Put Down The Hamburger

One in three Americans is obese, and one in five suffers from heart disease. Some point to pepsi coupons and inactive lifestyles as the culprits, but nutrition expert Kimberly Stahkal says the problem is bigger and more complex than that. She says that diets composed primarily of processed foods contribute to gradual toxic food poisoning (which is as scary as it sounds). Here are the foods she says you need to cut back on in a major way to get back on track:

Fried Foods  -- You know all the fat necessary to fry foods can’t be good for you – but a recent study in 2010  showed a connection between fried meat and bladder cancer, which is pretty unnerving. And even weirder, some scientific studies show that consumption of fried foods leads to increased occurrence of asthma in some patients.

Fast Food –Stahkal says that fast food isn’t really food most of the time, which is why it should be called “fast edibles.” Not only is it ridiculously high in fat, calories, and sodium, it’s very low in nutrients and is composed primarily of artificial ingredients and preservatives. So stay away! 

White Flour Products – Stahkal says white flour is one of the most dangerous processed foods out there, in part because it seems so innocuous. The whole grain in white flour is refined, bleached, and treated with chemicals so that it is hard for your body to process – and alloxan, a by-product of food bleaching, has been linked to pancreatic failure and type two diabetes.

Soda – Giving up Pepsi coupons may be one of the hardest things for people to do, but Stahkal calls soda “a recipe for disease disguised in a delicious, bubbly brew.” The acidity of soda is tied to tooth decay (whether the soda is diet or regular), and it’s hard on the kidneys too – soda drinking has been linked to kidney disease and renal problems. Plus, regular soda drinkers are 80% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-drinkers – so H20 is the way to go.