The 10 "Worst" Foods

[divalasvegas]

Once again we have a self appointed expert who has compiled a list of the ten worst foods you can eat. The online article is even subtitled "Vile Vittles."

Saturated animal fats

That means fatty meats, especially beef and pork, or the skin on poultry. It also includes full-fat dairy products such as cheese, milk and cream. Fatty meat and dairy products do have some contributions to make to a diet, but none that can't be found elsewhere.

In addition to the above "offensive" foods she also lists alcohol and raw oysters. To her credit she did include olestra (duh) as a food, er, substance to be avoided.

Here's the link to the article:

The Ten Worst Foods

So how many of these "forbidden" foods do you partake of? How much of her list do you agree/disagree with?

[Tess]

I've seen lists like this often. I find them odd because the items are ill-assorted and not all on the same level. They're problematic for all different reasons. Some are useless, some are harmful, some are OK in moderation. They say that alcohol is the most troublesome of all, yet you can have some of it. What are people who know nothing about food going to make of this? I'm not a nutritionist, or anything like that, but it seems like it's silly to give out checklists of "bad" foods. What do they except people to do-- go down the list, avoid each of these ten things and reassure themselves that they're eating fine?

[slkinsey]

Here is the whole list:

1. Hydrogenated fats
   
2. Olestra
   
3. Nitrates
   
4. Alcohol
   
5. Raw oysters
   
6. Saturated animal fats
   
7. Soda
   
8. Low-acid home-canned foods
   
9. High-fat snacks, chips
   
10. Liquid meals
    

All in all, it strikes me as a stupid idea and a stupid list. None of these things are all that bad for you (and some of them, like alcohol, can be good for you) in the right amounts.

[Gifted Gourmet]

from Jax Med comes these ten ...

yet another list ...

but wait! more and more

just in case you haven't found your ten worst ...

Moral of the (sad) story? If a food appears on all of these .. don't eat it ...

[johnnyd]

Oysters are a nutritious food, and are great to include in your diet, but if you do, cook them first!

bwaaaaa-hhaaa-hhaa-hahahahaaaaaah!!!

Over my dead, vibrio-vulnificied body!

[jsolomon]

Fat=bad, my ass. If it weren't for the 1000-2000 (closer to 3000 some days) Calories of fat in my daily diet, I'd be looking like Christian Bale in "The Machinist"

This list plays into the "if a little is good, a lot is better" mentality that people get when they disengage their brains from their lifestyles.

I would sooner say that cash crops such as rice, corn, soybeans, and sugar cane are worse because of their geo-political effects.

But, that's my particular bent on what makes a food good or bad.

[divalasvegas]

from Jax Med comes these ten ...

yet another list ...

but wait! more and more

just in case you haven't found your ten worst ...

Moral of the (sad) story? If a food appears on all of these .. don't eat it ...

←

Oh GG I just read the article from the first link you posted featuring advice from Dr. Charles Booras. BOORAS. Yeah, I'd say his name fits him like a glove. I especially liked this quote from him, although it was hard to choose since his list contained a veritable goldmine of unintentionally hilarious lines:

3. BACON. It's not really a meat. As many as 95% of the calories in bacon come from animal fat (the worst kind)! It's also high in salt and full of both nitrites and nitrates, which may cause cancer. Microwaved bacon seems drier but is just as high in fat.

You just can't trust anyone who disparages bacon.

[jackal10]

I'm sure we can make our own list(s)

Let's see

1 McD's or any mass chain food

2 Anything with "healthy" on the packaging. Almost certainly the additivies are worse than whatever they were replacing.

3 Anything with artifical colouring or sweetening; "diet" sodas or drinks like Sunny D are the worst, and have been shown to cause hyperactivity in children.

4. Well done protein, especially steaks

5. Turkey twizzlers, or anything including mechanically reformed meat

[Raoul Duke]

C'mon now. You've seen the individuals who advocate these lists. Anorexic, pale and drinking non-alcoholic cider at the "fun" holiday party. And don't get them started talking about what wonders fiber has done for them.

[petite tête de chou]

The only bad food that I know of is arsenic-laced wine.

[rich]

The only bad food that I know of is arsenic-laced wine.

←

Normally I would agree with that, but I served some to my brother-in-law last month and it seemed to work very well. It wasn't bad at all.

[Patrick S]

Life without copious amounts of #4 and #6 would be more bleak than I could endure.

[OwnReward]

Life without copious amounts of #4 and #6 would be more bleak than I could endure.

←

From Jackal10's list or SLKinsey's??

kv

[Pontormo]

Life without copious amounts of #4 and #6 would be more bleak than I could endure.

←

I am going into the kitchen now to pour a glass of #4 and reheat last night's #6 .

4: Beaujolais Nouveau--a glass of red wine's good for you.

6: Quiche without #3, but bacon nonetheless, leeks sauteed in butter, 1 cup heavy cream, eggs and lots and lots of Gruyere.

[Pan]

[...]So how many of these "forbidden" foods do you partake of?  How much of her list do you agree/disagree with?

←

I have hydrogenated fats more than I'd like to, and I do agree that they are bad.

I'm sure I eat some nitrates, and I thought that the idea that they were dangerous carcinogens, though current in the 70s, was debunked a long time ago.

I usually am a light drinker, but do drink alcohol and recently spent a good deal of time drinking in bars with visiting friends. As noted above, moderate consumption of alcohol (rather more than I usually partake in) can be salutary.

I do eat saturated fats, in the form of animal meat and attached fat more than anything else (I eat sauces with butter in them but do not put butter on my bread). I do eat skin on poultry, and full-fat cheese, yogurt, and ice cream when I feel like doing so. I do like to get "lite" ice cream when it's available.

I seldom drink soda. I sometimes drink carbonated water at my parents' and otherwise practically never have soda except when ordering Cel-Ray with a pastrami sandwich at Katz's. I'm sure the author of that article would hate the pastrami I order, and I don't care. I don't have it that often, anyway.

I do eat high-fat snacks, such as Pepperidge Farm cookies, which are also where I get most of my hydrogenated fats. I do, however, prefer the kosher dairy pastries at Moishe's, my local kosher bakery, which presumably are made with butter and don't contain any artificial ingredients.

Anything else you want to know?

[divalasvegas]

I'm sure we can make our own list(s)

Let's see

1 McD's or any mass chain food

2 Anything with "healthy" on the packaging. Almost certainly the additivies are worse than whatever they were replacing.

3 Anything with artifical colouring or sweetening; "diet" sodas or drinks like Sunny D are the worst, and have been shown to cause hyperactivity in children.

4. Well done protein, especially steaks

5. Turkey twizzlers, or anything including mechanically reformed meat

←

How about a few more Jackal10? At least these are my no no's.

6. Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix (or any cheap hot chocolate mix for that matter). This is the hot chocolate mix the office orders and it's pretty vile stuff, not even remotely chocolatey and it contains a ton of sugar plus artificial colors to make it look "brown."

7. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts.

8. Low Fat Cheese.

9. Fat Free Salad Dressings like Pritikin (hello, the olive oil in a vinagrette is actually good for you)

10. Seasoning packets for marinades, gravies, sauces, meat seasoning, etc. -- tons of sodium, artificial colors and artificial flavors. Ugh. Unnecessary and so easy to put together your own seasonings at home.

Probably more to come.

[jackal10]

Instant coffee

Wholemeal pastry

Meatloaf (or almost anything made with poor quality mince)

Plastic cheese (including fake cheddars, cheese slices and the like)

Margarine, especially those spreads claiming to be healthy

Baked beans or ketchup or salad dressings other than Heinz

Overcooked roast beef

[FabulousFoodBabe]

So how many of these "forbidden" foods do you partake of?  How much of her list do you agree/disagree with?

←

Hmph. I would have put the quotes about "foods." Transfats? Not food. No maragarine has been in my house for over 20 years. Alcohol? Not food. Essential liquids

I'm sure that oysters lightly poached in low-fat, low-salt chicken broth would be perfection on this list. I'm shuddering.

-Fabby,

who will give up her Diet Pepsi when they pry it ouf of her cold, dead hands

[anzu]

yet another list ...

←

Quoting from that link:

Potatoes are bad enough when consumed in their raw state,

He's writing for people who are ready to consume raw potatoes?? What's next, raw eggplant?

And yes, I know there's a thread somewhere here about people who are happy to eat raw potato, but it's still hardly mainstream...

[jsolomon]

Baked beans

←

How can you knock baked beans? When homemade, they are spectacular (and damned easy, too)

Baked beans from a can, those I can knock.

[Bux]

Let's see

10. Seasoning packets for marinades, gravies, sauces, meat seasoning, etc. -- tons of sodium, artificial colors and artificial flavors.  Ugh.  Unnecessary and so easy to put together your own seasonings at home.

Probably more to come.

←

Ever read the labels on anything served on an airline that comes in a sealed container? I've bought paint remover that seemed more organic as well as more appetizing.

[Oyster Guy]

Oysters?

They are only the richest animal source of vitamins and minerals in the world, containing 5 vitamins and 16 minerals.

They contain Omega3 fatty acids which reduce bad cholesterel and come in their own recyclable package.

They also improve your sex life.

By the way, governments do inspect the oysters and the waters they are grown in on a daily basis.

They drive me crazy with their testing on my oyster farm and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Once again, the media has shot off it's mouth without proper research into the subject.

Details, details, details, people. Do your freaking research or just keep your mouth shut!

Expert, my ass!

Keep on shucking

Oyster Guy

Edited January 13, 2006 by Oyster Guy (log)

[Pan]

There is a problem, though, with oysters and other bivalves: They eat by filtering large quantities of water. Whatever impurities there are in the water get multiplied by a large factor in oysters and the like, and when we eat them, we are eating those impurities because we are eating their filters. So there could be a reason for people to limit their intake of bivalves unless they're really sure the ones they're consuming come from areas with very low levels of heavy metals and so forth in the water.

I happen to find raw oysters disgusting, but I'd never tell people not to eat them.

Jack, meatloaf can be excellent. I'll bet you would make a delicious meatloaf if you put your mind to it.

[Oyster Guy]

There is a problem, though, with oysters and other bivalves: They eat by filtering large quantities of water. Whatever impurities there are in the water get multiplied by a large factor in oysters and the like, and when we eat them, we are eating those impurities because we are eating their filters. So there could be a reason for people to limit their intake of bivalves unless they're really sure the ones they're consuming come from areas with very low levels of heavy metals and so forth in the water.

I happen to find raw oysters disgusting, but I'd never tell people not to eat them.

Jack, meatloaf can be excellent. I'll bet you would make a delicious meatloaf if you put your mind to it.

←

That's why they test the waters on a daily basis to ensure nothing but a clean healthy product goes to the consumer.

By the way, I think meatloaf is disgusting and considering the problems they have had with mad cow disease, the antibiotics they pump into the cows and the growth hormones it's way more of a health risk to eat beef than shellfish.

But that's only my opinion.

Edited January 13, 2006 by Oyster Guy (log)

[Bux]

The best French terrine is little more than excellent meat loaf. There may be a risk in eating oysters, but there's a risk in crossing the street and I rarely feel as good to have crossed the street as I do after a dozen oysters. I've not noticed an improvement in my sex life directly related to eating oysters, though I think the idea that oysters are an aphrodesiac sometimes helps the mood for many. Liquor on the other hand, works wonders for many people's sex life. If nothing else, it helps make any partner look better, thus increasing the chance of a successful mating session.