2. “Instant” Rice
Rice is a great grain for your diet, especially if you’re choosing brown rice or other healthy options. However, instant rice – though it may be tasty – not only contains high amounts of sodium, but numerous types of preservatives in its seasoning.
Go with plain white or brown rice instead, and choose your own delicious seasonings to create a delicious and healthy meal. If stovetop cooking is still a bit more time-consuming than you would like, consider investing in a rice cooker.
3. Canned Meats
You probably know the dangers of processed and cured meats, and why you should try to eliminate them from your diet. However, canned meats pose an especially large risk[1].
In addition to the fact that canned meats contain excessively large amounts of sodium in addition to large amounts of nitrite and other food preservatives, they come with the additional risks of the canning process.
Especially with more acidic meats, chemicals can leech from the can and into the food product. It’s best to give up the canned meat and go for fresh meat products, even if they may be less convenient.
Related: Why You Should Eliminate Canned Tomatoes From Your Diet
4. Refined Flour Foods
You have good reason to go with whole grain food products with everything you purchase. Refined flour, such as that used in white bread and in pasta, along with many other types of food, is one of the most dangerous things that you can put into your body.
It’s not just that whole grain products are healthier for you and provide more (and better) vitamins and nutrients, although that’s a big part. It’s also that refined flour, which is bleached and bromated, may even be carcinogenic.
Avoiding these products is crucial in maintaining your health and living a longer, better life. (And as an added bonus, whole grain foods simply taste better!)
5. Dangerous Vitamin Supplements
If you get a majority of your vitamins from supplements, you may want to rethink your dietary strategy – not only are many supplements just not useful, but some could also be downright dangerous.
The worst offenders are Vitamin B12, which is produced in a process that leaves trace amounts of cyanide in the supplement; unnamed omega-3s, which often are sourced from fish containing heavy metals;; and Vitamin A from beta carotene, which can potentially increase your risk for heart disease[2].
So what’s best solution? Get these important vitamins from healthy, natural food sources instead.
Related: Top Pharma-Brand of Children’s Vitamins Not So Healthy After All