Bad Foods That Are Actually Good For You

When looking more closely at the foods you eat, you may consciously or subconsciously label certain foods as "bad" and unhealthy, while others foods are "good" and beneficial for your body. However, there are times when your preconceived notions aren't entirely accurate, and these misconceptions are actually preventing you from including healthy and helpful food choices into your diet. While you may consider certain foods off limits, you're actually limiting yourself by keeping these foods on the "bad" list and out of your dietary regimen. It's time to refute these inaccurate food reputes once and for all.

Cheese is typically put on the bad food list, perhaps in part because of its inclusion in many high-fat, high-calorie dishes, such as pizza, nachos, cheeseburgers, and macaroni and cheese. And while cheese itself does contain saturated fat, bringing cheese back into your diet can actually be an excellent choice for your health. Firstly, cheese is full of protein and is a key source of calcium, which is especially important for woman, as calcium is essential for bone health, can help to prevent osteoporosis, and even plays a role in fighting against painful symptoms of PMS. But the benefits of cheese don't stop there. Research in Dairy Science & Technology has shown that consuming cheese can help to reduce the likelihood of fat buildup in the liver. Further, research in the journal PLoS One has also found a link between increased cheese consumption and a decreased risk of colorectal cancer.

While many people remove cheese from their diets in order to lose weight, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry revealed that cheese eaters tend to have higher levels of butyrate in their system, which is an anti-inflammatory fatty acid that can help to combat obesity as well as protect your body against heart disease. To that end, as noted in a study at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, people who increased their daily intake of cheese and other dairy products lost a greater amount of weight than those who consumed the same amount of calories but ate little to no dairy. And if that doesn't get you smiling, consuming cheese can also help you to fight against cavities by protecting your teeth from acid buildup, according to the Academy of General Dentistry.

If you're wondering if you should stick to low-fat cheese instead of regular cheese, research in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that there's no significant difference between them in terms of their impact on your LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). And most interestingly, those who ate regular cheese actually had higher levels of HDL cholesterol (the healthy kind) than those who didn't consume any cheese.

Even though coffee shops and coffee chains seem to be on every street corner, many people believe that drinking caffeinated coffee is an unhealthy choice. And while adding sugar, syrups, powders, creams, and other high-calorie additions to your coffee can certainly start to outweigh the benefits (and add weight on you), it's worth giving coffee itself a second look in terms of its many advantages for your health. In fact, there's a popular misconception that caffeinated coffee consumption is linked to an increased likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, but there's actually no evidence supporting these assertions, according to medical professionals at the Mayo Clinic. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer discussed in The Lancet Oncology that there's no significant causal relationship between coffee consumption and the development of different types of cancers, such as breast and pancreatic cancer. On the flip side, they determined that coffee drinking can actually help lower the likelihood of developing certain cancers, like uterine cancer.

But the benefits of coffee don't stop there. Harvard researchers contend that drinking coffee can help to protect you from developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, as well as Parkinson's disease. If that doesn't fill your cup, a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease even revealed that drinking coffee daily during middle age can help reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life. In addition, high coffee consumption has also been linked to a reduced risk of multiple sclerosis, as noted in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

So how much caffeinated coffee should you drink each day? The Mayo Clinic recommends consuming no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, which translates to approximately four cups of coffee. Taking a coffee break has never felt so good.

With the low-carb diet craze in mind, it's not surprising that potatoes have also found themselves on the bad food list. However, potatoes have many redeeming health benefits, as they're a great source of potassium, magnesium, and vitamin C. Additionally, potatoes don't contain any fat or cholesterol, and the skin itself is packed with fiber. But potatoes have been given a bad rap because of their high ranking on the glycemic index. This index ranks how different foods can affect one's blood sugar levels, and potatoes are high on the index due to the fact that they're rapidly digested and can markedly spike one's blood sugar, which can be harmful to your body. However, there's some real debate about where potatoes actually fall on the index. In fact, a study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that the preparation of the potato can change its glycemic Index value, as boiled potatoes have a lower ranking on the index than potatoes that are oven-baked, mashed, or deep fried. Along these lines, it's been shown that the foods you eat in conjunction with potatoes can also impact its ranking. By consuming a potato along with foods that are lower on the index, such as items that contain healthy fats and/or protein, you're slowing down the overall absorption process in your body and thereby slowing down the potato's impact on your blood sugar. But if you're still weary about a potato's negative impact on your weight loss goals, take note that a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that consuming potatoes doesn't cause weight gain, as the process of losing weight relies heavily on caloric reduction as opposed to specific food elimination.

Peanuts are often labeled as bad due in part to their high fat and calorie content, and this belief is particularly widespread among those who are looking to lose weight. However, the tiny and humble peanut is packed with numerous health benefits. First, peanuts are an excellent source of protein, unsaturated fat, fiber, and vitamin E. In fact, research in the International Journal of Epidemiology has shown that eating peanuts can help to reduce your risk of dying from various health conditions, including neurodegenerative disease and respiratory disease. Further, as noted in JAMA: Internal Medicine, people who consumed peanuts were less likely to develop and die from heart disease when compared to those who didn't eat peanuts. And if weight loss is your goal, it may surprise you that eating peanuts can actually help. As discussed in The Journal of Nutrition, peanuts are a healthy option for those looking to maintain a healthy weight. Plus, research in the International Journal of Obesity found that habitually eating peanuts can help you lose weight due to the fact that peanuts can help to keep you satiated for longer periods of time, thereby quelling your hunger and desire to overeat.

For many people, selecting whole milk over low-fat or nonfat milk would be unthinkable. But whole milk has a whole slew of different health benefits that shouldn't be overlooked. You may already know that milk contains calcium and vitamin D and that it's also an excellent source of potassium. People who consume whole dairy are no more likely to develop heart disease than those who drink low-fat milk, as noted in the European Journal of Nutrition. Plus, researchers have discovered that consuming whole dairy is actually inversely related to obesity, meaning its consumption can be beneficial for those looking to lose weight. Along these lines, a study of nearly 18,500 women in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that those who consumed whole fat dairy rather than low-fat dairy were able to reduce their risk of future weight gain. And if that's not telling enough, research in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care found that those who consumed low-fat dairy were more likely to be obese than those who ate whole fat dairy. Whole milk also plays a role in preventing other health conditions. Research in Circulation revealed that people who had higher levels of dairy fat in their blood also had the lowest likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. Isn't it worth pouring yourself a glass?