5 foods you should never bring home

Calling himself a ‘Longevity Sherpa,’ Prashant Desai is an educator and realist who has authored the book The Biography of a Failed Venture. He regularly posts videos on his social media channels discussing what is good for health and what is not. Recently, he shared a video on Instagram stating that there are certain foods you should never bring home. He said, “You can eat them, but don’t bring them home, as all these five products are extremely addictive in nature, making them unhealthy and dangerous for you.” Here is a list of all these products.

Biscuits
Biscuits are mostly considered as a quick snack, which is predominantly prepared with refined flour (maida), palm oil, sugar, and high amounts of salt. Together, these ingredients become an addictive lot with refined sugar and salt being the offending agents that can trigger the appetite for just one biscuit to several and more. Researches have proved that the metabolism and health are affected by refined flour and high sugar intake in snacks. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that diets heavy with refined carbohydrates are sources of obesity and insulin resistance. The frequent intake of such foods causes the blood glucose level to surge and eventually overwhelm the pancreas, leaving the individual prone to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Palm oil, another well-known biscuit ingredient, has also been found to lead to unhealthy levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, that can destroy people's hearts.

Colas
In the video, there are about 29 grams of sugar in one can of cola. More often than not, it is composed of high-fructose corn syrup, which is a well-known toxic material to the liver. The other sugars are metabolized outside the liver. High intake has been shown to result in what is commonly known as fatty liver disease if it accumulates. According to a study published in the Journal of Hepatology, overconsumption of fructose is considered as one of the main risk factors for NAFLD. The most recent literature published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition associates high intake frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as cola, with the risk of metabolic syndrome-a combination of conditions such as hypertension, insulin resistance, and abdominal obesity.

Chips, Kurkure, and Bhujia
These snacks may satisfy hunger, but they are loaded with refined flour, palm oil and too much salt. Such ultra-processed snacks are often cooked in cheap oils, which contain high amounts of trans fats, that would be bad news for your cardiovascular system. The WHO published a report saying that trans fats, found mainly in processed snacks, are already understood to cause the arterial walls to aggregate with plaques, which means increased possibilities of heart attack and stroke. The high salt level remains another issue. According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, high ingestion of salt is said to directly increase blood pressure further causing cardiovascular risks to go higher.

Fruit Juices/Juices
Although fruit juice seems like a pretty healthy drink, it typically contains between 25-30 grams of sugar per serving, which spikes blood glucose significantly. These rapid spikes and crashes bring along with them energy crashes and cravings for more sugars that develop to form some terrible eating habits in return. Moreover, most commercially sold juices have little or no fiber included in them, which removes the natural balancing effects whole fruits have on blood sugar. A study published in the British Medical Journal demonstrated that frequent intake of sugary fruit juice leads to an increase in Type 2 diabetes risks. Fruit juices are also on alerting advisories by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, citing failure of liquid calories to give a sense of fullness, thereby often leading to over-calorie intake and possible weight addition.

Cheap Chocolates
Low-cost chocolates usually are sold at very cheap rates- usually 5 to 10 rupees, comprising sugar, vegetable oil, and palm oil instead of good-quality cocoa. The former are bulky and sweet but pretty low on nutrition. So, taking in a lot of cheap chocolate leads one to take in many unhealthy fats and sugars with a piling heap to obesity and many more other health issues. According to the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a paper found that light chocolates, those with high added sugars and low in cocoa solids, do not contain the same antioxidant benefits usually associated with dark chocolate. Cheap chocolates only contain trace amounts of beneficial cocoa compounds, making them a poor choice for anyone looking forward to enjoying the health benefits from chocolates.