Saturday, November 20, 2021

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie

...may taste pretty good (I really don't know), but are they good for you?

According to an article in Men's Health magazine, cardiologists and dietitians have identified the 40 worst foods for your heart. The list doesn't seem to be in any particular order. Read it and weep:

1. Processed deli meats
2. Hot dogs
3. Rotisserie chicken
4. Ketchup
5. Barbecue sauce
6. Table salt
7. Reduced-fat salad dressings
8. Fat-free packaged snacks
9. Fat-free peanut butter
10. Sugary cereal
11. Flavored milk alternatives
12. Fried chicken
13. French fries (British, chips)
14. Potato chips (British, crisps)
15. Fruit smoothies
16. Green juices
17. Canned soup
18. Canned vegetables
19. Capers
20. Fruit-flavored yogurt
21. Granola
22. Fancy coffee drinks
23. Coffee creamer
24. Margarine
25. Pastries
26. Crescent rolls
27. Certain frozen entrees (for example, ones with over 1,000 miligrams of sodium per serving or per meal)
28. Store-bought energy bars
29. Candy bars
30. Red meat
31. White bread
32. White rice
33. Sports drinks
34. Energy drinks
35. Soda (this means sugar-sweetened beverages such as colas, not bicarbonate of soda or baking soda)
36. Diet soda (see 35)
37. Pizza
38. Marinara sauce
39. Sugary candy
40. Alcohol

I would like to state for the record that since June 2019 my weight has dropped 50 pounds and Mrs. RWP's about 90 pounds. I'm sure we are much healthier than we were and have probably extended our lifespans. However, eight (okay, 10) of the items on that list may still be found in our house.

Ignore this list at your peril, but you don't have to follow it religiously unless you want to. My advice is give yourself a little leeway. Everything in moderation, my dad used to say. You will still die--all of us do eventually--but in all likelihood you will die happier.

14 comments:

  1. Fourteen. So what? These people never say "in moderation" do they!

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  2. There are ten items that I seldom or never use. Boy am I unhealthy. Several more are 'sometimes' foods. As far as fat free foods most are filled with sugar. I seldom if ever eat those. Still I feel pretty good.

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  3. I'm going to waffle here. there are many variables' One is how much of this crap do you consume? How active are you? What about the genes? Having said all that and feeling guilty, I consume 24 of these. Good that you have lost weight.

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    Replies
    1. Red, whoa! I don't know about my genes, but my jeans are doing better.

      I thought of you earlier today when I read the first 15 pages of The Song Of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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    2. I attended a one room rural school from gr one to nine. the school was called Hiawatha. So the Hiawatha for me is a memory of my old school.

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  4. Having just eaten straight off the cob a corn cob boiled in water, followed by unadulterated home made vegetable soup and now, as I read this, a rhubarb yoghurt. At 115g I doubt whether whatever is in the yoghurt it is likely to be harming me and the rest was positively oozing with goodness.

    As far as your list goes the items I have in stock (and I keep a lot of foods in stock for emergency visits, lockdown and the fact that I never know what I want to eat until the last minute) I have 9 of which 3 are only used occasionally).

    I'm not sure how one can take the fat out of peanut butter and still call it peanut butter. Mine has roasted peanuts (96%)sustainable palm oil and sea salt. The fat content is 54.5g (out of 100g)

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  5. There are a large number of things on this list that I eat infrequently and enjoy.
    White rice is a staple in this house. Oh well

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  6. Graham, you are the leader so far among my readership when it comes to healthy eating, at least according to the list in Men's Health magazine! And you look better in a kilt than any of us.

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    Replies
    1. Oh gosh. I don't recall ever showing myself in a kilt on my blog but I obviously did at some time. It's something in which I feel exceptionally comfortable. I may not have been born in Scotland but I've lived almost half a century in The Hebrides. The only other place I feel so at home is New Zealand.

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    2. Ah. Just remembered (ie looked for and found) my blog post of 10 June 2018.

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  7. I eat a large number of these things now and again. White rice is a staple though

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  8. I eat some of those things but not often. Alcohol is way down on the list, surprisingly.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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