Everyone knows the importance of eating a healthy diet.
Among other things, it prevents obesity, keeps the heart healthy, and fosters an overall sense of well being.
However, to maintain a healthy diet, one needs to be aware of unhealthy foods to avoid.
Lurking out there is a myriad of foods that will sabotage your efforts to maintain a good diet.
Some are obvious no-no's, while others are not so clearly bad for you.
The first category of unhealthy foods to avoid is those high in fat.
In particular, one's intake of saturated fat and trans-fat should be kept at a bare minimum.
Foods high in these 'bad' fats include butter, margarine, lard and shortening.
When consuming fats, one should choose to consume monounsaturated fats.
Olive and canola oil are two examples of foods with monounsaturated fat.
The second category of unhealthy foods to avoid is those with high levels of sodium.
Too much sodium in the diet can negatively affect one's blood pressure.
The supermarkets are fraught with highly processed foods which are loaded with salt.
Some of the major culprits include canned soup, processed meat, such as hot dogs and deli meats, processed cheese, pizza, and potato chips.
The third category of foods to avoid is those high in sugar.
A high intake of sugars increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease, not to mention it is a prime contributor to obesity and tooth decay.
The list of foods loaded with sugar is interminable if not obvious (candy, soft drinks, cookies.
) Not so obvious, however, are foods that appear to be 'healthy', such as some yogurts and cereals, but which in fact are high in sugar.
The temptation to consume the foods listed above is great, mostly because they taste so good.
A fast food burger, a double scoop ice cream cone or a pizza loaded with pepperoni can be unbeatable pleasures for some people.
However, none of these foods taste as good as being healthy feels.