Foods a Nutritionist Would Never Eat

5 Foods a Nutritionist Would Never Eat

Nutritionists and dieticians play an important role in the health and fitness industry, but not everyone has the time or the money for a one-on-one consultation.

So I’m here to help, by reviewing 7 foods a nutritionist would never eat. All of these culprits are based on the principles of my Clean Eating Diet. Although it’s helpful to know what to eat to get healthy and stay fit, it’s also helpful to know what NOT to eat. Whether it’s losing weight or building muscle that’s your goal, these are 7 foods you need to remove from your diet immediately!

1 Corn :

– If you knew what corn was really made of nowadays, you’d agree with the nutritionists! Corn is so genetically modified that it hardly resembles the original plant, now capable of producing its own pesticides. Unfortunately, corn by-products are found in a lot of foods, from ketchup to bread, so you’ve got to watch out for it.

In addition, corn is also a starchy food, so it’s not so great for weight loss. Go for vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and leafy greens instead!

2 Sugar-Sweetened Beverages :

If you stop eating only one thing on this list, it should be sugar-sweetened beverages. The empty calories help pad your waistline without offering any sense of satiety or fullness. What's more, simple sugars do an excellent job of lowering your good cholesterol and increasing your triglyceride levels (two risk factors for heart disease). Drinking sugary beverages also promotes disturbances in your body's inflammatory balance, making it harder to recover from exercise and increasing your risk of numerous chronic diseases.

Instead reaching for a can of soda or sweetened tea, opt for water or a calorie-free infused drink like HINT (watermelon is my favorite). 

6 Peanut Butter :

 Unfortunately, the Jiffy peanut butter you grew up with as a kid is loaded with salt and sugar, two ingredients any nutritionist will tell you to avoid. The same goes for other nut butters, including those sugary hazelnut spreads.

But don’t worry, you can still enjoy a good PB and J, just go for an all-natural peanut butter blend that only lists peanuts under its ingredients!

3 Shark :

The risk/benefit ratio of eating fish (the benefits of omega-3 fats vs. the risk of mercury) typically falls in favor of the omega-3 fats and their incredible health effects. Shark is one of the exceptions. Despite having an omega-3 fat content similar to tuna, shark contains almost three times the amount of mercury. Tilefish is another high mercury/low omega-3 fish that should be avoided.

Your best bet for maximizing omega-3 fats while minimizing mercury levels? Salmon

 4 Fat-Free Salad Dressing : 

Fat-free salad dressings are a perfect example of good food gone bad. Salad dressing is the perfect combination of vinegar (which helps control blood sugar) and plant oils (full of essential fatty acids and sometimes antioxidants). However, an irrational fear of dietary fats has forced food companies to mess around with this perfect blend. The resulting fat-free salad dressings have introduced sugar and high fructose corn syrup, un-pronounceable emulsifying agents, and other food science secrets used to make the unnatural seem natural. It's too easy to make your own healthy salad dressing to ever let this science experiment in a bottle pass your lips.

5 Non-Organic Strawberries :

 Studies have found residues from up to 13 chemical pesticides on any one batch of strawberries. These things are literally doused in chemicals, to the extent that strawberry farmers have to wear protective suits when spraying them.

There’s an easy solution for this one. Simply opt for organic strawberries. They may cost an extra dollar or two, but personally, I think it’s worth it.