Rodeo Rick’s Top 5 – Foods To Avoid At The Dinner Table

There is a growing trend around dinner tables all across the country, its called "Clean Eating". What clean eating means is for people to choose fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing.

As we are often told what kinds of food choices we should be eating, what about the foods we might be eating, that we shouldn't. We already know about fast foods, processed foods and of course junk foods. But what about foods we think are safe, which in reality, we really should be avoiding.

Prevention Magazine has put out a list of foods that we should avoid. Mostly because they could be tainted with chemicals that can cause harm to our systems.

So, which foods should we avoid eating?  Here is my top 5 items chosen from the list put out by Prevention Magazine.

#5.)  Milk Made Using Artificial Hormones - Most dairy farmers use a growth hormone in cows to boost the production of milk.  It works, but it also leads to higher levels of a hormone called IGF-1, which could cause cancer.

#4.)  Non-Organic Potatoes - Potatoes are the most-popular vegetable in America, but since they're root vegetables, they absorb more pesticides from the soil.  Also a new study implicates potato starch and sugars as a possible cause of obesity.

#3.)  Microwave Popcorn. According to a recent study at UCLA, chemicals in the lining of the bag might cause infertility issues.   And in testing, chemicals that are similar to the ones found in popcorn bags are believed to cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancers.

#2.)  Corn-Fed Beef. You've probably heard this one before:  Cows are supposed to eat grass, but they fatten up more quickly if they eat corn.  Plus, it's a lot cheaper for the cattle farmers.   Grass-fed beef is more expensive and you might have to go to Whole Foods or farmers market to get it.  But, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, calcium, magnesium, and potassium and lower in saturated fat, which is linked to heart disease.

And the #1 food to avoid is one that I eat a lot of, and you might as well:

#1.)  Canned Tomatoes - I didn't know this, but the linings in tin cans contain bisphenol-A (known as BPA), a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to reproductive problems, heart disease, diabetes and obesity and is especially bad for kids. Some canned foods are fine, but the acid in tomatoes causes BPA to absorb into the food.  So, instead of buying canned tomatoes to keep around the house, you might try purchasing the ones that come in glass bottles. Does this include tomato based sauces like soups and spaghetti, unfortunately yes it does.  Going with glass jars or using fresh might be more expensive, but they're less likely to contain BPA.

Source - Prevention Magazine Online - 7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips