Avoid 1 junk food this cardiologist won’t touch to stay thin, healthy

I feel lucky in a way.

For whatever reason, my body doesn’t crave a lot of junk food.

Don’t get me wrong, if it’s around I will eat it.

And in that way, I suppose I deserve some credit.

If there’s food I want to avoid, I simply … don’t buy it.

It’s the same reason I would never keep alcohol in the house after kicking a long-time drinking habit.

If I gave myself easy access to alcohol all the time, I’d probably still be drinking it all the time.

What food should you avoid the most at the grocery store? One cadriologist’s opinion might surprise you. (Licensed by the author under the Unsplash+ License)

My personal poison

Here’s another example: I don’t crave sugar, but there’s one treat I simply can’t resist if it’s around.

In Canada, we have these freezer cakes called McCain Deep’n Delicious.

They have the best icing you’ll ever try, and there’s just something about that mixed with the frozen cake that makes them irresistible to me.

If one is in the house, I’ll take it out and eat it sliver by sliver until the whole thing is gone (as though eating small slivers makes a difference).

I buy these cakes maybe once or twice a year for birthdays in the house.

But I know better than to just have them around.

That’s because controlling your surroundings is a big part of starting any good habit or starting any bad one.

Making healthy food choices is a big part of staying fit. (Licensed under the Unsplash+ License

A doctor’s top food to avoid

I was thinking about this when I came across an article this week written by a cardiologist who revealed what she believed to be the unhealthiest food there is.

Now there are a lot of bad foods out there, and unfortunately they’ve become staples instead of treats for a lot of folks.

If you want a pretty comprehensive list of the worst of the worst, I actually did some research and wrote my own personal Top 5 list a little while back.

Sugary cereal won (lost?) the top spot on my list, with soda coming in second.

But neither one of those were ranked №1 by cardiologist Dr. Elizabeth Klodas.

Here’s what she wrote in an article for NBC’s Make It:

“As tempting as it is, junk food is one of the biggest enemies of heart health. And as a cardiologist, there’s one type of junk food in particular that you’ll never see me eating: chips.

“From nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips to crunchy corn puffs to potato crisps, these are some of the most popular snacks in the U.S. But they are high in additives and low in fiber and other beneficial nutrients.

“Over the course of a year, eating just one snack-sized bag of chips (about an ounce) every day could pour about a 3/4 cup of salt into your body, while adding up to 15 pounds. Too much sodium can elevate your blood pressure, and significant weight gain can adversely affect your cholesterol and blood sugar.

“But you don’t have to wait a year to see an effect. Studies show that eating poor quality foods negatively affects blood vessel function within hours of consumption.

I’m not sure everyone would agree that chips are the worst possible food — I know I lean toward more sugary foods and fatty meats like bacon in terms of truly damaging stuff — but I think chips are definitely in the mix for “sneakiest”.

Most people probably don’t think of them as particularly terrible because they’re made with … a vegetable.

And they don’t have a ton of sugar like “traditional” junk food like cake, candy, and ice cream.

The problem, of course, is the processing that takes place afterward.

What starts as a potato ends up as a fatty salt bomb.

Also, they can certainly be addictive.

Remember these Lays ads featuring hockey star Mark Messier in the 1990s?

The tag line was “Betcha can’t eat just one”.

Good bet, Mark. Good bet.

And that’s why I walk straight by the chip aisle without a glance whenever I’m doing the weekly grocery shop.

What’s your favorite food indulgence that you can’t say no to? Let me know in the comments!

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Summarize

Avoid 1 junk food this cardiologist won’t touch to stay thin, healthy

My personal poison

A doctor’s top food to avoid