The Absolute WORST Foods on the Planet

Proper nutrition is not a subject that I used to give a lot of attention. Now, however, I have to. I recently started competing in multi-sport endurance races and I'm riding in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge in August. The PMC, as it's known, is a 2-day, 192 mile charity cycling event that raises money for the Jimmy Fund, a division of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

So I've started paying attention to my nutrition. Carmichael Training Systems, the outfit that trains some of the best professional athletes in the world including Lance Armstrong, publishes monthly podcasts on the Essentials of Nutrition, and I listen every month.

The March 2007 podcast features registered dietitian Alicia Kendig discussing the three absolute worst foods on the planet. According to Chris Carmichael, founder of Carmichael Training Systems, and Alicia, the following three foods should NEVER be eaten by ANYONE under any circumstances unless they are starving. The three foods are:

1. Donuts - made mostly from refined white flour with lots of butter and sugar. One donut can contain as much as 400 calories thanks to the fat from the deep fryer.
   
   
2. Alfredo sauce - butter, heavy cream, Parmesan and Romano cheeses and an egg yolk. On a 2,000 calorie a day diet, one serving of Alfredo sauce contains 58% of your total daily fat intake and 105% of your daily saturated fat intake.
   
   
3. Fake cheese or artificial cheese - processed chesses, or cheese products, contain alginate, a product used for waterproofing and fireproofing fabrics! Yikes!

Source: Carmichael Training Systems - Essentials for Nutrition January 2007

Now I for one never eat alfredo sauce or processed cheeses, but donuts! Okay, I very rarely will eat a donut, but on my last trip to California my wife and I got lost somewhere in Oxnard on our way up the PCH. We stopped at this place looking for coffee and ended up leaving with a couple glazed donuts, they looked good and the shop smelled so great.

The place was called California Donuts and let me tell you the glazed donuts from this shop might have been the best donuts I have ever had. J concurred.

California Donuts
2659 E Vineyard Ave
Oxnard, CA
Ph 805.485.4263