source: www.fitnaijaweb.com/5-unhealthy-processed-foods-to-avoid-if-you-want-a-healthy-body/

What are processed foods?

Ideally, we’d visit the marketplace every day for fresh, local foods, and make all of our goodies from scratch.

But in reality, we live far from our food sources, have to buy foods we can store on the shelf, and barely have time to eat dinner, much less prepare it.

Processed foods are convenient, and not all of them are bad for you: pre-chopped vegetables, or fruits canned in their own juice, are just two examples.

Sometimes, however, convenience can mean large amounts of hidden sodium, fats, and sugar, which are always bad news. Read on to learn which processed foods to avoid and why.

1. Noodles


It’s hard to spend time in Nigeria and not become hooked to noodles. Since their introduction into the country in 1995, noodles have become a household name and Nigerians eat them by the bucket load.

Yes, Noodles are high in calories but are there at least some nutritional or heath benefits?

Check out the facts with the example we used above of a 70g pack of chicken flavor Indomie Noodles. The pack contains the following:

5g of saturated fat. A diet, which has a lot of saturated fat, can cause an increase in cholesterol in the blood over time. The UK’s NHS recommends that girls eat no more than 20g of saturated fat a day. For guys, no more than 30g should be eaten a day. This means that a whopping third of your daily amount of saturated fat is consumed when you consume two 70g packs of chicken flavored Noodles in one sitting.
3g of sodium (aka salt). If salt is eaten in large quantities, it can result in raised blood pressure which, in turn, leads to an increased risk in heart problems. According to the UK’s NHS, adults should not eat more than 6g of salt a day. This means that two packs of 70g Noodles chicken flavor are equivalent to nearly half the recommended daily salt intake.

2. Fruit snacks

fruit snacks - unhealthy foods

Popularly consumed by kids and young adults it is an enemy of both your teeth and waistline, fruit snacks may be the grocer’s most inaccurately named food.

Most varieties are packed with high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar — which could lead to weight gain, which can increase your risk for diabetes — and contain little or no drop of actual fruit ingredients.

Their extra sugar and gelatinous ingredients also stick to teeth, providing an ideal environment for bacteria to create cavities.



3. Margarine

unhealthy processed foods - fitnaija

Once upon a time, margarine was considered the healthy alternative to butter.

However, the truth is that some margarine contains a lot of trans fats. These are considered more unhealthy than any other fat, including saturated fats.

Trans fats increase bad cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease and stroke.

Although the link between trans fatty acids and cancer is unclear.

Johns Hopkins Medicine is just one institution that suggests lowering these fats as a part of their dietary recommendations for cancer patients and survivors.



4. Ketchup



While a little dollop of ketchup is fine, the amounts we slather onto our burgers and fries is problematic, as is the frequency.

The tomatoes in ketchup are so diluted by sugar and salt that they offer no natural value. With most of the calories in ketchup coming from sugar, you might as well sprinkle your fries with sugar!

5. Flavored nuts

Flavored nuts are not as healthy as they are portrayed. Though nuts are, the processing which they have gone through disqualifies them.

Whether they are honey coated, maple-flavored, soy sauce- and wasabi-dusted, or coated in toffee, flavored nuts are packed with extra salt and sugar. This extra salt and sugar can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Their sticky, sugary goodness also makes them the enemy of healthy teeth.

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FTC.thanks for d info sha, waiting for FP