Foods To Limit

There are some foods that every healthy teen needs to limit. I mean, everybody has to have a limit on everything, but these foods you have to limit more. When I say limit, I don't mean halt yourself from ever touching that type of food again, I really do mean limit. As you have learned in earlier posts, the body needs certain macro nutrients and if you cut off all supply of the certain macro nutrients you need, you won't be able to survive.

You should try to avoid foods that are high in saturated fat, like a big mac, or a double quarter pounder. Saturated fats are linked to many different problems such as increased risk of heart disease/heart attacks, obesity, and many other different things. The fatty deposits can get stuck in your blood vessels, and eventually cause a heart attack.

Try to avoid food with a high amount of sodium. Sodium is important for your health because it helps blood vessels hold water, but you should try to limit your intake of sodium because too much sodium can put your health at risk. Too much sodium will cause you to be thirsty until the sodium-water ratio is put into order, and too much water will cause your body to pump more blood, which will make the heart work harder, which leads to high blood pressure, which increases the chance of cardiovascular disease. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, recommends less than 2,300 mg of salt per day (About 1 teaspoon)

You should also try to avoid foods with too much sugar in them. Not because they cause diabetes, as most people would think, but because too much sugar can cause changes in your liver and can cause a change in the amount of lipids in your body, or it may cause your body to store the sugars as fat, depending on what type of sugars they are. The body needs carbohydrates for energy, and sugars are one way to receive them, but too much can cause devastating effects to your health and to your body.

You can tell most of the time whether or not the product you are eating has too much of the macro nutrient you are looking at through the nutritional facts usually located on the back. Be wary of the serving size though, because the nutritional facts are based on one serving only, and one package may contain multiple servings.

Sources/Links:
helpguide.org
mypyramid.gov
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081203205947AAd6oUe