The average American consumes an astonishing 153 pounds of sugar per year, often without realizing it. But sugar isn’t the only culprit hiding in your favorite snacks. Dr. Gundry, a leading health expert, breaks down the harmful toxins in many common foods and offers healthier alternatives to support your gut and overall health.

1. Lectins: The Gut-Busting Protein

Lectins are proteins found in many foods, especially grain-based snacks like bread, crackers, and chips. These proteins act as a plant's defense mechanism, protecting it from being eaten. However, when consumed in excess, lectins promote leaky gut, a condition where the intestinal lining becomes permeable, allowing harmful particles to leak into your bloodstream. This can lead to chronic inflammation — the root cause of many diseases.

The Solution:
If you often consume grain-based snacks, they likely contain lectins. To avoid their harmful effects, choose grain-free snacks or lectin-free options like nuts. If you do consume grains, pressure cooking can reduce lectin levels, though it won't eliminate gluten in wheat or oats.

2. The Hidden Sugar Crisis

Sugar is more sneaky than you think. Even if a snack doesn't taste sweet, it could still be packed with sugar. For example, bread — even whole wheat varieties — can contain up to four teaspoons of sugar per slice. So if you're eating a whole wheat sandwich, you might be consuming eight teaspoons of sugar just from the bread!

Why It's a Problem:
Sugar feeds the bad bacteria in your gut, which then signals your brain to crave more. Over time, this leads to gut imbalances and makes it harder to feel satisfied after meals. Plus, consuming excess sugar contributes to weight gain and other health issues.

The Solution:
Instead of looking at the "sugar" label, check the total carbohydrates on the packaging. Subtract the fiber (which doesn’t digest), and you'll see how much sugar is in that snack. To avoid the sugar overload, choose snacks sweetened with natural alternatives like allulose or stevia, and steer clear of added sugars.

3. Artificial Sweeteners: The Hidden Danger

Many people turn to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose to reduce sugar intake. While these products are sugar-free, they’re often just as harmful. Here’s why:

• Artificial sweeteners trick your taste receptors into thinking you’ve consumed sugar, which causes your body to release insulin. But since there’s no sugar to process, your body signals your brain to keep searching for more food, making you feel hungrier.
• These sweeteners also disrupt your gut microbiome, killing off beneficial bacteria that play a crucial role in digestion and overall health.

The Solution:
Instead of artificial sweeteners, try allulose, a naturally occurring sweetener that doesn’t raise blood sugar levels and even promotes a healthy gut. Studies show that allulose can even help with weight loss.

4. Omega-6 Overload: The Hidden Fat You Should Avoid

Most processed snacks are cooked in vegetable oils like sunflower, safflower, and soybean oil, which are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. While omega-6 fats are essential, our modern diets are overloaded with them, causing an imbalance with omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for brain and heart health.

Why It’s a Problem:
When the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 becomes skewed (as it is in most Western diets), it can lead to inflammation and impair the function of your mitochondria — the energy powerhouses of your cells.

The Solution:
To reduce omega-6 intake, avoid snacks containing high omega-6 oils. Instead, opt for snacks made with healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, or coconut oil.

5. Glyphosate: The Hidden Herbicide

Many snacks made with grain-based products are contaminated with glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. This herbicide is used to kill weeds in crops, but it also harms your gut by causing leaky gut and killing off beneficial gut bacteria.

Why It’s a Problem:
Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway, which plants and bacteria use to produce proteins. This disruption can lead to gut imbalances, contributing to mood disorders like anxiety and depression.

The Solution:
Opt for organic foods to reduce your glyphosate exposure. However, be aware that glyphosate can still drift onto organic fields. Always read labels and stay informed about where your food comes from.

6. Artificial Dyes and Coloring: The Brain Impact

You might not think twice about the colorful snacks you eat, but many of them contain artificial food dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5, which are linked to ADHD in children and cancer. These dyes can also have a negative impact on brain function, impairing focus and attention.

The Solution:
Steer clear of snacks containing artificial dyes. Look for products that use natural colorants like beet juice or turmeric to add color.

7. Forever Chemicals (PFAS): Toxic Additives in Packaging

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are chemicals used in packaging to make products resistant to water, stains, and heat. Known as "forever chemicals", they don’t break down naturally and accumulate in the human body over time, leading to cancer, liver damage, and other serious health problems.

Why It’s a Problem:
These chemicals are commonly found in takeout containers, fast food packaging, and processed meats, which can lead to higher PFAS levels in the blood, particularly among those who eat out regularly.

The Solution:
To minimize PFAS exposure, try to cook at home and avoid storing food in plastic containers. If you must buy takeout, transfer it to glass or ceramic containers before reheating.

Conclusion: Take Charge of Your Snack Choices

Your favorite snacks might be doing more harm than good. From lectins and hidden sugars to harmful oils and chemicals like glyphosate and PFAS, many common snacks are loaded with toxins that can disrupt your gut and overall health.

By making smarter snack choices — like choosing allulose over artificial sweeteners, avoiding omega-6 oils, and opting for organic products — you can protect your health, support a healthy gut microbiome, and even improve your long-term well-being.

Start reading labels carefully, and take small steps toward cleaner, healthier snacks. The changes you make today will have a big impact on your health tomorrow.