Bad Foods for Diets

People go on diets to lose weight or manage a medical condition, but certain foods could cause you to gain weight and increase your risk to chronic diseases. Supermarket shelves are filled with products that are high in calories, low in nutrients and contain ingredients that stimulate your appetite. Knowing the types of bad foods to look out for can help you prevent a poor outcome. Consult your nutritionist about your diet and food options.

Sweetened Beverages

Sweetened beverages contain sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other type of sweetener. These drinks are often high in calories and high glycemic. High glycemic foods quickly increase your blood sugar levels. Excess sugar in the blood turns to fat and gets stored in your fat cells. Research by scientists at the Department of Pharmacology, German Institute of Human Nutrition and published in "Obesity Research" in 2005 discovered that a high intake of fructose increases fat cell formation in the liver.

Potato Chips

Potato chips are a popular snack food that is high in calories, fat and sodium. This snack food is often fried in trans fat, an unhealthy fat that can clog your arteries and increase your risk to coronary heart disease. When you add sour cream for dipping, you increase your calories and saturated intake and risk for heart disease. The sodium content of potato chips may not only increase your risk of high blood pressure and stroke, it may also increase your thirst for beverages. Research by scientists at the National Institute of Food and Nutrition, Warsaw, Poland and published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in 2009 discovered that chronic intake of potato chips induces inflammation in the arteries which is a risk factor for progression of atherosclerosis.

Bacon

People eat bacon with breakfast meals, sandwiches, salads and dinner entrees. Bacon is high in calories and often fried in oil or trans fat. Eating bacon when you are dieting can increase your weight and risk of heart disease. Bacon also contains preservatives called nitrites that can increase your risk of cancer. Research by scientists at the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology at The National Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden and published in the "International Journal of Cancer" in 2006 and discovered that bacon has the highest risk of stomach cancer of any processed meat product.

Cheese

Cheese is a nutritious food high in protein and calcium. Yet cheese is also high in calories and saturated fat. People add cheese to all kinds of foods and meals that include pizza, sandwiches, lasagna, hamburgers, salads. Increasing your intake of full fat cheese can increase your weight and risk of cardiovascular disease.