Can Eating Canned Foods Put Our Health at Risk?

Most of us are aware of the fact that a meal from a can or a microwave is not as healthy and nutritious as a fresh homemade one, but have you ever wondered why this is true? The plain truth is that there are many reasons for this including a lot of unhealthy ingredients that are used in the preparation of canned foods.

The main reasons why canned meals are so popular is that they are easy to prepare, very affordable and they will keep a long time. People tend to save their canned food for day when they have worked hard and came home late or when they are in a hurry to go somewhere and do not have time to prepare a home cooked meal. They also like the idea that they will not have to spend a lot of time afterwards doing a big mess of dirty dishes.

There is really nothing wrong with eating a canned meal once in a while, but when we start to eat them on a regular basis, it can become a problem for us and here are a few reasons why this is true.

First and foremost, the majority of canned foods contain large amounts of sodium or as we may know it, salt. Sodium is an essential ingredient in sustaining the shelf life of the product and it enables it to remain edible for a long period of time. It is also used to improve the flavor of the product and it makes up for the lack of fresh ingredients that you would normally use if you were preparing a home cooked meal. The problem is that if you eat lots of meals from cans, you will exceed your RDA limits for salt (1,500 milligrams) and put yourself at risk for developing high blood pressure and heart disease. There are some canned meals that contain lower sodium amounts and they are better and more healthy for your body if you choose to eat them.

Another downside to eating canned foods is that they contain high quantities of fructose corn syrup. This may be listed on the food as corn syrup, corn sweetener or corn syrup solids. It is used as an artificial sweetener in the product. The bad news is that it can increase your chances for developing diabetes, cause infection, result in low chromium which helps control cholesterol and insulin and can make you eat more than you should eat because the corn syrup flags an insulin response and that uses up your available sugar without it being replaced as it normally would be.

Bisphenol A is another ingredient that is used in canned foods to extend its shelf life. This is also known as BPA and has been undergoing clinical trials to determine its safety. In a study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health back in 2007, it was suggested that it may be linked to abnormal brain development in developing children and pregnant mothers. It would be a wise move for people in these groups to avoid consuming large quantities of canned foods.

I hope that you found this information useful and if you would like more information on ways to live healthy, then please visit my eating healthy web site where you will find great information to help you live a long and healthy life.