A list of foods that are worse than sugar
Most people are aware that sugar is very harmful to the body, because it causes inflammation in the cells.
Sugary foods also make your arteries stiff, make you gain weight, and cause fat to build up in the liver.
However there are many other foods that are actually worse than sugar.
In today's video we will explore 11 foods worse than sugar for your health.
1. Potato
Potatoes are full of starch which turns into sugar the more you cook it. 1 standard baked potato contains 19 cubes worth of sugar. This causes your blood sugars to spike and fall which triggers weight gain and cravings for sweet foods. An average can of soda has only 7 cubes of sugar in comparison.
2. Popcorn
Popcorn has a higher glycaemic index than table sugar, meaning that it raises your blood sugars faster. The butter flavour that is added to some microwaveable popcorn contains a chemical called diacetyl which has been shown to cause irreversible lung disease.
Popcorn also has other added sugars, caramel flavouring and is cooked in low quality vegetable oil that can cause oxidative damage to your cells.
3. Vegetable Oil
Some of the worst brain damaging foods are hydrogenated oils like vegetable oil, margarine easy spreads, soy oil, cotton seed oil and canola oil.
Although these do not turn into sugar in the body, they have a much more damaging effect on your cells. These cause free radical damage, inflammation in the brain which leads to cellular destruction.
These oils are often used to fry fast foods, and also are hidden in salad dressings, protein bars and many other everyday products.
4. Alcohol
Many people think that it's fine to consume alcohol that has low calories like vodka or other spirits.
However, drinking alcohol on a regular basis depletes your body of important nutrients like Vitamin B1 (thiamine). This can affect your vision, cause sleep apnea and even drooping eyelids.
Alcoholic drinks also cause fatty tissue to build up in the liver, leading to fatty liver disease and poor overall health.
Also, many modern mixer drinks such as flavoured gins have sugar added to the drink, making these even worse for your liver and health.
5. Rice Cakes
Rice cakes are often touted as a low calorie food for losing weight, however they have a much higher glycaemic index than sugar and even popcorn. When riced is puffed up using heat, it releases alloxan. This harmful chemical can contribute to type 1 diabetes in animal studies. Rice also contains traces of arsenic.
6. Artificial Sweeteners
Unlike natural sugar, artificial sweeteners do not activate food reward pathways in the brain.
This means that when you consume them, your brain never gets the signal that your food cravings have been satisfied.
This causes you to feel more hungry and more likely to overeat. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame also lead to insulin resistance and a higher risk of diabetes.
7. Energy Drinks
Energy drinks contain high amounts of caffeine and sugar which act as stimulants to the body. These give you a boost in energy as they stimulate your adrenal glands to pump out more adrenaline and cortisol. These can cause hormone imbalances over time and a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and nerve damage.
8. Soda Drinks
Both sugary and sugar free soda drinks are loaded with phosphoric acid. This is a preservative which prevents the drinks from spoiling.
The problem is that phosphoric acid blocks your body from absorbing calcium and magnesium which reduces the amount of energy that your body can make.
Soda drinks cause poor sleeping patterns, memory loss, poor learning and brain fog.
Switch to a healthy carbonated mineral water instead and add some blended berries for flavour.
9. Soy
Soy is hidden in many different foods such as vegetable oils, protein bars, diet shakes, ready meals, vegetarian meat patties and even some baby milk formulas.
This is genetically modified and is grown with harmful pesticides that interfere with your natural hormone balance.
GMO soy is by far one of the worst foods for your body, as it often leads to thyroid problems and too much estrogen in the body.
10. Fruit Juice
Store bought fruit juices such as orange juice are pasteurised, meaning that they have been cooked to remove any bacteria.
This process destroys all the Vitamin C, and much of the natural enzymes that fruit juice contains.
They then add "ascorbic acid" a synthetic type of Vitamin C back into the drink.
Pasteurised fruit juice is basically sugar water and is often worse than drinking full sugar soda drinks.
11. Cereal
As we mentioned earlier, puffed up grains are very bad for your health.
Cereal is very addictive, especially in children because it converts into sugar in the body.
It is also fortified with elemental minerals and heavy metals that damage the liver.
Switch out your cereal for some healthy nuts instead such as pistachios, macadamia nuts and walnuts.
As you can see there are many foods that are worse than sugar, however we are often deceived by marketing and clever labelling.
"Low Fat" is one of the worst marketing ploys, because although these products contain low fat, they often contain added sugars instead.
Sugar actually turns into body fat at a faster rate than dietary fat from your food. A good example of this would be "low fat yoghurt".
We highly recommend switching to a "healthy keto" diet to learn about which foods are high and low in carbohydrates.
All carbohydrates turn into sugar in the body, other than fiber. This is why we always suggest eating lots of leafy green vegetables.
Vegetable fibres help to control your blood sugars, by feeding the friendly microbes in your digestive tract. These microbes then make butyrate and vitamins which keep your blood sugars stable.
Eating more whole foods and avoiding processed products is the best way to get your health back on track, and allow your body to heal from existing damage.
In our previous video we shared a list of healthy food to detox your liver. These foods will help your liver to do its job and detoxify harmful chemicals and endocrine disruptors from your body.
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