10. Sausages, hot dogs

10. Sausages, hot dogs
10. Sausages, hot dogs

Take yourself out to the ball game, but skip the hot dog.

You might be better off with a beer and a bag of peanuts.

“Not only are hot dogs high in fat and relatively low in protein, which is the exact combination you don’t want in your meat, but they are generally chock-full of sodium, which none of us need more of,” De Santis says.

“The icing on the cake? There is a growing body of evidence that connects eating processed meats with an increased risk of cancer in the digestive tract.”

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11. Cheese

11. Cheese
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Say it isn’t so! While everything in moderation is a good rule of thumb for almost anything, De Santis put cheese on the naughty list because there are better ways to get calcium.

“Cheese is generally high in calories, saturated fat, and sodium, all of which we need to cut back on. You are better off with a low-fat milk, a soy or almond alternative, or vitamin D-fortified yogurt. Don’t forget that nuts, seeds, legumes and dark leafy greens also contain calcium.”

12. Spam

12. Spam
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You may want to pass on meat that comes from a factory instead of a butcher.

“Preservatives, sodium, and uncertainty of the meat’s origin are three things that make me worry,” says registered dietician and nutritionist Gabriella Vetere, RDN.

“Choose meat that your body can recognise, not one full of chemicals and preservatives,”

13. Ramen noodles

13. Ramen noodles
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Your penny-pinching, hungover, inner college student may be weeping, but your body will thank you when you avoid this sodium pit.

Exercise physiologist and nutritionist Rachel Straub, MS, recommends steering clear of these packaged goods because they’re loaded with salt and very little, if any, nutritional value.

14. Blended fruit yoghurts

14. Blended fruit yoghurts
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The commercials are catchy – and they may bring back fond memories of snacking as a kid – but when it comes to getting the essential nutrients that yoghurt is meant to deliver, most of blended fruit yoghurts are a bad idea.

As Straub explains, it is basically dessert for breakfast.

“Nearly 50 percent of the calories can come from added sugar, so they just aren’t a healthy choice,” she said.

“I would much rather have a plain yoghurt with a piece of real fruit.”

15. Donuts

15. Donuts
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Your Instagram feed might deliver a different message about these powdered (and sometimes rainbow-colored) nuggets of dough, but that dozen you pick up before a Monday morning meeting is doing damage, says personal trainer, author, nutritionist, and health and wellness coach Jamie Logie.

“Dounuts are made of refined (possibly GMO) white flour which is super high glycemic.”

That means it causes sudden spikes in your blood sugar.

“And they’re deep-fried in artery clogging and cancer causing trans fats and covered in sugar.

“They won’t fill you up, make you hungrier and are filled with pretty much the worst ingredients out there.”

16. Fast food burgers

16. Fast food burgers
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The healthiest part of those kid meals you used to beg your parents for when you were coming home from footy practice? Probably the plastic toy.

Logie says that while making your own patty on the grill at home can be a good nutritional choice, the one from the fast food window is questionable.

“One hamburger patty can be made up of dozens of different cows that come from feed-lot, confinement-based living. They are pumped full of hormones, have high levels of inflammation and are raised on some pretty horrific feed,” he says.

“You then have a high starch white flour bun and then depending what you have on it can contain inferior bacon and essentially plastic processed cheese.”

17. Movie cinema popcorn

17. Movie cinema popcorn
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Like peanut butter and jelly, toast and butter and macaroni and cheese, some things just seem like they were meant for one another.

Though it’s second nature to grab a can of buttery-salty goodness while you check out the latest blockbuster, Logie challenges you to resist.

Large sizes at theaters can contain over 1000 calories and 40 grams of fat—and that’s without the butter topping, Logie says.

For an alternative, pop your own on the stove top with some olive oil and salt, and sneak it into the theater. (We promise not to tell!)

18. Raw oysters

18. Raw oysters
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Though oysters have an aphrodisiac reputation and can really hit the spot with a glass of white wine on a sunny day, nutritionist Jennifer Bowers, PhD, RD shies away from the slimy mollusc for the threat it can pose on your digestive system.

“There are so many potential food-borne illnesses are associated with undercooked seafood – hepatitis A and noroviruses, specifically. Oysters commonly carry Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus,” she explains.

“Having said that, I think oysters taste horrible (personal opinion!), so it’s certainly not worth the risk for me. If you’re going to eat oysters, switch from raw ‘on the half shell’ variety to cooked to lower your risk of getting sick.”

19. Regular soft drink

19. Regular soft drink
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You probably don’t need us to tell you that even an average-sized glass of any soda is bad news for your bod.

Just in case you need the reminder, though, Bowers explains just how bad of an idea drinking liquid calories really is.

“The sugar load in just one serving is simply not worth the glucose rush, mood issues, headache, and calorie bomb. The huge intake of soda in the US coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, is strongly associated with the rising obesity epidemic,” she explains.

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