The Top 10 Food Ingredients to Avoid

Studies suggest that artificial sweeteners, create the illusion of low sugar content and trick people into unrestrained consumption of sweets. These diet-friendly sweeteners may actually do more harm than good!

Artificial colours are used to enhance the colour of the food and make it look appealing. But do you know that these colours host a rainbow of risks? No matter how much you like your red velvet cake, it is time you ditch it. Health issues related to artificial colouring range from allergic reactions, fatigue, asthma, skin rashes, hyperactivity, headaches, to various types of cancers.

Talking about artificial flavours; did you know many artificial flavours are derived from petroleum? Thumb rule is to read your food labels, choose foods that are made from truly natural flavours.

Partially Hydrogenated Oil is the primary source of Trans fat. Trans fats are twice as difficult for the body to dissolve as saturated fats. These reduce your good cholesterol, shoot up your bad cholesterol and can cause heart disease and diabetes.

Stay away from fried foods, French fries, fried chicken, pancakes and other traditional fried dishes as these are loaded with trans fat and are often known as high-cholesterol foods.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is one of the major source of calories. HFCS is also a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, arthritis, insulin resistance, and elevated triglycerides; it can also shoot up your Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, commonly referred to as 'bad' cholesterol.

Quick Tip - High Fructose Corn Syrup can also be spotted in your food label if it contains these words - corn sweetener, corn syrup, or corn syrup solids and high-fructose corn syrup. Ditch the product if it contains these ingredients.

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are the preservatives which are used in many foods to prevent oxidation and to extend their shelf life. It is another potentially cancer-causing preservative and can be found in packaging materials, cereals, sausage, hot dogs, meat patties, chewing gum, potato chips, beer, butter and vegetable oils.

Sodium Nitrite or Sodium Nitrate are the additives that are used as colourants and to preserve the shelf life of meats, hot dogs, bacon and sausages. It is believed they can cause colon cancer and metabolic syndrome, which can lead to diabetes.

Trans Fats, or trans fatty acids, are a form of unsaturated fat - these can make the food taste better and last longer but the fact is, they are bad for your body. Trans Fats raise your bad cholesterol and lower down the good cholesterol that protects us against the heart diseases.

MSG is considered a neurotoxin as it can overexcite your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain dysfunction. It's often found in canned soup, diet beverages, popular fast food, packaged sausages, beef stew, instant soups and salad dressings.

Did you know Potassium Bromate is illegal in the European Union, Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Peru because it caused cancer in rats and mice?

Sodium Benzoate is the preservative which is sometimes added to soda to prevent mold from growing, it's also found in pickles, sauces, jams and fruit juices.

Quick Tip: Ditch the foods that contain high amount of vinegar, such as salad dressings.