12 unhealthy foods that doctors avoid

You've heard this hundreds of times before, but it's still true and it's still important: Thefoods youeat on a daily basis willmakea big difference in yourfuture. Eating well not only helps you maintain a healthy weight it can also help you stave off a number of chronic conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.Knowing what foods to eat (hint: lots of plants!) is crucial. Knowing what foods to avoid matters, too.So INSIDER interviewed Tom Rifai, MD, FACP,and Mark Liponis, MDtwo doctors who specialize in using lifestyle habits to prevent and treat chronic diseaseto ask about what foods they avoid in their own lives. They're not saying theynevereat the foods on this list (because what's life without a little pizza now and again'), but they have curbed their intake of certain foods in the name of long-term wellness.Here's what they had to say:1. Red meatRifai,regional medical director ofMetabolic Health and Weight Management at the Henry Ford Health System and member of the True Health Initiative, told INSIDER that he grew up eating quarter pounders and Triple Whoppers but times have changed. "Red meat is not something I totally avoid, but I have dramatically cut it down,"he said.Red meat is packed with protein, but it's also rich in saturated fat the kind that raises "bad" LDL cholesterol. And research shows that habitually eating red meat can increase thechance of dying from heart disease.Liponis, the chief medical officer at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts and author of "Ultralongevity,"added that red meat has negative environmental impacts, too."The energy required to turn grass into meat is a high cost for our globe," he said.2. Processed meatsBoth Rifai and Liponis said they avoid processed meats like hot dogs, bologna, sausage, and bacon.For one, they tend to contain lots of saturated fat and sodium. (Eating too much of the latter, of course, can make your blood pressure creep higher and higher.) But they also have scary implications for your health."I stay away from processed meats but mainly because of their link with cancer," Liponis said. "They've been linked with more bowel cancers and maybe bladder cancers."3. Refined grains"Refined grains are something I really try to limit," Rifai said. "[But] we live in amber waves of refined grains, so it's hard to totally avoid."This category includes white bread, white rice, anything made with white flour (cake, pastries, cookies), pasta,breakfast cereals stuff that floods almost every aisle of the grocery store.The problem is thatprocess of refining grains removes much of their fiber and nutritional value.You're better off eating whole grains: Research showsdiets high inwhole grains (rather than refined ones) lower "bad" cholesterol and may slashdiabetes risk.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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