Your body needs most of the nutrients you get from food, such as protein, carbohydrates, fiber and even fat. The health problems begin when you get too many substances that act negatively on the body systems or on your weight. Excessive dietary fat, cholesterol and sodium contribute to chronic diseases. Foods with these nutrients still convey some vitamin and mineral benefits. Food and drinks with high sugar content, however, directly threaten weight control and may have no redeeming dietary value.
Carbonated Beverages
If you'll drink water or nonfat milk instead of one 12-oz. soda per day, you could save as much as 33 g of sugar and 137 calories. As compared to the 14 g of natural sugar in an apple or 5 g of sugar in a bowl of healthy cereal, soda totals are high and can make you gain weight. The American Heart Association notes that even diet sodas, which add no nutrition to your diet, make better choices than the non-diet caloric pop.
Milk Shakes
While milk shakes offer calcium and vitamins, their large sugar and fat content can cause weight gain and cardiovascular problems. A 16-oz. chocolate or vanilla shake adds 62 g of sugar and high calories from fat to your daily totals. The American Diabetes Association suggests substituting fresh fruit or nonfat frozen yogurt for ice cream menu items.
Fried Shrimp
The strong protein in shrimp is offset by undue amounts of fat, cholesterol and sodium. Most sodium content comes directly from salt added in preparation. The USDA Nutrient Database reports that an order of breaded and fried shrimp is among the foods with the highest of all three contents per serving. A 6-oz. serving of fried shrimp contains 40 percent of your total fat daily values, or DVs. One order also has over 60 percent DV of both cholesterol and sodium. The FDA considers food portions with 20 percent DV or more as high content.
Double Burgers
Since regular hamburgers already contain too many detrimental nutrients, super-sizing them only harms your diet more. The American Heart Association suggests avoiding double-patty hamburgers, which deliver 40 percent DV of fat and cholesterol and 33 percent DV of sodium.
Tacos
Most ingredients in tacos carry too many "bad" nutrients. A handful of veggies can't offset the 50 percent DV of fat and sodium and nearly 30 percent DV of cholesterol in a large fast-food taco, according to the USDA.
Biscuit Sandwiches
Risky nutrients abound in menu items that combine fatty ingredients, such as a biscuit, egg and sausage sandwich. The American Diabetes Association suggests substituting lower-fat English muffins and Canadian bacon to alleviate the over 50 percent DV content of fat and salt and nearly 100 percent DV of cholesterol in biscuit sandwiches.
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