Unless you have an allergy to a specific food or ingredient, it's acceptable to indulge in your favorite food once in a while. In general, anything is okay in moderation. If you want to focus on eating the healthiest possible diet, however, you might want to avoid certain foods most of the time. Foods that provide little nutrition but are heavy in calories or fat can do more damage than good to your body, especially if you eat too much of them.
Highly-Processed Foods
Highly processed foods are usually lower in nutrients than foods closer to their natural state. For example, white bread has lost the fiber and B vitamins that you can naturally find in whole grain ingredients, such as rye, wheat and pumpernickel. Highly processed foods tend to be higher in calories, fats and sugars. Sugars in particular are connected with some of the worst of our health problems today, from obesity to heart disease. A 2007 study by the American Chemical Society (ACS) showed that consuming high-fructose corn syrup regularly might increase your chances of developing diabetes.
Fast Food
Fast food has many things going against it. Most fast foods are fried or prepared with lots of oils and fats. Many are heavy on saturated fats. A plain hamburger you grill at home contains about 190 calories, but an extra large one with all the trimmings contains up to 590 calories at a fast food restaurant. Fast foods are often high in trans fats, which can significantly increase your cholesterol.
Milk with rBGH
Dairy products in general should be consumed in moderation because of their high fat content, and can be particularly dangerous if you're buying "regular" milk rather than organic. Commercial cow's milk often contains recombinant bovine growth hormone or, rBGH. This hormone is injected into cows in order to increase milk production. When you drink the milk, you're ingesting that hormone. Although long-term effects of drinking this are unclear, experts like the Organic Consumers Association believe it might increase the risk of cancer. A 2002 article written by researchers from the Integrative Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley showed that eating rBGH hormone increases the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Farmed Salmon
Salmon is one of the healthiest foods around. It's rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for cardiovascular health. Salmon is also low in saturated fat and is an excellent source of protein. Farmed salmon, however, contains high amounts of mercury and PCBs, two powerful toxins, and greatly lower levels of omega 3 compared to wild salmon. Farmed salmon has another disadvantage. According to the FDA, no labeling will be required to identify GM -- genetically modified -- salmon once it reaches the market. This is expected to happen within the next couple of years. This means farmed salmon might be "created" by mixing salmon genes with those of another fish species. This will allow the animal to grow faster and bigger, improving the financial rewards of fish growers. The meat of farmed salmon is often dyed to make it look like the natural pink color of wild salmon. Consumer advocacy groups are fighting for a label, but the FDA claims it's not legally required. If you're trying to avoid GM foods, you might need to avoid farmed salmon completely. Choose wild salmon whenever possible to avoid potential contamination.
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