Top 10 not-so-healthy foods (we love to eat)

I received so many e-mails for my previous article on “The top 20 healthiest foods.” This time, let’s look at the opposite side of the coin. It’s the “unhealthy” or fatty foods we can’t resist eating, maybe because they’re sweet and succulent or we’re simply adventurous. Let’s start our list with number 10.

10. Soft drinks

A scientific study links the amount of soft drinks one takes to the development of diabetes and heart disease. Each bottle of regular soft drink contains eight teaspoonfuls of sugar. It’s like eating pure sugar and taking in water. Even diet soft drinks (dark-colored colas) should be avoided. A kidney specialist will tell you that diet soft drinks contain phosphorous, a substance that is harmful to your kidneys. Phosphorous will make you lose calcium in the urine and make your bones brittle.

9. French fries

Like a traveler streaking on all four corners of the globe, we have unhealthy oil sinking into all four corners of your french fries. Too oily, too fatty, and packed with calories, too. Limit your intake to a few sticks only.

8. Fatty sauces (like gravy, mayonnaise, and lemon tartar sauce)

For fast-food chicken, it’s the gravy that makes the chicken good. But it’s high in calories and fat, too. What about mayonnaise and Thousand Island dressing? Again, so many calories for so little amount. Spread it thinly and it’s bland. Dab a wadful and you’re bound to get fat. Scientists have shown that fat is an acquired taste. We are not born to like fatty foods. If you abstain from fat for two weeks, you will lose your taste (and craving) for fatty meals. Try it.

7. Alcoholic drinks

A little red wine may be good for the heart. Just like a bottle of beer or a shot of wine. However, doctors still do not advise non-drinkers to start drinking for the health benefit. This is because of the real danger of alcohol abuse which can lead to all sorts of health problems like liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, stomach ulcers, oral cancers, brain damage, dementia, nerve damage, depression, abusive behavior as well as vehicular accidents, etc. If you’re not a drinker, better not start.

6. Junk food

Potato chips and most assorted snacks are unhealthy because of their high salt content. They can also be irritating to the stomach in some people. Junk food is also spiced with MSG, which makes them addicting and may cause headaches. Instead of chips, let’s teach our kids to eat healthy snacks like an apple, a banana or some vegetable sticks.

5. Half-cooked meat

Medium-rare meats can cause various parasitic diseases. If you don’t cook your pork well, you can get infected with icky pork tapeworms (called taenia solium). Steaks should be prepared well-done to kill the beef tapeworms (called taenia saginata). There are also fish tapeworms for those fond of eating kilawin. Make sure your chicken is without blood, too. Remember that’s how you get bird flu. The common sense approach is that if your meat is still bloody, have it cooked again. Better say, “Well done.”

4. Street food

Eating street food is a very dangerous habit. Did you know that 70 percent of Filipinos harbor parasites and bacteria in their bodies? If food handlers don’t wash their hands, don’t wear gloves, or don’t use distilled water, these parasites can so quickly be passed on to you from the delectable and tasty fishball sauce, queck-queck, betamax innards, and what have you. Tempting yes, but no thanks.

Regarding small eateries, you have to be careful because some of them have no government certification of their food handlers, which means we are not sure if the food is clean. Be forewarned.

3. Organ innards

Liver, kidney, lung, stomach, intestine, heart, and brain innards as food? These are the possible contents of the best-selling sisig. If you think about it, it’s easy to suspect that they are unhealthy. High in cholesterol, fat, and uric acid. In addition, some doctors suspect that they may cause bowel cancer. Pork intestines are the organs where the animal’s waste and toxic products are stored. So, why should we eat it?

2. Pork chicharon, chicharon bulaklak

So tasty and so fatty. All these unhealthy oils can accumulate and block your arteries and put you on the road to a heart attack. I used to like chicharon bulaklak with vinegar. But when I found out that they are made up of small intestines and blood vessels, plus the lymph nodes (the bean-sized thingy in between), I had a change of heart. You don’t have to be a doctor to realize that you are better off not eating these.

1. Lechon, crispy pata, and pata tim

At number one, the most unhealthy food, which is the favorite of Filipinos worldwide, is the pig. Why? It’s the fattiest and it’s colon cancer-causing. It’s also high in calories but very yummy. Need any more evidence?

There are other foods which are of questionable value, like preserved meats, smoked foods, and salty, spicy foods. Be careful with these, too. Try to limit or avoid them.

On the positive side, check out my previous articles on the “Top 20 healthiest Pinoy foods” at docwillieandliza.com. This totally opposite and healthy list includes nuts, coconut, tea, soy products, wheat, sweet potato, oats, ginger, beans, ampalaya, water, apple, garlic, milk, banana, carrot, citrus fruits, tomato, oily fish, and green leafy vegetables.

Just by looking at the list, you can see, smell, and taste the difference. Eat well! –Willie T. Ong, MD (The Philippine Star)