Top Food Items You Need to Avoid Leading a Healthy Life

We must strive to eat a well-balanced meal that is beneficial for good health. The majority of our nutritional intake comes from fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc. Our busy lifestyle has prompted us to reach out to easy and fast food choices. Unfortunately, instead of getting fresh food, we have resorted to reaching out to the coke can, chips and sugar-laden items. If you are looking for inspiration to leave fast food, check out these tips to help you:

Regular consumption of carbonated drinks is not good for health. All soda based soft drinks have a high level of sugar and zero nutrients. Energy drinks and diet soda are loaded with artificial sweeteners which can increase the body’s glucose levels. Instead of reaching for that bottle of cola, go for healthy beverages like coconut water, 100% fruit juice, flavored water, etc. Store bought bread is made with flour. Refined food grains are not a healthy source of carbohydrates. For daily meals choose wholesome grains like oatmeal, whole wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, rice, millets, barley, etc.

Eating gluten-free food grains reduces inflammation in the digestive system. Cook brown rice for easy and fiber-rich meals. Use multigrain bread instead of white bread to make a sandwich. Choose whole-wheat or quinoa pasta instead of flour pasta. Prepare scrumptious Asian dishes with rice noodles and buckwheat noodles. Store bought pastries, cakes, ice-cream, cookies, brownies are loaded with sugar. Additionally, processed food items like sauces, salad dressings, chips, popcorn, chocolate, jams, preserves, contains sugar. Packaged tea and coffee-based beverages also contain sugar. The thing to note here is that sugar substitutes like agave syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, jaggery, molasses, date syrup, golden syrup, and honey contain sugar. Bake your cookies and cakes at home with natural sweeteners like stevia, applesauce, banana, pineapple syrup, etc. Trans-fats are present in all processed and junk food items. Processed cookies, sauces, bacon, pasta, chips, frozen food are loaded with trans-fat. It can cause serious health problems like cancer, infertility, and cognitive disorders. Always check for the ‘trans-fat free’ label when purchasing packaged products. Try to prepare sauces, salad dressings, vinaigrettes from scratch with fresh ingredients. Make pasta sauce at home with roasted tomatoes, basil, and garlic. Bake homemade granola with rolled oats, nuts, seeds, dried berries, coconut flakes and a drizzle of honey. Avoid snacking on chips which are high in trans-fats and sodium. Choose healthy snacks like nuts, dehydrated vegetables, fruits, oats crackers, etc. There are so many ways to have a healthy snack when you are hungry. Stay away from preservatives rich food and highly processed food items as these can be detrimental to health.