Diet & Nutrition

Avoid These 10 DEAD Foods That Provide Little Nutritional Value

Avoid these dead foods for many reasons including your desire for weight loss. Think of these foods as empty calories. They don’t supply your body with nutrients and therefore, over the long haul, will trigger your body to thinking it’s literally starving. Even worse, they will spike your blood sugar levels causing an insulin release which sends the body into a fat storage mode.

We are listing the foods to avoid here, but don’t forget… never restrict yourself from the foods you crave, because then you are back to dieting. And calorie restriction also triggers the body to experience famine which will cause it to hang on to fat.

It’s much better to eat as many live foods as you would like and generally avoid these dead foods, and over time, you will learn to like and crave the healthy, live foods as opposed to the dead foods.

1. Sugars of any form with the exception of fruit which must be eaten carefully (see Essential Tip #2 at the end). You may use pure stevia and sugar alcohols to occasionally sweeten food or drinks. My favorite is xylitol because many of the other sugar alcohols cause intestinal issues (gas and bloating).

So stay away from:

All sugars (white, brown, powdered, raw, sucanat, fructose, evaporated cane juice etc…) even if organic
Maple syrup, Molasses
Honey (unless it is raw, unprocessed)
Corn syrup
Any processed food because it likely has some form of sugar or corn syrup

If giving up sugar and/or carbohydrates is difficult for you, then consider this 21-Day Sugar Detox Program

2. Refined carbohydrates

Avoid all of the following:

White flour products (pastries, muffins, cakes, crackers, pastas, breads, bread sticks, cereals, pizza crust)
White rice or white rice flour based
White bread and bread with any form of sugar (contains anything with the word “syrup” or that ends in “ose”)
Breadcrumbs
Any hot or cold cereals with added sugar or white flour based
Quick cooking oats
Anything with corn or corn flour (corn is used to fatten our livestock! plus most corn is GMO)

3. Most yogurts since they are loaded with sugar. Stick to plain yogurts with live cultures. Eat goat or sheep’s milk yogurt over cow milk if available to you.

4. Processed meats when possible. If you do eat processed meats, avoid lunch meats, sausages and salami that have added sugars or anything ending in “ose”. It’s also best to avoid meats that are commercially raised. They are loaded with antibiotics, hormones and a corn-based feed that is highly GMO. Look for locally-raised, free-range, grass fed meats that preferably eat an organic, non-GMO feed. If budget is an issue, you’re better off eating half the meat you normally would and make it a high quality one. Plus you’ll be helping the environment, because commercially raised farm animals is one of the highest contributors to pollution.

5. Fruit juices, sodas, diet drinks, juice and sports drinks of any kind Stick to water, unsweetened sparking water, and decaffeinated coffees and teas. This is especially important for your children! Contrary to popular belief, fruit juices (even if 100% fruit based) is NOT healthy beverage. Fruit juice, absent of its fiber, will spike the blood sugar and cause as much harm, if not more, than a tablespoon of sugar.Stick to water and a piece of whole fruit on the side.

6. Dairy unless you are sensitive. Otherwise eat full fat dairy products (cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, heavy cream, crème fraiche) made with goat or sheep’s milks and if available go for unpasteurized, raw milks.

To know if you are sensitive to dairy, go without at least three weeks (preferably six) and then re-introduce. Notice any negative reactions.

7. Vinegar and mushrooms if you are susceptible to Candida For more information on Candida click here.

8. Alcohol. Believe it or not, alcohol has a higher glycemic index than sugar itself!

9. Wheat products (entirely), especially if you think you may be sensitive to gluten. I know one friend who went off gluten and made no other changes. She lost thirty pounds without changing anything else. Even if you are not gluten sensitive, it’s best to avoid gluten for the many negative health effects. If you must eat breads, go for sourdough options as the cultures in the sourdough eat up a lot of the gluten.

10. Artificial sweeteners. Not only do they turn ON your FAT Programs and cause your body to store fat, they will kill you! An unprocessed stevia would be the best option for sweetening teas. use a liquid form to avoid other additives. A favorite of ours is liquid vanilla creme stevia! Or use raw, unprocessed honey.