What won't you eat....for health reasons

[kathymuggle]

What won't you eat for health reasons? Either things you severely limit, or out and out refuse to eat. Things in the "never" or "only if I were starving" category.

The only thing I will not eat is fake sugar - asparatme. I read a study once that it rotted the brain stem in rats, and have been wary ever since. I have no idea if the study was accurate or not, but I do not want to risk it.

I will not buy margarine - even the non hydrogenated kind - I just do not trust any process that renders oil solid at room temperature. I will eat this one out of the house, though.

[AllyRae]

Gluten, dairy, and eggs for allergy reasons. Hydogenated oils, trans fats, refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors/colors. We basically only eat organic whole foods anyhow...it started out because processed foods that were gluten/dairy/egg free were hideous tasting and expensive. But now, the more we know about clean eating, the more we refuse to eat anything that isn't "clean". Also, I have a child on the autism spectrum and I noticed that his behavior, as well as the behavior of my older daughter (who also has special needs) have intense behavior issues when they have refined sugar. My youngest dd is also immune deficient, so we try to eat clean as a way to keep her little body as strong as possible against illness. Add to it that I have some health issues that are rather rare in peope my age (essential thrombocythemia is one of them), and I want to eat clean as a way to protect myself from my condition progressing, as the progression of my condition is leukemia.

Now, clean doesn't = low fat. I've made plenty of fattening rich awesome desserts from scratch using whole foods, and I'm not giving that up at all. :

ETA: We don't do HFCS and MSG too, and try to avoid all GM foods. We also try really had to only do ethically raised meat...that one's a bit harder though since it's not always available locally.

[MammaG]

Fast food (although I am guilty of occasionally having a bagel from DD). I'd starve to death before I ever ate a McD's meal.

Most of my 'banned' list is ingredients:

Aspartame for the same reason as you, OP.
HFCS
Hydrogenated oils (we like real fats)
MSG and all the additives that contain MSG. It also messes with your brain function.

I also have a list of things that I'm working on banning, but you asked for the ones that were already nixed.

[rhiOrion]

No dairy right now for the sake of my DD's stomach and my sanity.

Other than that I'll eat pretty much anything in moderation.

[A&A]

tuna, unfortunately. I used to love it.

[Arduinna]

I try and stay away from partially hydrogenated fats and HF corn syrup, although I'm sure it's still in some packaged foods I buy. I don't buy maragarine ever. I don't drink diet beverages or use fake sugar, partially for health but also because I hate the taste. I buy non homogonized milk. I try to buy non GMO foods as much as possible.

[Carhootel]

there's nothing I LOVE but won't eat for health reasons. Obviously some things I like, I limit for health reasons - sweets, soda, fries, etc..

Isn't it great when you think something unhealthy is gross and everyone else talks about how much they miss it - for me, it's potato chips, I'm not a fan really so it's not something I miss.

[Pepper44]

Homogenized and/or ultra pasteurized milk. Not only is it unhealthy, it doesn't even taste like milk anymore!

Margarine isn't allowed in my house and I'll avoid it when eating at my parents' house. (Though I don't question butter when at a restaurant if I need it for my baked potato or something.)

I also try to avoid HFCS in foods we buy. We drink Coke sometimes, but that's about it. I don't buy foods that have long ingredient lists in general.

We try to avoid MSG also, for the most part.

We avoid fast food except for an occasional meal...it's unhealthy and it makes me feel gross for an entire day after eating it. The gross feeling is more of a motivation than the unhealthy factor, sadly. I don't freak out if Grandparents take DD to McDonald's every now and then, and sometimes we order pizza, but it's not that often.

[Llyra]

It would be a lot faster to list what I CAN eat..

I can't eat:
soy, except soybean oil, which I don't eat anyway, but I COULD
(Actually I've gently reintroduced a bit of tamari, and I'm doing okay with that.)
sugar
corn syrup
molasses
agave nectar
a variety of other natural and artificial sweetners
(The only "sugar" I really eat is raw honey.)
starchy fillers like corn starch
white flour
polished barley
white rice
instant oats

I limit:
whole wheat
steel-cut or rolled oats
stone-ground corn meal
other grains besides whole-grain rice
starchy vegetables

Um, I think there's probably more. I'm slowly weaning myself from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which I've been on for several years to deal with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. The diet limits carbohydrates to non-starchy vegetables, honey and fruits. So I didn't eat sweeteners, and I didn't eat starches. The diet also prohibits high-lactose foods like liquid milk, soft cheeses, ice cream, or commercial yogurt, but I've now fully reintroduced milk products. I'm in the weaning process on the starches, although I don't plan on reintroducing the highly processed starches on the "can't" list.

I also don't eat most packaged foods with additives and preservatives, but mostly because those foods almost always contain starches or sugars I can't have. We also sharply limit certain kinds of cooking oils, like soybean oil, sunflower and safflower oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, and sesame oil. We do that because my fatty acid balance has a big impact on my digestive health. Omega-3 fatty acids in any form are expensive, and in natural forms are difficult to keep fresh. So I limit omega-6 fatty acids, to achieve a balance that works for my gut.

[Magelet]

Never:
chemically processed soy
margerine/hydrogenated vegetable oils and hydrogenated fats
aspertame
fast food/processed food

very very sparingly (I'll eat it occasionally, but almost never, as it's not healthy)
vegetable, corn, soy oils (I can't say never to fried foods at restaurants)
tofu
white sugar

[mamadelbosque]

Anything w/ artificial sweeteners (aspartame, splenda, etc)

[cristeen]

Non-organic soy, incl processed soy. The only soy i still use is sauce, and id love to try coconut aminos.
Hfcs
hydrogenated oils
sugar alcohols
aspartame

things i try really hard to avoid
gmo corn products
animals fed gmo corn or soy

things i try to limit
white sugar
wheat

[CherryBomb]

I don't do aspartame, and I try to avoid HFCS (unless I really want a coke). I do my best to avoid hydrogenated oils. I try to limit refined sugar and white flour, though not strictly. When I do eat them it's usually only in homemade stuff that I don't like using healthier substitues for (like fudge at the holidays or buttermilk biscuits for sausage gravy). I don't buy commercial chicken (I raise my own) though occasionally I eat it at a restaraunt. I try to avoid beef that isn't grassfed, too.

Oh, MSG, I try to avoid that, though sometimes i miss it on labels. If I do I go ahead and use it (I can't afford to be wasteful) and try to be more careful the next time.

[nolansmummy]

Don't eat meat or drink milk, but i will eat things with milk in them
won't buy anything with HFCS, although i'm sure that i have eaten it at events and things where food isn't labeled
Splenda- gives me awful headaches
I limit hydrogenated oils

[JessicaS]

Dairy-I am allergic
MSG-It makes me sick
I do avoid a lot of preservatives, my body doesn't tolerate them well. I just don't buy anything in a box.
HFCS
aspartame and others like it. I do use stevia
I don't freak out about fast food but I do limit it a lot.

[ammiga]

Never:
Artificial sweeteners
Margarine
American cheese
Fast food
Artificial colors
Artificial flavors
Anything from the water (seafood)

Only if we eat out (which is about 2x/month), never at home:
Trans-fats (most restaurants we eat at cut them)
MSG (I always order without, but sometimes it is in things I don't know about)
HFCS (dh loves fountain coke)
Processed foods (rarely order anything in this category)
Non-organic produce
Non-organic meat

Very limited at home (or at restaurants):
White flour
Sugar
Corn

[academama]

I don't think there's anything I'm that dogmatic about. However, we eat very little (and never buy for our house): margarine, juice (I just don't see the point of the almost-empty calories and I hate it that people always want to give it to my kids!), white flour.

[ledzepplon]

I do my best to never eat artificial sweeteners.

I limit myself to eating restaurant Chinese food about once a year, because it always makes me feel sick afterward (even though I like it).

[oiseau]

Things I'd never eat:
-any artificial sweetener
-McDonalds (I'm not quite so strict about other fast food places)
-canned "meat products" like Vienna sausages

Things I almost never eat:
-Fast food (generally only when I'm on a long car trip and then only specific restaurants)
-deep fried anything
-HFCS
-soda
-MSG
-pre-packaged convenience foods or processed foods
-milk (ice cream and cheese should be on this list too, but they're too good to give up!)
-canned veggies (except tomatoes)
-meat from a typical grocery store

Things I'd be ok with eating, but they make me sick:
-Alcohol (migraines)
-oatmeal (makes me gag/puke)
-mushrooms
-anything spicy

[angelachristin]

My 3 biggies are:

*any artificial sweeteners--aspartame, splenda, etc. NEVER EVER for me and my kids.
*MSG...never never never. for me or kids.
*soy milk, soy meats, etc...NEVER especially for the kids

I also avoid fake butter thingys (margarine, etc). and I try to get all produce organic as much as possible, and meat organic and grass-fed if possible. I also try to buy raw as much as possible, raw cheese, etc. I would do raw milk if I had a source for it.