I know what you’re thinking when you read the title, “I thought all vegetables were good for you?” Well, that used to be the case for just about everything grown out of the ground, but now with man’s growing demand for food, the industry has created unhealthy options for vegetables.
So we’ve gathered our top three veggies to stay away from.
1. Pre-cut Fruits and Veggies
Pre-cut fruit and veggies are obviously still fruit and veggies, which means they’re a more nutritious choice than, say, a candy bar, but if you’re looking for the most bang for your buck in the vitamin department, the prepared stuff isn’t where you should turn.
Former grocery store dietitian Caroline West Passerrello told Men’s Health, “Cutting fruits or vegetables exposes them to oxygen and light, and sometimes heat, all of which affect vitamin retention in food.” She explained that because cut produce loses water faster, it means that water soluble vitamins like B and C will also evaporate faster.
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We’re not just talking about pre-cut melon and butternut squash, either. Produce that might get peeled unnecessarily, like carrots, cucumber, or potatoes, lose the nutrients contained in their outer layers.
2. Canned Tomatoes
Many people are shocked when I tell them that canned tomatoes are bad.
After all, tomatoes are a vegetable (or technically fruit), so how can they be bad? Well, it has more to do with the packaging than the actual food.
Most of us know that BPA is harmful. BPA, shortened from bisphenol-a is a chemical used to coat the lining of cans and most plastic products.
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The reason why canned tomatoes are so dangerous is since tomatoes are highly acidic, it draws out more of the BPA into the food from the lining. So, canned tomatoes have an especially high risk of leaching BPA into the tomatoes because of the acidity. This is not to say that other canned goods do not also pose BPA exposure risks (they most certainly do), but tomatoes are one of the worst offenders.
You’re probably asking, what about BPA-free cans?
Unfortunately, BPA-free cans don’t really solve the problem. When the word started getting out about the dangers of BPA a few years ago, consumers started demanding that companies quit using BPA. So, companies responded to consumer pressure and largely removed BPA from their packaging, BUT they replaced it with another chemical that has similar associated health risks called BPS–Bisphenol S.
So, even though the thought of a BPA-free label may comfort many consumers, it’s a false promise.
