# What is the worst food for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755 "2009-09-27T16:31:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/21 "2009-09-28T00:45:09Z")
I think a good case could be made that [trans fats](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616121345.htm) are among the worst things you can eat. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/22 "2009-09-28T01:06:34Z")
The expressions, “foods that are good for you,” and “foods that are bad for you,” are both pretty much without meaning, as they are without context. Aside from substances that are out and out poisons, “good for you” or “bad for you” is best determined according to what one needs in one’s diet - and how much. For example, everyone needs a certain amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates in their diets. So anything that provides those nutrients is “good for you.” The question of amount is also relevant. One fat-dipped Hostess Twinkie isn’t poisonous. A steady diet of them is bad for you. The question is nonsensical in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/23 "2009-09-28T01:39:28Z")
Sugar. It has a toxic effect on the human body. I consider butter to be a very ‘good’ food and eat about 1 stick per day (not joking). It all depends on your nutritional POV. A Snickers bar deep-friend in vegetable oil with plenty of trans-fats would be up there, for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/24 "2009-09-28T01:47:09Z")
[pork brains in milk gravy](http://www.slashfood.com/2006/07/06/a-food-i-dont-want-to-eat-pork-brains-in-milk-gravy/) I’m surprised you all have danced around that one ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/25 "2009-09-28T02:05:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That would be bad, unless we’re playing some semantic game in which nothing can ever be defined ‘bad’ - not even being slowly eaten alive by hyenas. If you have chicken pox or poison ivy, the raspy tongue is better than a backscratcher, and laughing at the female’s penis improves patient morale. (Enjoy hyenas responsibly, in moderation, and following your doctor’s recommendations.) ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/26 "2009-09-28T02:07:36Z")
The answer is unquestionably ethyl alcohol. If EtOH were isocalorically substituted for all protein, carbohydrate, and glycerol tripalmitate in an animal’s diet, rapid deterioration in health would occur almost immediately, with death ensuing in a matter of weeks, or a few months at the outside most. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/27 "2009-09-28T02:34:23Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > The answer is unquestionably ethyl alcohol. If EtOH were isocalorically substituted for all protein, carbohydrate, and glycerol tripalmitate in an animal’s diet, rapid deterioration in health would occur almost immediately, with death ensuing in a matter of weeks, or a few months at the outside most. I think most people would not classify ethanol-containing beverages as “food”. Sure, your body can generate energy from it, but that isn’t why they’re consumed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/28 "2009-09-28T04:44:28Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > And who says a sandwich with bacon, cheese, and chicken instead of bread is bad for you? Try saying that to a starving African… or even a moderately-fed one. . . . or someone on the Atkins diet. That seems like a pretty good low-carb meal. Context is everything. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/29 "2009-09-28T05:29:21Z")
I think we have to ask [Frank Sodolak](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfbTO0GlONU) if we really want an expert opinion (4 minute YouTube video.) ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/30 "2009-09-29T02:08:05Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > Please don’t tell me it’s Cheetos. Close your eyes and skip down the page. It’s Cheetos ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/31 "2009-09-29T03:05:39Z")
> [@hammos1](#): > > I don’t know the answer to your question, but there are some pretty strong candidates pictured on [This Is Why You’re Fat](http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/). Damn! :eek: There’s a lot of bacon and pork products on those pages. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/32 "2009-09-29T15:41:06Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I think a good case could be made that [trans fats](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616121345.htm) are among the worst things you can eat. This is exactly what I was thinking. Most things that are “bad” for you merely have little in the way of nutritional value outside of the energy provided in the calories. Since first-world humans have enough calories from their food, such food would be very nearly always “bad” - sugary soft drinks are the best examples of these. However, trans fats provide no energy at all; the body apparently cannot break them down for energy, but it does absorb them as fats. So they just sit there. Not only are they useless to us, they do many things that actively hinder our health, such as was linked above. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/33 "2009-09-29T17:07:17Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > And who says a sandwich with bacon, cheese, and chicken instead of bread is bad for you? Try saying that to a starving African… or even a moderately-fed one. > Damn… that site is good W Yep, I love food porn ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/34 "2009-09-29T17:29:57Z")
There’s two distinct questions here – maybe three. 1. What foodstuff provides the least amount of nutrients? 2. What foodstuff, consumed in quantity as a part of a normal American/Western civ. diet, contributes most to ‘unhealthy’ conditions? And maybe 3. What foodstuff is most actively harmful to you in terms of toxins? A mixture of transfats and sucrose (disgusting, but a candidate for the answer to #2) will provide your body loads of energy – it’s simply lacking in some of the nutrients needed for body building and maintenance, and likely to cause issues with cholesterol and insulin production. Lettuce contains proportionately very little of nutrients, but gives you bulk and B vitamins. Giving the stereotypical starving Somalian the transfat/sucrose glop would provide him energy, pending giving him foods with the other needed nutrients – giving him lettuce would (aside from bulk) be an injustice. Your body needs salt. It needs fat. It needs simple carbohydrates for energy. The problem is that most Western diets contain quite adequate amounts of all three – usually too much. What it needs instead would be the vitamins, trace minerals, balanced proteins – and complex carbs to keep the body’s glucose level – level. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/35 "2009-09-29T18:47:41Z")
I’m not sure what the worst food for me is, but I’m fairly well certain that the worst food for toddlers is “Mountain Dew”. Especially if you give it to them at dinner time, which my idiot brother does with his boys on a regular basis. Did I mention he has a BS in Chemistry? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/36 "2009-09-29T20:17:24Z")
> [@hammos1](#): > > [This Is Why You’re Fat](http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/). :eek: **The Widowmaker** 1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1 package of bacon, 1 package of italian sausage, 1 box of hot pockets, 1/2 package of fried onion strips between 2 Tombstone Pepperoni Pizzas topped with Velveta Cheese and Marinara Sauce. I think I just had a vicarious heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/37 "2009-09-29T20:52:54Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Sugar. It has a toxic effect on the human body. Assuming that wasn’t tongue-in-cheek, it is wrong. The human body can not function without sugar, any more than it can function without air or water; it is one of the most necessary nutrients. And yes, that includes diabetics, they also can’t function without sugar. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/38 "2009-09-29T20:58:56Z")
Icing/Frosting. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/39 "2009-09-29T21:57:53Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > This is exactly what I was thinking. > > Most things that are “bad” for you merely have little in the way of nutritional value outside of the energy provided in the calories. Since first-world humans have enough calories from their food, such food would be very nearly always “bad” - sugary soft drinks are the best examples of these. > > However, trans fats provide no energy at all; the body apparently cannot break them down for energy, but it does absorb them as fats. So they just sit there. Not only are they useless to us, they do many things that actively hinder our health, such as was linked above. 😕 They just sit … where? In the colon? If the body absorbs something “as fat,” then it digests it, right? Otherwise known as breaking things down for energy, right? How _else_ could the body “absorb” something? I mean, if you eat something containing trans fat, it doesn’t go directly into your bloodstream. If I ate a bunch of trans fat, and then a while later fell and cut myself really badly, the resulting blood pool wouldn’t have an oily slick on top of it, right? If your body _doesn’t_ digest and absorb the fat, then it goes right thru you a la Olestra. But that’s different. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755/40 "2009-09-30T11:13:33Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Assuming that wasn’t tongue-in-cheek, it is wrong. The human body can not function without sugar, any more than it can function without air or water; it is one of the most necessary nutrients. > > And yes, that includes diabetics, they also can’t function without sugar. point of fact, I do just fine without sugar. What I _need_ is a certain number of portions of protein, vegetable matter in the form of fruits and vegetables, and a smidgen of fat. Sugar is none of those, it is a chemical that _may_ occur in minute amounts that gets concentrated through processing, but we do not actually _need_ sugar. I have a 5 lb bag of sugar that I bought about 4 years ago, as I have the occasional houseguest that uses it in coffee or tea, it is used to make the odd batch of cookies around christmas and other very minor cooking tasks. I have about 2 pounds left. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-food-for-you/511755.md?page=3)