Ingredients You Should Stop Using

By Sara Butler

Making your own meals at home is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. As busy as many lifestyles are, the urge to cut corners in the kitchen is strong but may be unwise when it comes to your health. Even the most well-intentioned home cook might be doing more harm than good with certain ingredients. Here are a few foods you’re better off leaving out of your pantry for the sake of your health!

Vegetable Oils

Corn, cottonseed, and soybean oils are all highly processed and contain a very high amount of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. In moderation, these fats can be healthy for you and your heart, but if too much is eaten it can cause problems. You need both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but the balance of them is important. Americans get way too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. To help resolve this issue, use fewer vegetable oils in your cooking and instead opt for extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil.

Cream of Anything Soup

Cream-of-whatever may be an important component in your grandmother’s green bean casserole at Thanksgiving, but it has no place in normal everyday cooking. Creamy soups are really high in sodium and also pack in a lot of vegetable oil and MSG. Try to make your next casserole without utilizing cream of something soup to do it.

Fake Butter

Fake butter is also known as margarine and it’s not good for you! This pro-inflammatory food is made with processed oils that can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. You should switch to grass-fed butter and just throw out any margarine lurking in your refrigerator.

Fat-Free Dairy

Any kind of fat-free cream cheese, cottage cheese, or cheese are no good for your health. Fat-free products often have higher levels of sugar, so they may not have fat but be worse for you. Plus, it’s the fat in foods you eat that help you feel fuller for longer. Removing the fat will just make you crave more of the food in the long run, causing you to overeat.

Pancake Syrup

What you have in your pantry may taste like maple, but is it real maple syrup? Chances are, it’s not. And if it’s not, then what you’ve got is maple-flavored high-fructose corn syrup instead. Real maple syrup is a great source of calcium, potassium, and magnesium -- so treat yourself to the real stuff!

Don't sabotage your healthy eating with bad ingredients!