Five Common Foods Sabotaging Your Health

aging antinutrients autoimmunity cancer casein celiac disease chronic disease chronic inflammation corn dairy elimination diet estrogen fatty liver food allergens gluten glycemic index gmos high-fructose corn syrup hormone imbalance lactose intolerance leaky gut linoleic acid omega-3 fatty acids omega-6 fatty acids phytoestrogens processed foods saturated fats skin problems soy soybean oil testosterone thyroid hormone trans fats type-2 diabetes zonulin Mar 22, 2025

A dispaly of milk, oil, flour, pasta, breads, cheeses, representing common food items that may negatively affect health

Trying to eat healthier? You’re part of a massive movement.

The global healthy foods market was worth 653 billion dollars in 2023. And it’s only growing, expected to increase by 10 percent every year until 2030. With obesity, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related diseases on the rise, more people are paying attention to what’s in their food. They’re reading labels, choosing organic options, and loading up on protein like never before.¹

But here’s the catch: What we think is healthy often isn’t. Sneaky ingredients are hiding in plain sight, even in those “good for you” foods. These hidden culprits are messing with your energy, mood, and overall well-being.

The good news? Once you know what to look for, you can make better choices. In this article, we’re breaking down five common foods that are working against you, and why it’s time to ditch them for good:

Gluten
Dairy
Soy
Corn
Vegetable oils

Kicking off our list is gluten, one of the most debated ingredients — and for good reason.

Gluten

Gluten is a mix of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye. It’s in staple foods like bread, pasta, and cereals, and even some sauces and other processed products. While it makes bread better, it isn’t so great for your health.^2,3

Your body uses enzymes, including protease, to break down proteins. But protease struggles with gluten, which means bits of gluten stay undigested in your small intestine. If you have celiac disease, gluten triggers an autoimmune reaction that damages your small intestine, making it harder to absorb nutrients. And even if you don’t have celiac, gluten can cause bloating, diarrhea, and skin rashes.⁴

Eating gluten activates your immune system, which can lead to inflammation in your intestines. Over time, this inflammation weakens the intestinal lining — a condition often called “leaky gut.” When this happens, toxins, undigested food, and harmful substances can pass into your bloodstream, triggering more inflammation throughout your body.^2,5

Studies show that gluten activates zonulin, a protein that regulates the tight junctions of your small intestine. The activation causes gaps to form in your gut lining, letting larger particles pass through. This happens in everyone, but people with celiac disease have a much stronger reaction and experience more gut damage.²

Gluten can affect more than just your gut once it reaches your bloodstream. Many people report feeling brain fog, fatigue, and joint pain after eating gluten — even if they don’t have celiac disease. Research has also linked gluten to chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases like lupus, fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).^2,5,6,7,8

Dairy

You’ve probably heard that milk is essential for strong bones and good health. But the truth is, many people have dairy sensitivities without realizing it.

Casein, the main protein in dairy, is similar in structure to gluten. Because of this, dairy can trigger immune reactions and inflammation, just like gluten does. Dairy is especially known for worsening symptoms of RA. What’s more, dairy products contain the nutrients choline and carnitine, which the body breaks down into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) — a compound linked to even more inflammation.^9,10

When we’re babies, our bodies produce lactase, an enzyme that helps us break down the sugar lactose in milk. But as we grow older, many of us lose the ability to digest lactose properly. In fact, 68 percent of the global population and 42 percent of Americans have lactose intolerance. Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea, gas, and bloating. If you often experience these issues after eating dairy, your body might be struggling to digest it.¹¹

Beyond digestive discomfort, research has linked the natural hormones and high fat content in dairy products to a higher risk of breast and prostate cancer. Moreover, just one glass of cow’s milk per day can increase your chances of developing acne by 41 percent. Dairy is also a common trigger for eczema, psoriasis, and other inflammatory skin conditions. And if that’s not enough, drinking milk is linked to shortened telomeres, the protective caps on your chromosomes. Since shorter telomeres are associated with premature aging and wrinkles, dairy could be speeding up your aging process.¹¹

Soy

Soy is often promoted as a nutritious, plant-based protein, but it’s far from harmless. Research has linked soy to immune system reactions, hormone imbalances, and digestive issues. To make matters worse, soy is everywhere, mostly in its oil form. It’s hiding in processed foods, snacks, and even supplements under different names.^12,13

Soy contains allergenic proteins that can trigger immune responses. The International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) has identified several soy proteins — numbered Gly m 1 through 8 — that are recognized as allergens by the immune system. Soy allergy symptoms can range from mild, such as skin itching, to severe, like trouble breathing.¹²

Another major concern with soy is its effect on hormones. Soy contains phytoestrogens, plant compounds that mimic estrogen in your body. These compounds called isoflavones may increase estrogen activity, raising concerns about a higher risk of breast and endometrial cancer in women. Isoflavones are also linked to lower testosterone levels in men, possibly affecting energy, mood, and muscle mass. Research suggests that soy compounds may interfere with your thyroid hormone production as well, leading to fatigue, weight gain, and metabolism issues. There are concerns for infants too: Some experts worry that soy-based formula could negatively affect brain development, immune function, and hormone balance in babies.¹³

Soy also contains antinutrients like protease inhibitors, tannins, and phytates. These compounds reduce your body’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals. Plus, animal studies show that the same antinutrients may weaken your gut lining, potentially triggering digestive issues and chronic inflammation. Traditional preparation methods for soy typically involved fermentation, which helped deactivate these antinutrients, but modern processed foods use soy ingredients without fermenting them first.^13,14,15

On top of all that, soybeans are frequently genetically modified (GMO). The main reason for genetic modification is to permit increased use of toxic pesticides on GMO crops. However, there is also the potential for even more allergenic proteins to be created due to the genetic changes, which are proprietary and thus a mystery.^13,16

Corn

Corn-based ingredients are in more foods than you might expect. They can be found in biscuits, bread, doughnuts, tortillas, crackers, chips, cereal, soup, candies, chewing gum, ice cream, baby food, pancake mix, canned fruit, processed meats, and frozen seafood. They’re also in sauces and condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, syrup, peanut butter, cheese spreads, and salad dressings, as well as in many fruit juices and most soft drinks.¹⁷

Like soy, corn contains antinutrients. In ancient times, corn flour was treated with lime (the white chalky powder, not the fruit), which had the effect of deactivating the antinutrients. But modern food processing methods skip this step, leaving the antinutrients intact in processed foods containing corn.¹⁸

To make things worse, most corn today is GMO. This means it has been altered to withstand heavy pesticide use, which can leave behind chemical residues in food. But GMO corn — and other genetically modified foods, for that matter — raises concerns about toxicity, allergic reactions, a weakened immune system, cancer risks, and lower nutritional value.^16,19

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — a cheap corn derivative widely used as a sweetener — poses serious health risks. Studies suggest that HFCS promotes inflammation more than regular sugar (glucose) does. This means consuming HFCS increases the risk of chronic diseases including obesity, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. It’s also a major reason people consume too much sugar. The average American eats 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day, which is much higher than the recommended daily limits of nine teaspoons for men and six for women. Since HFCS makes up 40 percent of all added sugars, cutting back on foods that contain it is one of the easiest ways to reduce sugar intake and lower inflammation.¹⁷

Another issue with corn-based products is their effect on blood sugar. Cornstarch and cornmeal are highly processed, meaning they lose fiber and nutrients. Because of this, they break down quickly in your body and cause blood sugar spikes. The glycemic index (GI), which measures how fast foods raise blood sugar, shows how problematic corn starch can be: Whole corn has a GI of 52, table sugar is 65, but corn starch is 97 — meaning it raises blood sugar even faster than sugar itself. Since corn-based ingredients digest quickly, they leave you feeling hungry sooner, which can lead to overeating, weight gain, insulin resistance, and chronic inflammation.¹⁷

The effects of corn go beyond processed foods. In the U.S., over 95 percent of animal feed is made from corn, which affects the quality of meat. Corn-fed cattle produce fattier meat, which can contribute to weight gain and metabolic issues. Corn-fed beef also has fewer omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain and heart health and for reducing inflammation. On the other hand, grass-fed, pasture-raised meat has more omega-3s and is generally a healthier option.¹⁷

Vegetable oils

Years ago, people were told that saturated fats from animal sources (like butter, lard, and tallow) were bad for health. As a result, food manufacturers switched to vegetable and seed oils — mostly soybean oil — as a replacement. Although it’s now been shown that soybean oil can contribute to inflammation and heart problems, it’s still in widespread use.^20,21

Soybean oil is just one of eight seed oils that come up again and again when talking about this issue. Rounding out the “hateful eight” are canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil), corn oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, rice bran oil, and peanut oil. When used in processed foods, these oils are often partially or fully hydrogenated, which means they can contain trans fats — a man-made fat that’s highly inflammatory and harmful to your heart and cells.^22,23,24

Vegetable and seed oils are high in linoleic acid, a type of omega-6 fatty acid. Your body does need some omega-6 fats, but since they’ve largely replaced saturated fats in commonly available food products, most people eat way too much of them, especially in comparison to anti-inflammatory omega-3s found in foods like fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts.^22,25

The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is about 2:1 or even 1:1. But in a typical Western diet, the ratio can be 10:1 or even 20:1. That’s a huge imbalance — and eating salmon once a week or taking a fish oil supplement isn’t enough to fix it. The imbalance leads to chronic inflammation, and ultimately, chronic diseases.²²

Conclusion

Gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and vegetable oils can be quietly sabotaging your health, mostly by triggering inflammation.

That’s why removing these foods from your diet can be a game changer. Many people experience better digestion and a noticeable boost in their energy and mood simply by cutting these foods out.

Ready to take control of your health? Sign up for Maximize Your Performance, where you’ll receive expert guidance on how to identify your food offenders and create a diet plan that works for YOU. For a limited time, you’ll also receive access to a personalized consultation, where you’ll get the support you need to make lasting changes.

References

Five Common Foods Sabotaging Your Health

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