We are bombarded with the words “healthy” and “unhealthy” these days. It seems like there are a million options for both sides. And sometimes they contradict each other. So we thought it would be a good idea to cut the noise and just break down the extremes of healthiest and unhealthiest options for the majority of categories of things we eat. Everything from meat and fish to sweets and veggies. A couple caveats of a few entries on this list. While many of the “unhealthiest” ones can actually cause you harm over time, a few (like veggies) are more the “least healthy” options. Still, it’s important to know where these land because if you’re going to opt for a salad, you may as well make it as healthy as possible, right?
This list is to really help you understand exactly where some of your decisions fall when it comes to eating. A lot of these items that fall on the unhealthiest list are very common! The more you know…
Meat
Healthiest: Bison
Unhealthiest: Processed Hot Dogs
Bison: Bison is the healthiest meat because it combines high amounts of protein with low amounts of fat. It satisfies that red meat craving with much less of the bad stuff that red meat has. It also has plenty of iron and B12 that red meat has. Plus, they are mostly pasture-raised so you’re not having to worry about any of the factory farming/feedlot stuff, either. The one thing to remember, since it doesn’t have a lot of fat, it can turn into a hockey puck pretty fast if you leave it on the grill too long.
Processed Hot Dogs: Hot dogs are what happens when meat stops becoming meat. Yes, they are a national pastime on summer holidays, but there’s a reason why you never see them being made. Hot dogs are basically a paste of meat parts, then combined with tons of salt and nitrates and poured into a tube. (Don’t get me wrong, they are also really tasty!) But one thing worth knowing, the WHO has classified processed hot dogs as carcinogens. So go easy on them.
“Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.”
— International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO), Press Release No. 240, October 2015
Fish
Healthiest: Wild Salmon
Unhealthiest: Not Tilapia…Swordfish
Wild Salmon: Wild Salmon is the Michael Jordan of the fish world. It can basically do everything right (and if you don’t remember, in addition to being the league’s leading scorer, MJ also won Defensive Player of the Year) Anyway, it’s got a great amount of protein, tons of Omega-3s and it’s also low in mercury. And you can usually find Wild Sockeye in the can, which makes it cheaper but still super healthy.
Swordfish: Ask the Internet what is the least healthy fish and you’ll usually hear it say tilapia. And while tilapia is far from the healthiest fish, it also isn’t the unhealthiest. That reputation came from a study that said tilapia had a scary high ratio of omega-6s. And omega-6s are omega-3s’ evil stepsister. But that study was walked back — even by its own author. The real answer is swordfish. And it has nothing to do with how much or little protein or omega-3s it has. It comes down to one thing: mercury. Mercury is really dangerous and swordfish has one of the highest amounts of any fish that regularly lands on our plates.
The official mercury rankings — including the full “Best Choices” and “Choices to Avoid” lists — are in the FDA/EPA advice about eating fish.
- Wild Planet Wild Sockeye Salmon (canned) — the pantry version of the healthiest fish on this list
Nuts
Healthiest: Walnuts
Unhealthiest: Honey-Roasted Peanuts
Walnuts: Few nuts are actively bad for you. Which is a nice thing about nuts. If you are eating untouched, raw (or even cooked) nuts, there’s a good chance they are bringing something positive to the table. But walnuts reign supreme. Why? Because they have omega-3s, which few other nuts have. Yes, most nuts have protein, but the omega-3s are what separate walnuts from all the others.
Honey-Roasted Peanuts: To be very clear, peanuts are totally fine for you. A raw peanut is not unhealthy at all. But when you buy them in a honey-roasted version, that’s when the story changes. When a peanut gets honey-roasted, it essentially gets coated in sugar and oil…and lots of salt. It’s basically candy pretending to be a healthy snack.
- Raw California Walnuts — unsalted, uncoated — the version the research is about
Grains
Healthiest: Quinoa
Unhealthiest: Instant White Rice
Quinoa: Quinoa has a secret. It’s a complete protein. Whenever you hear people bashing plant-based diets, they’ll talk a lot about “complete proteins.” And usually bring up how beans don’t have all the amino acids that meat has. Quinoa does. And that’s what makes it the healthiest grain.
Instant White Rice: Instant White Rice is what happens when you start with something that has lots of fiber and vitamins (brown rice) and strip all that away. The best thing about complex carbohydrates is that the fiber forces your body to slow down digestion, which keeps your blood sugar from spiking as much. Instant white rice doesn’t slow anything down.
Dairy
Healthiest: Full-Fat Greek Yogurt
Unhealthiest: Fat-Free Flavored Yogurt
Full-Fat Greek Yogurt: It’s not often you are recommended to eat something that has full fat. So take advantage of this as much as you can. This has tons of protein (20 grams in a cup, usually, which is more than three eggs.) And it also has probiotics, which are great for gut health. But so do other versions of yogurt, so why full-fat? The fat helps your gut digest it slower. Which allows you to absorb more of the great vitamins. Plus the fat tastes better, which makes you yearn for the flavored stuff less.
Fat-Free Flavored Yogurt: As you probably already know, flavored yogurts just add sugar and other bad stuff to something that is good. If you hate the taste of plain yogurt, toss some fresh fruit in there. And even a little squeeze of honey. It will not only make it taste better than any flavored version, but also be way healthier.
Oils
Healthiest: Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Unhealthiest: Coconut Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: EVOO is a staple everywhere. And it’s great for you. You’ve probably heard that the Mediterranean Diet is one of the healthiest diets you can abide by. Because it has been linked to cutting major cardiovascular events. And EVOO is one of the foundations of the Mediterranean Diet. Just make sure you get Extra Virgin. (And cold pressed doesn’t hurt either.)
Coconut Oil: The funny thing about coconut oil is that it’s been one of the wellness industry’s biggest champions over the last decade. But when you look at the science, it’s hard to see why. A review by the American Heart Association found that coconut oil has more saturated fat than butter and even lard. And that it raises your LDL (that’s the bad cholesterol.)
- California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil — certified extra virgin at a grocery-store price
Beverages
Healthiest: Green Tea
Unhealthiest: Soda
Green Tea: In our culture, when you want to rank a beverage for being “healthy” you want to start looking at what it doesn’t have. Our store shelves are full of so many beverage options that have tons of concerning ingredients. So skip all that. Green tea has zero calories, zero dyes, zero sugar. So you’re starting from a clean slate. What does it have? Plenty of antioxidants. And green tea is probably the most studied drink on earth. And those studies typically find the same thing: green tea drinkers typically have fewer heart issues and better longevity. What else do you need to know?
Soda: Soda is basically sugar dropped straight into your bloodstream. And because there’s no fiber, protein or fat, it hits your blood harder than eating sugar. There’s really nothing positive about soda. Check out our Worst Sodas list if you want to see the worst offenders.
- Loose Leaf Green Tea (Sencha) — skip the plastic pyramid bags — loose leaf in a steel infuser
Sweets
Healthiest: Dark Chocolate (70%+)
Unhealthiest: Gummy Candy
Dark Chocolate: One of science’s greatest findings has been that dark chocolate is healthy for you. Sure, science has helped us get to the moon, but my vote is “dark chocolate is healthy” as its greatest discovery. It comes down to things called flavanols, which have been linked to fewer cardiovascular deaths in a 21,000-person trial. The one thing you should know: only buy dark chocolate that is over 70% cacao. That’s the number, remember it!
Gummy Candy: A lot of candy offers little or no nutritional value. And that’s OK, it’s candy! We don’t expect it to be a sweet version of watercress. But! One thing a lot of gummy candy does is market itself as “fat free.” Which is deceiving. It’s just sugar, dyes, and gelatin. Yes, no fat, but zero anything that is good for you. In fact, it would be better for you if it had fat!
- 70%+ Dark Chocolate Bars — the cacao percentage is the whole game; below 70% you’re mostly eating sugar
Vegetables
Healthiest: Watercress
“Unhealthiest”: Iceberg Lettuce
Watercress: We did a list recently of the healthiest vegetables and watercress came out at number one (spoiler alert!). Everyone assumes it’s kale, but watercress is jam packed with vitamins and minerals. And you can probably figure that out just by tasting it (it packs a flavor punch!) In fact, it scored a perfect 100. It brings a ton of vitamin A, C and K to the table with lots of antioxidants, too.
Iceberg Lettuce: As we mentioned before, iceberg lettuce isn’t “unhealthy.” It just doesn’t really do much for you outside of a little fiber. Think of it like crunchy water. Try to add in some darker leaves to any salad that uses iceberg as its base if you want to add some vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
Fruit
Healthiest: Berries
Unhealthiest: Dates
Berries: Berries are the best fruit for you, hands down. They have a ton of flavor and little sugar. Get a wide range of colors and you’ll have a ton of healthy anthocyanins and antioxidants which help with your heart and your brain. They’re also super easy to eat. Toss them in a bowl and voila, a perfect healthy snack.
Dates: Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and someone’s trying to kill Indy and they poison the dates. And then the pet monkey eats the dates and dies and Indy’s friend says, “Bad dates.” OK, so dates aren’t that bad. They do have some fiber and minerals. But they have a much higher sugar content than almost any other fruit. They have about 66g of sugar per 100g. Berries typically have 10g of sugar per 100g. That’s a huge difference. Use sparingly (and don’t give any to your monkey.)
Bread
Healthiest: 100% Whole Grain
Unhealthiest: White Sandwich Bread
Whole Grain: Remember what we said about instant rice? The same goes for the wheat kernel. And whole grain breads keep two of the most important parts of that kernel. First it keeps the bran, which is where the fiber lives. And second it keeps the germ, which is where the vitamins and healthy fats live. So you’ve got a high fiber bread that can slow digestion and help control blood sugar spikes.
White Sandwich Bread: This is the instant rice of the bread aisle. It has little fiber and is kind of only bread in name. It will process its sugar about as fast as the jam that you’ve put on it.
Shellfish
Healthiest: Oysters
Unhealthiest: Imitation Crab
Oysters: Most people don’t know this, but oysters are basically the multivitamin of the sea. They are one of the densest foods on the planet when it comes to zinc. And they have a ton of B12 and iron. All wrapped in a nice little protein. And if you want to feel even better, farmed oysters are one of the only foods that leave the environment actually better than before they were there. They are essentially filters, so they clean water as they grow.
Imitation Crab: If oysters are the multivitamin of the sea, then imitation crab (sometimes called krab) is the hot dog of the sea. If you want the details, it usually starts as something called “surimi” which is a paste of pollock (or some other white fish.) Then they add sugar, starch, salt and some sort of crab “flavoring” to it. Then they paint one side of it red to give it some approximation of real crab and shape it into something crab-ish looking. Everything good about crab is nowhere to be found. Splurge on crab when you want. Opt for real tinned fish instead of imitation crab.
- Canned Smoked Oysters — the pantry-stable way in — great on crackers
The Bottom Line
There you have it. Now you know which foods live on each end of the healthy/unhealthy spectrum. Choose wisely!
All 24 Verdicts at a Glance
Cory Jones has spent 20 years in media and publishing and now leads the data and editorial operation behind The Greenest. He built and maintains the site’s Neighborhood Wellness Score — a proprietary dataset scoring food access, walkability, air quality, healthcare access, and health outcomes across 18,356 U.S. ZIP codes, drawing on CDC PLACES data, EPA air quality readings, and verified location intelligence. He is a huge fan of Rancho Gordo beans and tries to work out more than he actually works out.
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