms. The hair is pretty dark and very hard to get rid of.

For males, soy products will make you more female – you may grow some breasts (this is not a joke).

Studies have shown that giving children soy products will cause them to go through puberty earlier, especially females. There was a case where a 9 month old baby started to develop breasts and the mother found a pink discharge in her nappy – turns out the baby was having her period. So, for all new mothers out there thinking that soy formula is better for your child, think again.

POPCORN

Time and time again I’ve come across articles and personal trainers that promote eating popcorn as a snack. This is mainly due to the caloric difference between commercial chips and popcorn, but as most of you may know, I don’t believe in calories.

Popcorn is corn, which is a grain, which is bad for you. Microwaves are terrible and do not have a place in anyone’s home – they fill your food with carcinogens and remove all nutrients. So, if you put these two things together, you get a ‘food’ with no nutrient content and some gut health problems. Doesn’t sound too healthy to me.

PROCESSED MEATS

While they are very convenient, deli meats are definitely not healthy for you. They are a ‘death’ food, consuming large amounts will increase your risk of heart disease and associated risk factors.

In Germany, their main cause of mortality is heart disease – their meals contain deli meat on a daily basis. So, don’t be lazy and cook your own meat.

Buying meat such as beef or lamb from chain stores like Woollies and Coles is just as bad for you as deli meat. They come in a packet which im sure they’ve been sitting in for far too long. What you end up with is plastic laden meat – not healthy at all. You also don’t know where the meat is from and what it has been fed. It seems a bit much, but it is essential to know this information. The old saying goes, ‘you are what you eat’. What we like to say is, ‘you are what you eat, and what your food eats’. For example, if the cow the beef comes from eats grains and is pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, that is what you end up eating.

Try to buy from a butcher and ask what they were fed and what they were exposed to.

MARGARINE

This is a staple in everyone’s home, regardless of it’s claims such as ‘lowers cholesterol’ or ‘low fat’ or ‘fat free’, it’s all unhealthy. It goes through so many processes and it is touched by so many hands that what you are left with should be inedible. It contains a high amount of trans fat which is extremely detrimental to your health. It contributes to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and a whole other list of issues.

Now, with that being said, I do believe in butter – but this has a catch. Butter needs to be:

  • Organic

  • Grass fed

  • Unsalted

You can find this type of butter in any store so there is literally no excuse as to why you can’t eat it.

VEGETABLE OILS/SPRAYS

Just because its made from vegetables, doesn’t mean its healthy. These oil are generally genetically modified and are linked to a range of health conditions such as:

  • Diabetes

  • Cancer

  • Digestive disorders

  • Heart disease

  • Obesity

  • Skin reactions

  • And a whole lot more

When choosing oils, coconut is the best – it adds flavour to your meal and will give you a whole host of health benefits.

TABLE SALT

This form of salt isn’t even salt! It starts off as sea salt, then its stripped of all its naturally-occurring minerals and then manufacturers add a bunch of additives that you don’t even what to know about. They replace iodine with potassium iodine which can be very toxic, they stabilize it with dextrose, than bleach it to make it super white.

When it comes to salt, pick Celtic sea salt that is wither grey or pink – it is still in its natural form and has gone through no filtration or modifying processes.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

Anything artificial is crap – this is a general rule of thumb. What it means is that someone in a factory has put all these chemicals together and come up with something that mimics the effect of the real item, but it’s fake.

Due to the obesity epidemic, artificial sweeteners are at an all time high – everyone wants to loose weight but they still want the sugary taste. Unfortunately, you are swapping the sugar and calories for potentially harmful alternatives that cause:

  • Cancer

  • Allergies

  • Headaches

  • High blood pressure

  • Seizures

  • Weight gain

Basically, they shorten your life span and increase the risk of disease. Sugar is something that is highly addictive, but it is essential that you remove it and not replace it with something that is even worse.

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