5 foods a nutritionist never eats

With so much conflicting information out there, it can be hard to know what foods are truly healthy and which are better avoided. Here, Harley Street nutritionist Kim Pearson shares five foods she never eats
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Kim Pearson13 October 2019

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love my food. Yes, I may be a nutritionist, but I love pasta, chocolate and wine just as much as the next person. I don’t believe in overly restrictive diets, but there are a handful of foods that I never eat and with good reasons.

Here are five foods I steer clear of.

Processed meat

Deli-style meats - like ham, salami and cheap sausages - are just a few examples of highly processed meats that I would never eat. Amongst their many undesirable features is the presence of nitrates and nitrites used as preservatives in some of these meats, which has been classified as probably carcinogenic (cancer causing) to humans.

Not only are processed meats a nutritional disaster, there is the animal welfare consideration too. It’s highly unlikely that these products are made from free range, naturally reared animals.

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‘Low fat’ processed foods

I am not the kind of person who can eat whatever they like and stay slim. Far from it! I understand the appeal of ‘diet’ and ‘low fat’ foods, but even still, I don’t eat them. These foods are, by definition, highly processed. Where fat is taken out of a food, it’s almost always replaced with sugar or artificial sweeteners.

The idea that fat is bad or is the main cause of weight gain has long been disproved. We now know that sugars (and excess starchy carbs) are largely responsible for weight gain. I’d far rather stick to the natural, full fat version. Healthier and definitely tastier!

Margarine and butter substitutes

Margarine and vegetable spreads have been marketed as healthier alternatives to butter, but the truth is, they are not. Often what draws people to them is the belief that they are nutritionally superior because of their lower levels of saturated fats. Given that saturated fat is not an enemy to your health – while artificially hardened vegetable oils (like hydrogenated trans-fats) are - it’s far better to stick to unadulterated fats like coconut oil for cooking and olive oil for dressings.

Rice cakes

Rice cakes always make me think of polystyrene. I imagine the flavours are comparable. I’m only interested in rice cakes if they have a thick layer of chocolate on top and even then, I’d rather just have the chocolate. These are often a go-to food for anyone counting calories but the truth is that, eaten alone, they will likely cause a peak in your blood sugar levels meaning they aren’t even a particularly healthy option. A better choice would be a couple of oat cakes topped with unsweetened nut butter or guacamole.

Guacamole is a healthy fat
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Agave nectar/syrup

While agave syrup does come from a cactus and might appear ‘natural’, it’s actually very highly processed and is mostly sugar. What’s worse is that the type of sugar found in agave is fructose. While small amounts of fructose in fruits is generally ok, eating larger quantities in the form of agave is definitely not recommended.

Fructose needs to be processed by the liver, causing more stress for an already over-worked organ. Agave syrup is very similar to the much-demonised high fructose corn syrup that has contributed greatly to the obesity epidemic in the US. If I want to sweeten things, I use xylitol or stevia.

Kim Pearson is a qualified nutritionist and weight loss specialist based on London’s Harley Street. She consults clients in London and internationally via her virtual consulting room. For more information about Kim and the services she offers, visit her website kim-pearson.co

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