This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn qualifying purchases. Click here for more about this policy.
Humans are designed to eat. Our bodies and brains demand a certain level of nutrition on a consistent basis to convert into energy along with building, repairing and maintaining necessary body functions. While we know there are certain foods better equipped to doing these things in the human body, the information available to consumers is confusing and often misconstrued by food politics making it difficult for consumers to understand what is good for them and what is not.
Although I regularly share recipes and my own meals, I wanted to share with you today 10 Foods I Never Eat to give you some insight into my personal food choices and reasons for avoiding certain foods. As you will see, some of the 10 Foods I Never Eat are due to dietary restrictions and health concerns while others are a personal preference.
Red Meat
I stopped eating red meat 15 years ago. At one point in my 20's I realized red meat grossed me out and I was only eating it because that's what I knew growing up. Since I stopped eating it, I haven't missed it ever once. Even now, I get the willies when I look at red meat. I still eat chicken, turkey and fish, but there are times I could easily go completely vegetarian. My WIAW posts have made me realize how much I do gravitate in that direction.
Ketchup
I haven't eaten conventional ketchup in more years than I have two hands to count on. After discovering how very bad it is for you, I completely eliminated it. Conventional ketchup is not tomatoes like we all are led to believe. It's high fructose corn syrup (<- not corn by the way) and MSG. It's basically cancer in a jar. You can make your own ketchup and I have seen some all natural varieties but honestly, I prefer putting homemade blender salsa on everything instead.
Mayo
Never in my life have I eaten mayo. It's another food that really grosses me out. That's good too because the ingredients in conventional mayo are usually some concoction of GMO soybean oil which is one of the most harmful oils you can eat as well as high fructose corn syrup. Another example of a carcinogenic in a jar.
Soda
I gave up soda when I lost 80 pounds. I went cold turkey and never looked back. Soda has come a long way in terms of ingredients, but as far as I'm concerned it's just another chemically altered product that doesn't belong in our bodies and it's loaded with sugar or sugar alternatives. I already have enough weird stuff going on with my body. My caffeine of choice is coffee and green tea and that's all I need.
Butter & Margarine
I have nothing against butter except for the fact that every single relative on both sides of my family including both my parents have cardiovascular disease. It runs rampant in my family history and I'm hoping to reverse that trend by eating heart healthy foods like extra virgin olive oil, seeds, nuts and including a wide variety of leafy greens, produce and fiber in my diet. This is why you never see butter in any of my recipes.
Pasta
I stopped eating pasta as well during my weight loss. I found the calories far outweighed what I could get by eating other foods. For example, I could eat an entire vegetable garden vs. a measly half cup of pasta that left me hungry an hour later. Pasta also made me feel lethargic. There's never a day when I think to myself "man I really want a bowl of pasta." There's so many other foods I love that don't make me feel like a beached whale so I stick to what makes me feel good.
Powdered Coffee Creamer
Something I regret terribly from my weight loss is eating a lot of low fat food alternatives like powdered coffee creamer. The truth is many low fat foods simply have the fat replaced with a sugar which in my book is worst than eating full fat foods responsibly. Powdered coffee creamer is an example of what I consider to be a highly toxic chemical. It's hydrogenated oil in solid form and is highly flammable. I don't care what the calories are, why would I put something flammable in my body? I might as well drink the gas that I put in my car.
Fast Food
I don't remember the last time I ate at a McDonald's, Wendy's or Carl's Junior, etc. I imagine if and when I did, I would have been a salad without meat. If you've ever seen the movie Fast Food Nation, then you know why. The food in fast food is irresponsibly handled, the animals are usually treated improperly and sometimes the food isn't even real. It's also full of saturated fat, high in sodium, made with chemicals and just plain gross. Hence why I make a lot of my own food!
Sugar Free Candy
Sugar free candy is another food I ate during my weight loss that I wish I wouldn't have. Sugar free candy is made with artificial flavors and sweeteners. Both have been linked to cancer in animal studies, but the jury is out on humans. As far as I'm concerned, if it hurts an animal why wouldn't it hurt a human? Just my two cents.
Artificial sweeteners also cause digestive issues which I certainly don't need any more of. The main problem I've noticed with sugar free products is their ability to alter your cravings. Overtime I crave more and more of them then I begin eating more. So I'm not really saving calories because I'm eating more of something that's been chemically altered to make my brain crave it. Once I caught on to this cycle, I stopped eating it and now I stick to dark chocolate which actually has been shown to be heart healthy in small amounts.
Corn
I really miss corn on the cob! I stopped eating corn years ago after learning how modern science has messed with its genetics. Almost all corn has been genetically modified to either produce its own pesticides or withstand very heavy pesticides. Corn is basically like eating a pesticide with kernels. With all my hormone and food intolerance issues (which are often an inflammatory response to ingesting chemicals from foods) I chose to avoid eating it. That avoidance is difficult because many products are made with some derivative of corn. If I can find organic corn, I will eat it but it's not often that I see it.
References: 5 Toxic Chemicals To Avoid, Do You Know What's In Your Non Dairy Creamer?, 10 Foods You Should Never Eat, Pros And Cons Of Sugar Free Candy
What is stated in this post about 10 Foods I Never Eat are my opinions and experiences based on my individual research and understanding. While I am a student of holistic nutrition, I am not yet board certified. Check with your doctor, registered dietician or holistic nutritionist about specific questions you have.
What foods do you chose to avoid and why?
[Tweet "10 Foods You May Want To Avoid via @skinyfitlicious"]
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest |Instagram
Disclaimer - Affiliate links are included, which enable me to earn a small income and do not affect purchase price. Money earned goes back into my large grocery bill to bring you more delicious recipes!
[AdSense-A]
Mark Forge says
I would recommend to stay away from most of these foods as well. However, don't agree with the following:
Ketchup - there are many brands who add so much HFCS, vinegar and a gazillion of other additives that if I was in power, it would be illegal to call that ketchup.
For example, Heinz is a horrible brand of ketchup, same goes with their soy sauce and probably most of their products. It's crap. However, there are good brands (at least in my country), where they use good quality tomatoes/tomato paste, yes they add sugar, salt and other ingredients.
But the key is to look at the ingredient list and choose the one that has natural ingredients. And say one tea spoon at lunch per day won't kill you.
Mayo - they mayo you're talking about is also not real mayo, real mayo is made with eggs and mustard. Now, I know there's no point in making your own, but I am very confident if you carefully look at the labels, you'll find a good quality mayo that is not poison.
Butter - saturated fat has been demonized in the US for around 50 years now, but the guy who came up with this policy is a f*cking fraud. Literally, he cherry picked data to support his claim to get promoted, or whatever, and the food industry jumped on this. I honestly believe this is a conspiracy and everyone knew about this (the government and the food industry)
You can Google more about Ancel Keys. This is literally a scam of the century. Saturated fat is essential to every cell in your body, it's so vital that 50 percent of fat in human breast milk contains is saturated fat. I don't think nature would come up with something so evil to give to unprotected infants, wouldn't they?
Corn - to be fair, a lot of fruits and vegetables have been bred (or engineered to be better for consumption), for example, seedless watermelons (we don't have them here, but I know they are popular in the US). Bananas, did you know that real bananas had huge seeds in them and it was really hard to eat. Basically, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#/media/File:Inside_a_wild-type_banana.jpg
But totally agree on fast food, soda, candy and other ultra processed garbage. You can have them once in a while, but if that's the staple of your diet, enjoy your type 2 diabetes and a plethora of other diseases.
Laura @ Mommy Run Fast says
I'm with you on most of these too, Megan! So much artificial/GMO/chemical junk in our foods. Although we do eat the occasional red meat (grass fed) and butter (organic, unsalted). In moderation, those foods have some benefits but I agree they aren't the right choice for everyone!
Megan says
It's definitely about doing what's right for you.
Laura says
I'd have to say my list is pretty much the same. I stopped with pasta when I found out how much I loved the alternatives like zucchini noodles and sweet potato noodles!
Megan says
OMG I am so into spiralizing all those things!
Lauren @ i had a big lunch says
Very, very interesting. The corn one really threw me thru a loop. I'm definitely on board with no soda, sugar-free nonsense, and, of course, anything flammable haha. If I don't know what it's going to do in my body why would I want it in there?? I hate when the craving for a Diet Coke strikes, though. Sometimes I do cave!
Megan says
The sugar substitutes actually create the craving. It has been shown it has the same effect on the brain as drugs. I used to have the same cravings, but after cutting it out consistently for months, I never had them anymore.
Jody - Fit at 58 says
I match you!!! I eat other meat but not a fan of red meat. I did eat in my kid days.
Corn bloats me so... 🙂
I don't use many condiments except Traders Hot 7 Sweet mustard. Otherwise it is salsa & spices.
I don't do butter either. I know it is a big thing out there but I am not going with it.
Pasta is just not my thing. & I don't eat any of the others on the list. 🙂
Megan says
Come to think of it, corn does the same to me too. I just realized it though.
Kris | iheartwellness.com says
Great post love!!
I don't eat 8 of the 10 you posted either!
My naturopath has actually had me add grass fed beef back into my diet because I was loosing so much hair {I was vegan for YEARS and it wasn't for me...clearly} so it's been good 😉
Corn...eeeppp...I love my organic non gmo popcorn. I just can't live without it. Ahhhhh.
xxoo
Kris
Megan says
Wow that is one extreme to the other!
Erin @ Erin's Inside Job says
Don't worry--I'll eat all these for you!! In moderation. 🙂
Megan says
Go girl!
Steph @ loveandlunge says
Salsa over ketchup every day of the week haha. And I don't eat red meat either. It just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest and I'd rather have pretty much anything else haha! Don't even get me started on soda. I don't see the draw at all. There are literally no redeeming qualities!
Megan says
It's the sugar, it's addicting!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West says
Hi Megan! I don't drink soda either, but then again, if it's mixed in a fancy cocktail or punch, I may. I would say I don't really NOT eat anything ... although I'm not of fan of super spicy or fried foods. The funny thing is how our tastes change over the years. I used to hate nuts, now I can't get enough of them! 🙂
Megan says
So true Ashley about our taste buds changing. Mine are certainly a lot different now than they used to be.
Miss Polkadot says
Many of these would appear on the list of foods not part of my diet, too. I never - not even as a child and I was the odd one out there - liked mayo or ketchup so don't miss these at all. Pasta, however, isn't completely out for me. I definitely prefer whole grains like speltberries, couscous, brown rice and the likes but homemade vegan pasta can be a real treat.
Any kind of processed cheese is yet another food I won't eat.
Megan says
Oh yes! I'm definitely a no go on processed cheese. Actually I don't eat that much cheese either.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com says
The majority of your list are foods I either completely avoid or totally avoid Megan.
I'm definitely out completely with the soda, ketchup, powdered coffee creamer (black filtered coffee for me only please 😉 ) fast food and sugar free candy. The others are in moderation, or of very occasional use.
But definitely, if someone is on a weight loss plan, I'd try and avoid them all. Permanently.
Megan says
I couldn't agree with you more on avoiding all of them for weight loss. I think it is underestimated how much they affect obesity.
Margaret @ youngandrungry says
I'm with Rachel! I don't eat any of these except that I make my own mayo from time to time. I use to eat ketchup on EVERYTHING thinking it was no harm done, but once I started thinking more about what I eat I realized that it was probably unfairly addicting because of what it had in it! It was one of those foods I craved all the time and would come home and say "I'm not sure what I want for dinner, but something that goes with ketchup." and now I haven't had it in a year and like hot sauce much butter!
Megan says
Good for you! So many foods are addicting and we don't realize it.
Susie @ SuzLyfe says
QUEST BARS. I will. not. touch them. But I will use certain sugar free things. I"m a weird mess of contradictions.3
Megan says
Yeah I'm not a Quest person either. They make my stomach hurt for a reason.
michele @ paleorunningmomma says
Just thinking about sugar free candy makes me want to run to the bathroom! I really love making my own ketchup and mayo now though and homemade mayo actually tastes nothing like the gross store bought kind, which always skeeved me out!
Megan says
I need to try your ketchup sometime.
rachel @ athleticavocado says
I don't eat most of these foods either. I used to be obsessed with ketchup until I learned the sugar content in it! I have to make it for myself though because I miss it so much!
Megan says
Sugar is snuck in a lot of foods isn't it?