Top 14 Food Ingredients That Are Actually Toxic

There are so many ‘rules’ and cautions associated with eating, it really is becoming a bit of a challenge to ensure you are eating the right type of foods. With so much conflicting advice coming from all angles, many people just give up and eat whatever they fancy. Although there are a number of foods you should avoid, there are some ingredients that are actually toxic, and to make things simpler for you, here is a collection of the top 14 you should look out for when purchasing processed foods.

Fats

Everyone needs to eat some fat in their diet to remain healthy. But not only is it unhealthy to have too much fat, some fats are worse than others!

Palm Oil

Initially this was considered a healthy fat until it was investigated further. The problem is that when oil becomes a solid, it turns into a trans-fat. These trans-fats can not only raise your bad cholesterol, the LDL, but it can also lower your good cholesterol, the HDL. Plus, it can increase your risk of developing heart attacks and blood clots.

Shortening

Like the palm oil, shortening also becomes a trans-fat when it is hydrogenated partially. It can lead to obesity, arterial blockages, and increase your chance of developing a dangerous condition called metabolic syndrome.

Sweetness

Artificial Sugar

This will probably be a complete surprise to you, as we are regularly told to use artificial sweeteners instead of refined sugar. But these synthetic sweeteners have an interesting effect on the brain, by tricking it to forget that sweet equals calories, which results in you wanting to eat more and more sweet treats.

Corn Syrup – High Fructose

High fructose corn syrup has replaced refined sugar in many processed foods, as it was initially thought to be healthier. But, researchers have found that although the consumption of refined sugar has declined, the American public is now consuming nearly 20 times more of high fructose corn syrup. What does it cause? High triglycerides, obesity, and the boosting of fat-storing hormones.

READ The Horror of Toxic Pans: The Dangers of Teflon

Sugar

Those of us, who want to eat healthy and think we are doing the right thing by reading labels, may be surprised to learn the other names given to sugar when it’s listed as an ingredient. If you want to reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, steer clear of fructose, sucrose, lactose, glucose, maltose and dextrose.