Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins

Obtaining optimal health is a goal for many people. No one wants to develop disease and sickness. The good news is, one of the ways to develop optimal health is by avoiding purchasing food that is loaded with chemical, has no nutritional value, or is energetically altered. Let's discover the top fourteen foods to avoid.

1. Avoid purchasing anything with words you can't pronounce. This is very easy. If you have difficulty figuring out what a word is and have a hard time pronouncing it, don't buy it. Most likely it is a harmful chemical.

2. Monosodium Glutamate. Never buy anything with this chemical in it. MSG is a toxin that is dangerous, causes weight gain, increases appetite, and causes all kinds of health problems.

3. Stay Away from Aspartame. This is a toxin that makes people gain weight, causes hunger, and leads to medical problems such as PMS and migraines.

4. Avoid High Fructose Cory Syrup. This is a chemical that causes people to become addicted and makes them fat.

5. No Hydrogenated Oil or Partially Hydrogenated Oil. Never buy foods with these ingredients since they are trans fats. Trans fats are deadly, causes heart disease, cause weight gain, and once more, other medical problems.

6. Avoid Sugar. Sugar that is processed turns out as refined white powder. All the natural sugarcane is taken out. Sugar has lots of chemicals that are used in the growing of sugarcane. It should be avoided at all costs.

7. Don't Be Fooled By "Natural" and "Artificial Flavor". These words, most of the time, mean that the food is loaded with chemicals and grown with pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides. The bottom line-eating organic food is best.

8. Be Wary of Spices. Spices do sound very healthy, but many of them really are not. Companies use hundreds of chemicals, put it in food products, but only label the product as a spice. In reality, people are getting more that salt, pepper, oregano, and the like in their foods. Most of the time, lots of man-made chemicals are made as well.

9. Avoid Artificial Color. If anything has dye in it, stay away. A dye is really a chemical poison.

10. Avoid Palm Oil: This is a very unhealthy oil that is cheap to manufacture, but causes physical problems. So, stay away from it.

11. Dextrose, Sucrose, and Fructose. There are chemically made sweeteners. There are not good for the body at all. So, it's best to avoid them.

12. Avoid Sucrulose and Splenda. This is a man-made sweetener that most people have heard of. In spite of the hype, it is unnatural, artificial, and man-made. The problems it can cause are increases in appetite, depression, allergies, etc., all depending on the person's genetic makeup. It is best to avoid these products.

13. No Enriched Bleached White Flour. This flour has no fiber. It has no nutritional value, and is highly refined. Eat organic wheat flour or other organic flours such as rye, millet, etc.

14. Avoid Soy Protein Isolate. This is usually found in protein shakes and in protein or food bars. Soy protein isolate's refining process often includes hexane, which a petroleum solvent like gasoline. The best thing to do is to avoid at all costs.

So, there you have it. The top 14 foods to avoid in order to be in the best health as possible. Pay attention to those labels and be on your way to outstanding health.