The Best and Worst Summer Foods [Visual]

With warm weather, some of us start dreaming of summer picnics and parties. But not all of the foods we typically associate with summer are good for us. Below, you’ll find the summer foods to avoid — and the ones to embrace for health and happiness.

Unhealthy Summer Foods to Avoid

Hot Dogs
Like all processed meats, are categorized as Group 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization (WHO). This puts hot dogs in the same class as tobacco and asbestos.
Hamburger
not only increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, but also pack an extra cancer punch due to the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the grilling process.
Chips
To add insult to their high fat and sodium content, many chip companies use unhealthy and genetically modified oils, or even trans fats to produce their products.
Soda
From rotting teeth to increasing the risk of heart disease, to damaging metabolism in ways that hamper fat burning and prevent weight loss, to increasing the risk of cancer and asthma.
Ice Cream
Aside from the large amounts of saturated dairy fat and sugar, many ice cream brands use artificial colorings (linked to hyperactivity and possibly ADD/ADHD) and “natural” flavors that are often anything but.
Alcoholic beverages
To list just a few of the conditions caused, correlated, or worsened by excessive drinking: Alzheimer’s and other dementias; depression and anxiety; cancers of the liver, breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, colon, and rectum; organ failure; obesity; heart disease; type 2 diabetes; and overall risk of death, including risk for alcohol-related accidents, and the list goes on.