Unhealthy Foods

Despite the fact that it has  been known for a while what a healthy diet looks like, many athletes still buy products that do not bring any benefit to the body. Let’s see what products should not be included in one’s healthy eating plan.

   The food industry is developing very fast, that’s why the market offers so many different products that can both improve the body condition and worsen its work. Let’s make a check-list of what one should not include in one’s diet in order to always feel healthy:

1. Soda is liquid sugar and empty calories that lead to obesity. Alternative: WATER (with lemon for example), coffee, tea without sugar.
2. Pizza especially if it is bought from stores and is frozen. Alternative: homemade pizza containing the right ingredients.
3. White/black bread, if it is made only of flour and sugar – these are empty calories, no benefit. Alternative: cereal/whole grain.
4. Juices – the same empty calories with a minimum amount of vitamin C, which is also very quickly destroyed. Alternative: fresh-squeezed grapefruit that should be consumed immediately after prepared and not more than once a week with food or right after! And it is always better to consume a whole grapefruit or berries.
5. Industrial vegetable oils (soybean, canola, corn, cottonseed, sunflower) – contain a large amount of omega-6, violate the ratio of omega-6 and 3, which leads to chronic inflammatory processes in the body. Alternative: coconut oil, ghee, linseed oil, olive oil, avocado oil.
6. Margarine is just trans fat. Alternative: butter.
7. Baking, cookies, cakes – this is a lot of sugar again, fat and flour: zero benefit, a lot of empty calories. Alternative: freshly baked homemade cookies prepared with the right ingredients.

8. French fries and chips contain carcinogens, a large amount of oil and salt. Alternative: boiled/baked potatoes, coconut/fruit chips (very limited quantities).
9. Gluten-free fast food – most often the term “gluten-free” hides the presence of other harmful ingredients – sugar, strange oils, corn starch and tapioca. These is also nothing else but empty calories. Alternative: choose only monoproducts from the “gluten free” category – cereals, if necessary.
10. Agave syrup – a large amount of fructose in its pure form – these are additional calories + the likelihood of obesity and chronic inflammation inside the body. Alternative: stevia, erythritol, topinambur syrup in moderation.
11. Yogurt with 0% fat is frequently just a fraud. It contains additional starch and the number of beneficial bacteria is minimized, especially after pasteurization. Alternative: homemade yogurt or purchased with 2% fat and live bacteria.

12. Melted cheese and cheese products have nothing in common with cheese. Most often vegetable oils and other additives are added to add flavor. Large amounts of fat and empty calories. Alternative: choose a good natural matured cheese – parmesan, for example or goat cheese!
13. Processed meat (sausages, salami, ham, smoked meats, canned meat, sausage) – all this has nothing to do with meat. Even the MOST natural sausages – contain a large amount of salt, soy and unnecessary ingredients and also increase the risk of developing oncology! Alternative: whole meat, but if it is still bacon or prosciutto, then only high quality products are welcome.
14. Vegetable milk – one who does not read the composition of such milk can receive a large amount of sugar, stabilizers, preservatives, sugar substitutes and other substances. Alternative: make vegetable milk at home (there are lots of recipes online) or read its composition when purchasing it.
15. “Baby food”, “fitness food”, “food for diabetics” – all these are marketing tricks. These foods contain large amounts of fructose, fat and empty calories. Read the composition thoroughly or preferably avoid them. Alternative: feed a child, an athlete or a diabetic with wholesome food containing no tricks.

I don´t feel surprised when many athletes ask the following question: so what am I supposed to eat since everything I’m used to is forbidden? Honestly, once I also asked myself the same question, that was why, together with the doctor nutritionist, we created a healthy menu for solving various tasks for both male and female athletes in different weight categories. And I recommend it to you!

Train together – train right!

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