12 Foods That Should NEVER Be On Your Plate

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2. Microwave Popcorn

Popcorn itself is a healthy snack, but microwave popcorn is another story. The bags are lined with substances called perfluoroalkyls. These chemicals are used to keep grease from leaking through bags. These substances, once heated, leech into the food, which would be your popcorn. Perfluoroalkyls disrupt your endocrine system and affect your sex hormones. The EPA lists them as carcinogens. One 2010 study found that these substances can lead to thyroid disease and even thyroid cancer. You don’t need to buy these toxic packages to enjoy microwave popcorn. Put popcorn and just one tablespoon of oil in a paper bag and fold it over several times. You can put a cup on the end of the bag to keep it from opening. Microwave for one or two minutes and there you have it. Using an air popper is even better!

3. White Flour

This looks fairly harmless, but white flour, and foods made from white flour, have almost the exact same effect on your body that sugar has. White flour disrupts insulin levels to such a degree that your body will immediately go into fat storage mode. This is also a huge source of stress for the pancreas. White flour has almost no nutritional value either, since the processing of the wheat involves removing the most nutritious part of the wheat as well as almost all of the healthy fiber. The grain really isn’t the problem; it’s the processing that is bad. Opt for whole meal grains for better health.

4. Vegetable Oils

Vegetable oils sound so healthy and wholesome but don’t let the name and that pretty picture on the label fool you. Vegetable oils are highly processed and seriously distort our omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in the body. When vegetable oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oil, are heated, they oxidized cholesterol levels in the body. This causes serious harm to you on a cellular level. When these oils are heated and then mixed with oxygen, they go rancid. This leads to cardiovascular disease. Avoid vegetable oils or any food that lists partially hydrogenated oils in their list of ingredients. Use olive oil or coconut oil for better health.

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