Foods you must avoid in a healthy diet

Foods that are obviously bad for you

You don't have to be Albert Einstein or a food nutrition expert to have some idea as to which foods are especially bad for us. They're all pretty obvious:

• Sugar
• Sugary drinks
• Ice cream and other fattening dairy products
• Cakes, biscuits and other confectionaries
• Chocolate (excluding dark chocolate with more than 75% cocoa)
• Trans fats (margarine)
• Junk food (especially those containing reclaimed meat)
• Most alcoholic beverages

In fact, these foods are so obviously harmful that you wonder why they haven't already been outlawed. Excess sugar consumption kills more people and puts a greater strain on a nation's healthcare resources than smoking and drinking combined, so why are sugary food products not treated in the same way as tobacco and alcohol, with restrictions on advertising, products clearly marked as harmful and a sizeable government-imposed duty to discourage consumption? The answer: we just can't kick the sugar habit. Sugar may make you fat and diabetic, it may give you heart disease or a stroke and result in your legs having to be amputated when you're 60, but it's such a fun product that we just can't do without it. But if you want to lose weight and lead a healthy life the sugar has just got to go.

Foods that are false friends

The really bad foods are easily spotted. Then there are the less obvious culprits:

• Fruit juices (packed full of sugars and additives)
• Processed foods (including supposedly 'healthy' ready meals)
• All reclaimed meat products (including sausages)
• Vegetable oils (these tend to be over-rich in Omega-6 fatty acids)
• White grain products (bread, pasta, white rice, processed cereals)
• Artificial sweeteners

These are the foods that we need to be especially wary of, particularly as the food industry has spent so much effort trying to persuade us of their supposed health benefits. Sweeteners are 'obviously' better for us than refined sugar, but they contain compounds that are every bit as harmful to us and should be avoided.

Bread is bad for you

We all think bread is good for us (at least the non-white variety) but it is one of the most highly processed foods you can buy and it has a worryingly high Glycemic Index, meaning that it ends up being converted into body fat almost as soon as it hits your bloodstream. Not only that, bread contains a harmful protein called gluten which can impair the digestive process.

Bread also tends to be high in sugar, low in nutrients and may increase the level of harmful cholesterol in your bloodstream. This applies to all kinds of bread, including the supposedly super-healthy whole grain option. Bread is one of the least wholesome carbohydrates you can eat and it has no place in a healthy diet.

Stay away from cereal killers

Another thing to avoid is all processed cereals, including horrible composite products like muesli. These are considered to be a healthy alternative to bacon and eggs, but may in fact be a much less healthy option. If you can't breakfast without cereals, always go for rolled oats (the unadulterated kind), which you flavour yourself with cinnamon and/or some fresh berries. Do not add sugar or artificial sweetners. Your breakfast cereal should never contain dried fruit, as this has a high sugar content and can be extremely fattening.

Avoid juices and other processed muck

Fruit juices are even worse - far better to just eat the raw whole fruit than the horrible sugary liquid that masquerades as a healthy product. Vegetables oils should equally be given a wide berth and no processed food is ever good for you. Nothing that was made in a factory has any right calling itself food. It should be in a dark musty cellar, locked in mortal combat with Peter Cushing.

If you immediately stop eating all of the garbage listed above and opt for healthier alternatives (with the same calorific intake), you will feel much healthier within a week - and you will probably shed several kilos along the way.

Yes, trust me, you can live without bread, fruit juice, Big Macs and exorbitantly priced microwave meals for one. Not only will you live, you will feel like you've been reborn. 'Why would any sane person capable of exercising free will put all this disgusting trash into their stomachs?' is one question you are bound to ask when you have tried the alternative.

© James Travers 2016