3 of the Most Toxic 'Health' Foods

Let's face it, most of us have probably eaten something we thought was healthy due to savvy marketing tactics, only to find out later that it really wasn't what it was hyped up to be. 

Many so-called healthy foods have little nutritional value and some even contain harmful chemicals, despite that bright and shiny advertising that leads us to believe otherwise.

Advertising is definitely tricky. It can make some of the unhealthiest foods look healthy - even if they're anything but. These three foods are some of the most toxic of purported "healthy foods" that should be avoided at all costs, that is, if you're interested in achieving optimal health, of course!

#1 Heart Healthy Vegetable Oil

Have you ever reached for that bottle of vegetable oil on the grocery store shelf because the label read "heart healthy?"
Industrial vegetable oils found in the supermarket typically contain .56 to 4.2% of their fatty acid as trans fats, which are highly toxic. Trans fats are actually "fake" fats. They're known to clog arteries, increase levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, and lower HDL, or "good" cholesterol. Eating too many trans fats causes an overload of inflammation, a main factor in many chronic diseases, as well as weight gain.
The heat and harsh chemicals used to extract oil from vegetables, including bleaching and the toxic solvent hexane, actually destroys some of its vitamins and antioxidants. In later stages of processing, even more chemicals are injected in to "improve" the color and odor. Not only that, but overheating vegetable oils - which is typically what's done when cooking with them, releases compounds that can damage lungs and potentially cause cancer.
Not only that, but almost all vegetable oils are damaged and rancid from their processing and also contain high amounts of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids, both of which cause massive inflammation throughout your body that can possibly lead to heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders, and joint problems.
Remember that inflammatory vegetable oils are used in almost every type of fried food at most restaurants, and any type of processed food that contains vegetable oils such as potato chips and many snack foods.
Despite the healthy sounding name of "vegetable oil", the fact is that vegetable oils do NOT come from vegetables... This is a generic term that usually means any combination of soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, or other heavily refined processed omega-6 based oils that are all bad for you.
So what should you use instead?
For high heat cooking, use organic extra virgin coconut oil which contains medium chain fatty acids that are resistant to high heat. They also turn into ketone bodies in the liver which provide energy to the brain and are known to help improve all types of health problems.

#2 Energy/Protein/Breakfast Bars

Those prettily packaged bars advertised to boost energy, provide protein or as a "healthy" substitute for breakfast are another one of the worst offenders. Most are highly processed products - really just a candy bar in disguise - filled with sugar, high fructose corn syrup and even trans fats as well as artificial sweeteners.
If you read the label of a Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Strawberry Yogurt Bar, for example, you'll see that it has just 130 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately not. Many of its ingredients aren't technically food - it packs a ton of sugar and even contains Red Dye #40. While it's a pretty color, its effects are anything but, with just a few of the reported symptoms including migraines, inability to concentrate, nervousness and upset stomach. Children have been found to be especially sensitive to Red 40, exhibiting symptoms like temper tantrums and aggressive behavior.
If you need a boost of energy or are looking to meet your body's protein needs after a workout, grab a small handful of raw, organic almonds instead! They make the perfect convenient snack that you can take with you wherever you go.

#3 "Healthy" Breakfast Cereals

You probably know to avoid sugary cereals like Lucky Charms or Cocoa Pebbles, but most breakfast cereals, even those with health claims like "whole grain," are often loaded with refined blood sugar spiking carbs and sugars. Manufacturers fortify them with a few synthetic vitamins, a small amount of whole grains, and then market the product as "healthy."
Some cereals even contain preservatives like BHA and BHT which are linked to an increase risk of cancer. Not only that, but you may be getting a dose of unhealthy trans fats disguised under a new name: "monoglycerides."
But the WORST thing about most cereals, even so-called "whole grain" cereals is that they ALL cause a significant spike in your blood sugar which results in a cascade of fat storing hormones to be released in your body, and causes more carb cravings later in the day. This is NOT the way to start your day if you care about your waistline!
Not only that, but any cereals with wheat ingredients in them can possibly cause gut inflammation and long term gut damage from too much gluten. Think those corn-based cereals are better than wheat? Think again! Corn-based cereals are almost always made with GMO corn, which has many scientists very concerned about long term health threats. And rice-based cereals (krispies, etc) aren't much better, as they cause just as high of a blood sugar spike as pure table sugar... Ouch!

Instead of cereal in the morning, try a bowl of plain greek yogurt (which is loaded with healthy gut probiotics AND protein) and add in fresh, organic berries, nuts, and a little stevia or vanilla protein for a little added sweetness. This breakfast will leave you leaner, keep your blood sugar and hormones balanced, and give your body much less toxic load than cereals.
Unfortunately, this is just 3 examples we gave you in today's article, and deadly toxins are lurking EVERYWHERE these days in hundreds of foods, in your lotions and shampoos, plastics, air pollution, water pollution and more...
For that reason, you absolutely MUST detox at least occasionally to keep your hormones normalized, keep your energy levels high, and to keep your metabolism from shutting down.
The problem is that MOST "cleanses" or celebrity detox fads out there are actually dangerous to your health and can HARM your hormones making fat loss impossible in the long term and even causing rebound weight gain that's worse than where you started.

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