4. Farmed fish
Unfortunately, up to 70% of the fish you’ll find at your local market is farmed fish. But you really want to avoid it because farmed fish are so overcrowded that they eat each other’s feces. They are fed a diet full of antibiotics to compensate, as well as food dyed specifically to tint the meat in a way that makes it look healthy.
If you have one in your town, the fresh fish market is always a better call for good seafood. The fishmonger should be happy to talk to you about the origin of the fish and how recently they were caught.
5. White bread
Maybe when you were a kid, white bread was the only kind you’d eat. But you’re a grown-up now, and white bread is essentially nutritionally void. The bleached white flour spikes your blood sugar and features almost none of the vitamins and minerals present in whole wheat. White bread also has less fiber than whole wheat, and trust us – you need more fiber as you age to keep your digestive system chugging along.
And while we’re at it, bagels pose the same problem – no nutrients or fiber – but also have a ton of sodium. Even if you go with a whole wheat bagel, you’re likely to take in 565 mg of sodium, more than a quarter of your daily allowance.
6. Fruit juice
As a child, you probably had a juice box tossed into your lunch each day and called it fruit. But even as an adult you may fall into the trap of thinking that juice is as healthy as fruit. It’s not. When juice is extracted from the fruit, all the beneficial fiber is left behind. Fiber helps moderate the rate at which sugar is dumped into your bloodstream, so pure juice is going to hit you all at once.
Most commercial juices have added sugar, way beyond what is present in the fruit itself. They are also often pasteurized, which means that any heat-sensitive nutrients are destroyed before the product even hits store shelves.
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