When you are at your 20s, you consume an entire pizza pie after a late night of partying and not gain a single ounce or have a effect on health.
In your 30s, you hit to the gym at least three times a week and solidly maintain your physics.
But when you turn 40, achieving a good physique and consuming anything and everything might not work well.
There’s no magical switch that gets flipped when you turn 40. You cannot just eat all the foods you enjoy and not worry much.
At the age of 40, some nutrients such as Vitamin D and Omega-3 are very important. They protect you from against age-related problems such as heart disease, cancer and blood pressure.
That’s why it’s so important to keep track of all the foods you have that not only add pounds but risks your health.
The good news is that you don’t have to sacrifice all the foods you love to have but swap some of them.
To ensure your good health, we have brought a list of the foods to avoid if you’re men over 40.
Margarine
If there’s any kind of food to avoid containing fat if you are men over 40, it’s trans fats. Most margarine tubs contains artery-clogging saturated fats and are loaded with processed oils.
Also, many margarine brands use propylene glycol, a synthetic compound. These fatty acids raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol.
For a healthier alternative, swap in grass-fed butter or substitute with healthy oils such as extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil.
These alternatives can help reduce your cholesterol and encourage the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients.
Sugar-Free Candy
While artificial sweeteners don’t add calories to your diet, they can increase your craving for more sugar.
Most big candy companies use sugar alcohols to bump up the sweet taste of their candies without adding any refined sugar.
Sugar alcohols are known to have an odd aftertaste and can cause stomach pain especially if you are over 40.
Eating large amounts of sugar alcohols has been linked to bloating, gas, and other digestive distress.
Research shows that aspartame, and sucralose can actually lead to weight gain and diabetes too.
If you are men above 40, the only alternative is to replace your artificial sweeteners with maple syrup, raw honey or unsweetened applesauce.
Diet Soda
Now that you’re 40, it’s time to cut back on the soda. Choosing soda over water is a bad decision.
Sugary drinks like soda has very toxic chemicals which is bad for your health if you are a men over 40.
In many cases, the soda are 200-600 times sweeter than sugar, so a lot less of it is used.
Research shows that soda contains chemical 4-methylimidazole, which can increase your risk of developing cancer.
Not only that, heavy diet soda drinkers are more likely to have a lower bone density, be more depressed, and experience hypertension.
So, the only alternative for diet soda or any kind of soda is to replace it with another kind of healthy drink.
Food Coloring
The artificial food dyes you see in many baked goods, candies and fast foods is a no-no if you are men over 40.
Despite being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these food dyes may contain cancer-causing contaminants.
Food coloring are such a huge part of diets because of color sells. The vibrant colors will sell much better than the dull original.
So, it’s common to get attracted to such kinds of food even if you are men over 40, despite of its health effect.
However, you can apply healthy alternatives to food coloring such as beet juice and cold-pressed green juices which are packed with vitamins.
Sugary Cocktails
Sugar and alcohol are things you should stay away from if you are men over 40. The combination of these two is poisonous when you get older.
The CDC recommends men over 40 to limit their daily alcohol consumption to two drinks daily.
If you are out with co-workers to enjoy a post-work happy hours, cut your tab off after your first order.
This is a mindful reminder that you’ve already had one drink. A cocktail now and then is not going to kill you, as long as it’s in moderate amount.
Fruit Juice
Fruit Juice is always claimed to be healthy enough. But, if you are men over 40, it’s not.
Just because it says “100% juice” on the label of the bottles doesn’t mean it’s that healthy enough to consume.
When you eat fruit, you take in the juice as well as the fiber. This means your body will digest it at a much more controlled rate and you won’t get a sugar rush.
But, when you drink fruit juice, you ingest more fruit that you would have eaten. This means you ingest much more sugar and none of the fiber.
Consider it not only for men over 40, but for everyone who loves having fruit juice.
The difference is just that men over 40 have week body which can catch up to heart disease, diabetes, and other metabolic disease very fast.
Muffins and Cupcakes
Everyone loves a sweet treat now and then. There’s no harm in treating yourself with little cupcakes once in a while.
But once you turn 40, now and then has to change to almost never if you want to stay healthy forever,
Packaged muffins and cupcakes could easily contain a fully days’ worth of added sugar and fat in it.
Too much of the sweet stuff could also literally age you by developing acne around the chin area.
Also, it sucks your skin and make them dry and hard. Your skin cells lose their moisture and elasticity developing premature wrinkles.
Deli Meats
We hate to break it to you, but the deli meat in your sandwiches might not be all that it seems to be.
The ingredients seems pretty healthy, especially if you stuff your sub with leafy greens and other veggies.
But, it’s not. A closer look at the ingredients label revels sky-high levels of belly-bloating sodium, nitrate preservatives, modified corn starch, and carrageenan.
So, next time if you are carving for deli meats when you are over 40, don’t for the sake of your health.
The roasted chicken and turkey options are generally better for you than hams and kinds of bacon.
So, be sure to check the nutritional info if you don’t know what to choose.
Nacho Cheese Dips
It’s game day, and you want to indulge in some crunchy nachos. Not when you are over 40.
Nachos in itself are not the bad for you if you are over 40, but the problem comes with the sauce.
Nacho sauces are saturated with artificial colorants, preservatives and lab-made flavorings.
So, the only alternative food for nachos sauce is to whip up your homemade sauces with minimal effort.
You can also use real cheese when you make your dip and add some herbs for extra flavor to stay healthy forever.
White Pasta and Bread
This is probably one of the hardest food to cut from your diet even if you are men over 40 with less interest on fancy food.
White pasta and bread are versatile, and if you aren’t mindful of what you eat, you could ingest way more than you should.
These foods are made with refined grains, stripped of fiber and other nutrients in order to render a soft texture.
However, the disadvantage is that they are high-hypoglycemic, which means that they cause your blood sugar levels to rise and fall quickly.
Consuming too many of these refined foods can lead to metabolic disease such as diabetes and obesity when you are over 40.
Flavored Yogurt
There is no doubt that flavored yogurt is much more satisfying than the regular or Greek yogurt.
However, like most other flavored foods, it is packed with extra sugar and other flavorings that your body is not supposed to try and digest.
Besides, Greek yogurt is packed with satiated proteins and low in sugar.
So, if you are men over 40 and are craving to have flavored yogurt, you can add some flavor, fiber, and texture to your regular yogurt.
Fast Foods
There is no surprise here. Fast food is a definite no-go when you are aged over 40.
When you eat fast food, you tend to want more of it, so it’s smart to just avoid it altogether.
Research shows that people having fast foods are more than twice a week and twice likely to develop insulin resistance, and diabetes.
Most of these foods come remade and have gone through some preservative process.
So, the more you avoid having fast foods, the better your health gets, especially if you are over 40.
