Convenient foods aren't all bad for you, but most fast foods and many packaged foods just happen to be at the top of the list of those that can harm your health. Large amounts of sugar, sodium, fats and cholesterol contribute to the development of heart disease and other serious illnesses. To avoid high blood pressure, avoid high-sodium foods. To avoid weight gain and related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, avoid high-fat and high-sugar content.
High-Sugar Cereals
If you eat cereal every day, avoid the ones with lots of added sugar. You're likely to consume some natural sugar in other foods, and the high calories from sugar may become body fat if you don't burn them all off. To stay within healthy boundaries of 9 g of sugar per day, the American Diabetes Association recommends avoiding cereals with 6 g of sugar or more per suggested serving.
Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches
One of the highest-sodium foods recorded by the USDA is an egg-and-sausage biscuit sandwich. At 1,210 mg of sodium from the multiple salty ingredients, this breakfast sandwich contains over half of the FDA's average recommended 2,400 mg daily value, or DV, and nearly all of the 1,500 mg suggested as a healthier intake by the American Heart Association. Stay away from this entree, which has nearly 100 percent DV of cholesterol and over 50 percent DV of total fat in a whopping 562 calories. The FDA considers nutrient content above 20 percent DV high.
Double-Patty Burgers
You'll be sorry on many levels if you frequently order large double hamburgers. Their 540 calories deliver nearly 50 percent DV of total fat -- much of it saturated fat -- and 40 percent DV of cholesterol. The threat to your cardiovascular system from these detrimental nutrients warrants avoiding double-meat sandwiches, warns the American Heart Association. With sodium content at one-third of your daily allowance, you probably should also avoid salt side orders such as French fries.
Chicken Pot Pies
The nutritional profiles of chicken pot pies approximate the above imbalances that favor fat and sodium at the expense of beneficial nutrients such as dietary fiber. Both the moderate cholesterol amounts and the 9 g of sugar in one chicken pot pie may surprise you, but the other ingredients may sound familiar among packaged foods: Sodium levels are above 30 percent DV, and total fat content of 30 percent DV may contain some trans fat, which the USDA recommends eliminating from your diet.
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