While smoking cigarettes is widely known to be a leading cause of preventable death, it’s essential to understand that certain dietary choices can also have severe health consequences. Here are five foods that, when consumed in excess, can be worse than smoking cigarettes:
1. Sugary Beverages.
Excessive consumption of sugary drinks like soda and energy drinks has been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and dental problems.
They include soda and sweetened tea, as well as sports, energy and juice drinks. It is easy to consume too much sugar when you drink sugary drinks. One 20-ounce soda can have more than 70 grams of added sugar — that’s more than 250 calories and more than the recommended limit for most people.
2. Processed Meats.
Processed meats such as bacon, sausages, and hot dogs contain high levels of saturated fats and sodium, which can increase the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
Eating too much bacon, sausages, hot dogs, canned meat, or lunch meat—meat that has been processed in some way to preserve or flavor it—is bad for health, according to experts.
A number of studies have found links between processed meat and various forms of cancer, as well as heart disease and diabete.
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3. Trans Fats.
Trans fats, often found in fried and packaged foods, raise LDL cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Commercial baked goods, such as cakes, cookies and pies.
- Shortening.
- Microwave popcorn.
- Frozen pizza.
- Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls.
- Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken.
- Nondairy coffee creamer.
- Stick margarine.
4. Highly Processed Snacks.
Snacks like chips, cookies, and sugary cereals are loaded with unhealthy fats, sugar, and additives that contribute to obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
Unhealthy processed foods
- Deli meats, hot dogs and sausages.
- Frozen pizza and frozen meals.
- Packaged snacks such as chips,
- Cookies,
- Crackers and baked goods
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5. Sodium Foods.
Foods with excessive salt content, like fast food, canned soups, and processed snacks, can raise blood pressure and lead to heart disease.
- Regular canned vegetables and vegetable juices.
- Olives, pickles, sauerkraut and other pickled vegetables.
- Vegetables made with ham, bacon or salted pork.
- Packaged mixes, such as scalloped or au gratin potatoes, frozen hash browns and Tater Tots.
- Commercially prepared pasta and tomato sauces and salsa.