Foods to avoid

• Unhealthy fats: Unhealthy trans fats can still be found in some packaged pastries, cookies, crackers, snacks, and some margarines. Read the nutrition facts to see all the fats in the product. Choose foods with zero grams of trans fats and the least amount of saturated fats per serving.

Fats to avoid

Butter

Lard

Bacon fat

Gravy

Cream sauce

Nondairy creamers

Hydrogenated margarine and shortening

Cocoa butter, found in chocolate

Coconut, palm, cottonseed and palm-kernel oils

Proteins to avoid

Full-fat milk and other dairy products

Organ meats, such as liver

Egg yolks

Fatty and marbled meats

Spareribs

Cold cuts

Frankfurters, hot dogs and sausages

Bacon

Fried or breaded meats

• Salt: We all need some sodium, but there’s no doubt most of us get far more than the recommended 2,300 to 2,400 mg per day. Many fast and processed foods, from soups to frozen casseroles, are high in sodium, which can raise blood pressure. Avoid high-salt soups and frozen foods. When in doubt, read labels. Depending on the brand, one can of soup may contain 500 to 1,000 mg of sodium. Remember that the flavor of processed foods is often enhanced with lots of added salt or sugar.
• Added Sugar : Sugar is added to just about everything, from spaghetti sauce and soda, to peanut butter and fast food. One can of sweetened soda alone contains about ten teaspoons of sugar and more than 120 empty calories. Here are common added sugars to look for on the ingredients list: Brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, and syrup. Foods that have one or more of those ingredients high on the list may be high in sugars.