White bread
White bread, a naashta staple, looks and tastes delicious, but has refined grains, which are low in magnesium, zinc, vitamin E, fibre and essential fatty acids. White bread has a high glycemic index because it’s made from refined grains that are rapidly absorbed during digestion, causing sharp spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, diet, which includes a high quotient of white bread, increases your risk for weight gain, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Microwave popcorn
Microwave popcorn, a favourite movie snack, comprises butter flavour, which may be injurious to health. Diacetyl in microwave popcorn helps create its buttery aroma and has been linked to serious health issues for those who make the snack. Experts believe that when heated, the chemical produces a toxic and potentially lethal gas. David Michaels, assistant secretary of energy, who has been studying the issue for the last four years, said, “Workers who mix the chemical as a liquid or powders breathe in small amounts of this chemical and it just devastates their lungs.”
Margarine
The unnatural fats used to make margarine, formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into solid fat, is dangerous. Trans fats in margarine contribute to heart disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalance and skin disease. It can also lead to infertility, difficulties in pregnancy and problems with lactation, low birth weight, growth problems and learning disabilities in children. A United States government panel of scientists determined that man-made trans fats that margarine has in abundance are unsafe at any level.
Diet soda
Diet soda contains artificial sweeteners, such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame. “The safety data on these sweeteners is shrouded in controversy and conflicts of interest with the manufacturers of these chemical compounds,” warns Dr Eliaz, an integrative health expert. “Independent research strongly suggests that when metabolised in the body, these sweeteners can cause health-related issues and problems related to weight gain, neurological diseases, joint pain, digestive problems, headaches, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, chemical toxicity, and cancer, among others,” he added.
White chocolate
The right kind of chocolate serves not only as a delectable treat but also a brain-boosting super food. But white chocolate doesn’t comprise cacao beans that give chocolate its brown colour and benefits. “The data on the health benefits of cacao is pretty awesome,” said Dr Drew Ramsey, MD, assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Much of this is due to a set of amazing phytonutrients that can increase blood flow to the brain, protect blood vessels, and boost mood and focus. White chocolate is missing all this goodness.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2014.
Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.
COMMENTS (2)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713853507-0/MalalaHilary-(2)1713853507-0-270x192.webp)
@Diane Welland, RD:
Um no actually, margarine, by contrast, has always been much worse for you than its profit-grabbing manufacturers have ever been prepared to admit.
In the early days, it was made with 'hydrogenated fats', which were so dense that solid concrete couldn't have done a better job of blocking your coronary arteries. Honestly, this stuff was lethal.
Confronted with irrefutable evidence, the food-processing giants reluctantly went back to their laboratories and reformulated their product.
This time, they boasted, margarine would be made with 'interesterified' vegetable oils (a treatment that rearranges the fat molecules under high temperature and pressure, using enzymes or acids as catalysts) but studies found it was just as damaging.
Stop trying to promote your brand at the sake of peoples health!!!!
Your comments about margarine are inaccurate. If you walk into a supermarket and read the ingredient label on margarine containers you’ll find that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, the source of trans fat, is no longer listed on all national brands of soft spread products. In fact, there are even stick products on the market that no longer contain any partially hydrogenated oil. Not only has the margarine category led the US food industry in reducing and eliminating partially hydrogenated oil over the past decade, it continues to offer more healthful alternatives to butter. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association endorsed soft spread margarine as the spread of choice. Learn more at www.iheartbutterytaste.com
Diane Welland M.S., R.D. Manager of Nutrition Communications National Association of Margarine Manufacturers