Dr. Asarch's Top Ten Foods to Avoid - Page

Top Ten Foods to Avoid – an excerpt from Dr. Asarch’s recently published book, Turn Back the Years on Your Face

…A list of foods that harm your skin would take up a book in itself, so I narrowed it down to the top ten foods to avoid to have beautiful, healthy skin. Changing your diet requires discipline and an open mind, but I will try to make it easier for you. You can first cut down on the unhealthy foods you eat the most. The foods I warn against harm your skin in different ways. Some have saturated fats, others cause sudden and wide swings in sugar levels, skyrocketing your insulin, while others have harmful levels of fatty acids. You absolutely need protein for good health, but protein high in saturated fat and omega-6 fatty acids may do more harm than good. Ground beef, sausage, and bacon have a very high fat to protein ratio: Exactly the opposite of how you should choose protein for your diet. They are also cooked at high temperatures, creating even more harm to your skin. Saturated fats are known to hurt your heart and blood system but recent studies also show that saturated fat increases skin’s aging and wrinkling. As I’ve discussed, trans fatty acids have extremely harmful effects regarding skin health and appearance.

Carbohydrates include foods that you might not think of as carbs. Ones that cause sudden and high levels of blood glucose levels, e.g. raisins, pasta, or baked beans, inflame and damage our skin. While legumes have positive benefits, baked beans commercially prepared with brown sugar or molasses spike your blood sugar. Also, cooking beans at high heat or for a long time causes cell walls to break down which allows the sugar content to be rapidly absorbed.

Proteins:

Ground Beef

Sausage

Bacon

Fats:

Transfatty acids-Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils

Butter

Vegetables:

French Fries

Fruits:

Raisins

Dairy:

Full Fat Ice Cream

Beans & Legumes:

Baked Beans

Whole Grains:

Pasta

If I had to pick the #1 food to avoid, I would pick one of America’s favorites, the French fry. It has it all: a carbohydrate that causes a rapid rise in blood sugar, and is fried at high temperature in trans fatty acids. Cooking a carbohydrate at such a high temperature creates acrylamide, a substance believed to cause cancer. Don’t forget to avoid the French fry’s close relative, the potato chip. It isn’t any better.