Healthy and non-healthy foods get their status from nutrient content, which affects calorie counts. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans website reports that food items with large amounts of fat, sugar, sodium and/or cholesterol have smaller amounts of beneficial protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Fast foods and junk-food snacks with lots of less-desirable nutrients tend to have more calories than healthier foods. Eating them frequently contributes to a poor diet that is high in calories and low in nutrition. The USDA points out that, instead of supporting good health, such diets result in nutrient deficiency, obesity and chronic diseases.
High-Fat Foods
Fast foods dominate the non-healthy list of high-fat foods. Breakfast sandwiches, cheeseburgers, french fries, fried fish sandwiches, tacos and hot dogs all meet fat as well as salt and, in some cases, cholesterol criteria for a poor diet. This reduces the value of their positive nutritional content. The FDA considers foods with 13 g of the 65 g total recommended daily value, or DV, high in fat.
With as much as 50 g of fat, chocolate nut candy bars, custard-based pie servings and 1 cup of chocolate chips contribute 25 to 55 percent DV of fat toward a poor diet. They also carry high sugar content, according to the USDA Nutrient Database.
High-Sugar Foods
Instead of proposing a DV for sugar, the USDA simply counsels eating as little added sugar as possible. Compared to the natural sugar content of an apple, 14 g, a chocolate nut candy bar and a piece of pecan pie have 29 g each and 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips has 92 g.
Non-healthy foods also include beverages such as soft drinks. With no nutritional value other than 137 calories, a small 12-oz cola with 33 g of sugar becomes a sugar bomb of 66 g and 274 calories when you supersize it.
High-Salt Foods
Fast foods employ salt, which is mostly sodium, as a flavor enhancer. Of the FDA recommended DV of 2,400 mg of sodium, a submarine sandwich, 6 inches, contains 1,651 mg; a large cheeseburger has 1,314 mg; and a large taco has 1,233 mg, or over 50 percent DV.
Other non-healthy foods with high sodium include ham, pretzels, hotdogs and pickles. Too much sodium in a poor diet can raise blood pressure levels, according to the American Heart Association.
High-Cholesterol Foods
Foods high in cholesterol can also harm your cardiovascular system by clogging arteries. High-cholesterol foods with low nutritional ratios include breaded and fried shrimp, potato salad and pecan pie.
Those non-healthy foods all have 106 mg or more per serving toward the 300 mg total DV of cholesterol recommended by the FDA. Breakfast sandwiches, tacos and fried fast food sandwiches all contain 20 percent DV or more of cholesterol, as per the USDA.
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