We all know we shouldn’t eat fast food because it’s bad for us, but part of the reason is because of all the trans fats and other additives they use to make the food taste good. The problem is not just that there is trans fat in the foods, but that the portion sizes quickly multiply those contents and before long you have a week’s worth of trans fat in one meal. A large french fry from McDonald’s supplies 4 day’s worth of trans fat by itself.
With so much talk of healthy foods and what you should be eating, the foods that are the worst for us can get overlooked. The reason it’s so hard to avoid these kinds of food is because the things that make them bad also make them taste good. Fatty foods typically taste good, so do sweet and salty ones, which means a lot of the foods you love are likely not the best things you can have.
But you don’t have to resort to living like Tom Hanks in Castaway, there are plenty of foods that you can turn to that taste amazing and won’t jeopardize your well-being. It’s about learning why certain foods are bad, so you can make better choices on a day-to-day basis. That being said, here are some dietary landmines to watch out for, and step around.
This is the most notorious of the unhealthy ingredients they put in foods, and has even led for a ban on them in New York City. Avoiding it is tricky, no thanks in part to the FDA that allows food manufacturers to say there’s no trans fat in foods, even when there is. Since 2 grams is the most you should have in a day, allowing foods with 0.5 gram or less to call themselves trans fat free is a real problem. You’re best off avoiding trans fat-containing foods completely.