Make the decision to keep unhealthy foods
and ingredients out of your house

Unhealthy foods fill most of the shelves in the supermarket. Food companies and restaurants advertise harmful foods constantly. They create greasy, salty, refined food covered with cheese. They tell us that these creations are nutritious....that they provide the protein and calcium we need.

These statements are usually not true.

They are dishonest advertisements designed to sell products.

Our friends and family members may eat unhealthy foods three times a day or more.

It is socially acceptable.

But we want to lose weight and be healthy.

For the best results, avoid the following unhealthy foods:

• All animal flesh contains cholesterol.  Here is a list of high cholesterol foods. You will be amazed at how much cholesterol is in chicken and fish.
  
  People who have high blood cholesterol levels have high rates of heart disease, cancer, and many other diseases. How important is heredity? What are the true causes of high cholesterol?
  
  

• If we avoid all animal flesh we will avoid growth hormones in food. Farmers use these to make animals grow faster. If animals grow fast, they can go to the slaughterhouse sooner. The farmer doesn't have to spend so much money on food and vet bills.
  
  If we eat food that contains growth hormones it will make us grow....fat. We can't avoid growth hormones by eating organic animal flesh. Animals make natural growth hormones too.

  
  
• Fish are animals. Their flesh is contaminated with mercury, other heavy metals, and pollutants. Wild fish and farm-raised fish are all unhealthy foods.
  
  We do not need to eat fish to get healthy omega 3 fats. Flax seed, walnuts, and hemp seeds are good plant sources of omega 3 fat. Eat ground flax seed and leave the fish in the ocean.

Every whole plant food contains fat, even lettuce and apples. These fats are bound up with the fiber, protein, and carbohydrates in the plant. They are not "free." During digestion, enzymes in our stomach and small intestine gradually separate these components. This natural fat in plant foods is healthy and essential in our diet.

The food industry takes foods apart and isolates the fat into oils. These are free fats. Food chemists treat the oils with chemicals, heat, and other processes. They mix these processed free fats with other ingredients to make thousands of unhealthy foods. Here are the foods and ingredients that contain free fats:

• Hydrogenated oils. These are not natural foods. The food industry adds hydrogen atoms to unsaturated oils. This process turns liquid oils into solid shortening. It creates saturated fats and trans fats.
  
  The food industry likes hydrogenated oils because they melt at a higher temperature than liquid oils. They are cheaper than saturated animal fats. Baked goods made with hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils have a long shelf life. But they are very unhealthy foods.They raise our cholesterol levels and clog up our arteries.

• Trans fats. They are produced when unsaturated oils are partially hydrogenated. They also occur naturally in beef, lamb, mutton, and dairy products. We can even produce some trans fats when we fry foods at high temperatures.
  
  Trans fats raise blood levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of good cholesterol (HDL). They increase the risk of heart disease. There is no safe level of trans fat intake. Beware! Food manufacturers in the U.S. can list trans fat as being zero grams if the amount per serving is less than 1/2 gram. 

• Margarine. There are many different types of margarine. They are highly processed foods that contain saturated fat to make them solid at room temperature. Many contain hydrogenated oils and trans fats. Some are even mixed with butter. Don't try to find a healthy one. There aren't any.

• Vegetable shortening. It is just a type of margarine that is not colored yellow and contains no salt. It is solid at room temperature. It contains saturated fat and/or trans fats. Saturated fat and trans fat both raise cholesterol levels and we should avoid them.

• Olive oil and all vegetable oils. Oils are not whole natural plant foods. Bottles of olive oil do not grow on trees. Olive oil is 100% fat and 100% fattening. It is not a weight loss food!

Don't keep it in your house and don't buy products containing it. If the ingredients list says "wheat flour", it is white flour. If it says "enriched wheat flour" it is white flour. If it says "semolina", it is white flour. If it says "multi-grain", it probably contains white flour. 

It is hard to find bread or baked goods made of 100% whole wheat. Look in the freezer section of your natural food store.

This is used in many vegetarian meat substitutes. It is highly processed using hexane and other chemicals. Meat substitutes made of isolated soy protein may be vegan, but they are unhealthy foods.

Natural soy products like edamame, tempeh, and tofu are fine to use, although they are a little high in fat.

The food industry often uses this cheap sweetener instead of sugar. It has been linked with obesity, insulin resistance, and possible liver damage. Sugar is an unhealthy food too, but it is more natural than HFCS.

The food industry is putting these in more and more products, because they are cheaper than natural sweeteners. Human and animal studies show that there is a link between diet soda and weight gain. Avoid the stuff. Natural sweeteners also lead to weight gain. Limit your use of them.

If it sounds like a chemical we don't want to eat it. This includes artificial flavors and artificial colors. We also want to avoid "natural flavors" because that is a code name for MSG.