Besides water and sunlight, food is required for life to exist at all. Unfortunately, modern food is a travesty. Due to a priority on taste over nutrition and incentives to process food to make it last longer, much of what is available in stores is nutritionally empty, if not detrimental to your health.
That’s why we have compiled a list of the worst foods for your health. Some are obvious, while others are shocking. (For more surprising facts about diet, discover 20 fascinating but little-known tidbits about common foods.)
To compile a list of the worst foods for your health, 24/7 Tempo consulted a wide swath of food, health, and lifestyle websites. Next, we selected the widest range of foods that are considered both healthy and unhealthy. Next, we consulted the nutritional science from scientific and medical publications like WebMD.
Potato Chips
The Irish survived off of a potato diet for centuries. This would make you think that potatoes are a healthy food. They undoubtedly contain a relatively balanced scale of macronutrients, including carbohydrates, a little fat, and even some protein. However, the modern Frankenstein version of potatoes often comes to us as potato chips, which are anything but healthy.
Potato chips are high in cheap fats and sodium. That, coupled with being fried, results in empty calories that are almost too easy to binge on. If have a hankering for potato chips, you’re probably just craving salt and a crunch. This can be satisfied with healthier options like vegetable chips or even whole grain crackers. That way, you’ll get the crunch and the nutrition you need.
Donuts
Another one of the worst foods for your health, unsurprisingly, is donuts. While they are a staple of old-time coffee houses and one of the major food groups for police officers, donuts are delicious, come in a slew of colorful varieties, and are abysmal for your health.
The problem with donuts runs the gamut. For one, a single plain donut contains up to 350 calories. This would be negligible if they contained any nutritional use, which they don’t. They contain a lot of refined flour and sugar. Plus, donuts contain almost no fiber, yet a whopping five teaspoons of sugar. What’s more, donuts have a high glycemic index. This causes blood sugar spikes, followed by a feeling of energy crash since they are processed so quickly by the body.
Processed Seed Oils
It’s all the rage these days to criticize seed oils. Especially in America, they are a subtle but pervasive force affecting almost all fast food and much of store-bought food with nutritional labels. Chances are, you will eat food today containing any number of seed oils, including sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil. They are insidious too, as whatever added taste they may provide, they are also one of the worst foods for your health.
Due to the way they are made, most seed oils are heavily processed, and often in a way that requires chemicals you would never want near your food. The result is oils incredibly high in omega-6 fats, which can lead to inflammation. Ultimately, the problem comes with the refining process, which strips the oils of their nutritional benefits like vitamin E or phenols. This creates a product great for cooking, but horrible for inflammation and your overall health.
White Bread
Another one of the worst foods for your health is white bread. While grain-based breads have been a staple of the human diet for millennia, modern white bread is a processed, nutritionally bereft mess. Much like the donut, white bread derives from the simplest of carbohydrates, which means you get almost no nutritional benefits.
There’s more than one way white bread is comparable to the donut in terms of unhealthiness. Like donuts, white bread contains almost no fiber, so you will not feel full after eating some. Beyond that, white bread also has a high glycemic index, causing your blood sugar to spike before your energy levels subsequently crash.
Frozen Meals
Let’s say you work long hours and get off right when grocery stores are closing. It makes sense that you would turn to some type of frozen meal. They are a quick, easy, and relatively stress-free process to prepare. However, frozen meals exist to last a long time, which means they are one of the worst foods for your health.
Pick up a frozen meal from your local food outlet and check the label. Chances are, they contain various macronutrients of the unhealthy variety in excess, like sodium and saturated fat, with a high caloric content. That doesn’t mean you have to skip frozen meals completely in a pinch, just try to find ones that prioritize fruits and vegetables in their ingredient list. (For other surprisingly unhealthy choices, discover summer snacks that are ruining your diet.)
Processed Meat
On a warm spring day, there is nothing like a charcuterie plate packed with cold cuts like salami, prosciutto, and pepperoni. They taste great and contain a considerable amount of protein so you probably feel like it’s a healthy option. Unfortunately, processed meats are one of the worst foods for your health.
As time goes on, however, doctors and health organizations have accumulated increasing evidence that processed meats are not only bad for your health, they may also cause cancer. Processing and curing meat requires chemicals called nitrates or nitrites as well as heterocyclic amines. These types of chemicals damage cells in the colon and rectum. Plus, the more these chemicals have a chance to damage cells, the greater the risk of cancer.
Breakfast Cereal
If you were to somehow talk to an ancient person about their idea of cereal, they would probably have a very different picture in their head than you. Cereals, historically, include everything from rice to oats. Nowadays, however, most people think of breakfast cereal, which is one of the worst foods for your health.
The way breakfast cereals are made requires a process called extrusion. This strips cereals of their natural nutrition and adds a torrent of other ingredients, usually in the form of sugar. As such, breakfast cereal has a high glycemic index, which will spike blood sugar and cause energy levels to crash. Not all breakfast cereals are created equal, however, meaning high-fiber, whole-grain cereals cause better blood sugar control.
Granola
Granola is often billed as a healthy food choice. Comprised of rolled oats, spices, and often honey, granola seems like a great way to get nutrition in a simple, delicious way. Plus, granola often has considerable fiber, which is usually the one healthy ingredient lacking from modern processed grains. While this can be true, granola can also be one of the worst things for your health.
Much like frozen dinners, healthy granola can be found by the discerning shopper. However, much of the granola on the market, even low-fat varieties, contains a considerable amount of added sugar. What’s more, other low-calorie versions contain a lot of hidden calories or even some type of dreaded seed oil.
Soda
It should come as no surprise that soda or pop is one of the worst foods for your health. Though it has become a tragic staple of the modern American diet, soda is good for almost nothing except a sweet taste. Walk into your local grocery or corner store and marvel at the rows and rows of soda available. This may seem like a nutritional convenience, but nothing could be further from the truth.
That’s because nothing is redeeming about soda. It contains no essential nutrients, it’s full of calories, and it can and will rot your teeth if you drink enough of it. What’s more, soda is linked with health issues like obesity, fatty liver disease, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, plus an increased risk of cancer and heart disease. Even diet sodas are unhealthy, due to how acidic they are.
Canned Soup
It’s winter time and you have a nasty cold. Plus, the infection has robbed you of your appetite. You know you need to get some food in you, but the idea of caloric-dense foods makes you feel queasy. That’s when you turn to the trusty canned soups collecting dust in your pantry. Unfortunately, canned soups are often bad for your health.
Canned soups contain alarming levels of sodium and fat, with fat usually accounting for half the calories in a can of soup. What’s worse, it’s often saturated fat, which raises cholesterol levels. Beyond that, canned soup’s high sodium levels will raise your blood pressure and may even contribute to inflammation. Tragically, canned soups are the go-to staple for the sick and infirm. (For other deceptively unhealthy foods, discover 20 foods you only think are healthy.)