Here are 20 of The Worst Foods for Women Over 40

Once you hit the big 40, it's not only the number of candles on your cake that signifies you're getting old, it's also the achy feeling in your joints and the inability to slash those last five pounds off your frame. While aging in reverse is a miracle we'd all like to get in on, there are a few tweaks you can make to your diet to help slow down the process, such as eliminating certain foods that age you.

Below, we've put together the worst foods that you shouldn't eat if you're over 40. These sneaky culprits are found in many American households and are responsible for the unnecessary amounts of added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium we consume on the daily. Plus, they age you so it's time to ditch them.

Powdered Coffee Creamer

The powdered stuff that dissolves into your cup of Joe and transforms it from dreary to creamy contains some unexpected ingredients. Sodium aluminosilicate, which is added to the creamer as an anti-caking agent, is also found in detergent and has been found to cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritations. Not only that, but Coffee Mate's Original also contains hydrogenated vegetable oil, which adds to the heart-harming saturated fat content. If you're not dairy-averse, you're better off getting healthy fats from a splash of heavy cream or even opt for nut milk.

Too Much Coffee

The key phrase here is too much. While we rave over coffee for all of its antioxidant benefits, chugging six cups a day is a recipe for the jitters and compromised sleep quality. As we age, our circadian rhythms change, as do our hormones, which can make us more sensitive to caffeine and affect our ability to sleep soundly, Isabel Smith, RD tells us.

Soda

We all know that choosing soda over H2O is a poor decision when it comes to maintaining health, but why is the classic bev so bad? Studies link regular consumption of sugary drinks to heart disease, and if that's not alarming enough: One longitudinal study followed 80,000 women over the course of 22 years and found that those who consumed a can a day of sugary drink (such as Coke or Pepsi) had a 75% higher risk of developing gout than women who rarely imbibed.

Commercial Weight Loss Bars

While younger folks can get away with skipping breakfast or simply eating a starchy 'weight loss' cereal or bar, research suggests that eating 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal is idealóespecially as we age, Chris Mohr, former sports nutritionist for the Cincinnati Bengals tells us. What's more, many of these commercial bars sneak in a ton of unneeded ingredients such as artificial sugars and inflammatory palm oil.

Sugary Cocktails

It's increasingly difficult to get a good night's rest with alcohol in your system. While you may have been able to get away with minimal sleep in your 20's, that's not the case in your 30's and beyond. Sleepless nights lead to carb and sugar cravings the next day, which can contribute to further weight gain, Martha McKittrick, RD, explains.

Fruit Juice

As you age, you may find it more difficult to shed those last few pesky pounds. If you've been guzzling OJ with your breakfast or adding the stuff to smoothies, your 40th may be time to kick the habit to the curb. Fructose, the primary sugar found in fruit juice, has been linked to abdominal fat the dangerous type of fat that can cause metabolic diseases.

Muffins & Cupcakes

Unless you're spiking your home-baked goods with hidden veggies and swapping sugar for stevia, you should actively avoid these sweets. Store-bought muffins and cupcakes make our list of foods that age you because they can contain a full day's worth of added sugar and the effects of the sweet stuff on aging are quite bitter. A report in Clinics in Dermatology states that glucose and fructose can compromise the collagen and elastin that support your skin's elasticity, so avoiding baked goods with added sugars is a sure-fire way to keep wrinkles at bay.

Bacon & Hot Dogs

They may be packed with protein and keto-friendly, but processed meats can wreak havoc on your health. Deli meats, bacon, and hotdogs usually contain cancer-causing nitrates and nitrites as well as pack in elevated amounts of blood-pressure-spiking sodium. A 2013 study published in the journal European Cytokine Network found that sodium nitrate increases oxidative stress, which can damage youthful-skin-promoting collagen and elastin.

Butter

As you age, your risk for heart diseases increases. And while spreading a teaspoon of salted butter on whole-grain toast every once in a blue isn't detrimental to your health, loading your chicken recipes with butter and buttering your pans on the daily can. Butter contains seven grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, and using just two spoonfuls can put you over your daily limit of the fat.

Non-Enriched Nut Milk

As we age, our risk for osteoporosis increases, giving you all the more reason to dig into calcium-rich foods. A great source of the bone-strengthening nutrient is milk and if you opt for the almond variety over dairy, you may be gypping yourself of real milk's benefits. Just one glass of 2% milk contains about 30% of your daily value of calcium. If you're avoiding dairy, opt for a nut-based milk that's enriched such as Silk Almond & Cashew Protein Nutmilk.

Chinese Takeout

That sky-high sodium content in that dish of General Ts's is a solid enough of a reason to stay away from Chinese takeout.

Doritos

Not only do Doritos contain MSG, but the triangular chips are colored with artificial dyes such as Red 40 and Yellow 6, which have been linked to cancer. To top it off, the party favorite also lists artificial flavors in its ingredient list, but doesn't specify which.

White Pasta & White Bread

Refined grains have been stripped of fiber and other nutrients in order to render the white color and pillowy texture Wonder bread is known for. However, refined and processed grains are also very high-glycemic, which means that they cause your blood sugar to spike rapidly and so consuming too many of these refined foods can lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. To meet your daily intake of gut-healthy fiber and nourish your body with the nutrients it needs, skip the white spaghetti and bagels and opt for ab-uncovering carbs such as Banza chickpea pasta and sprouted bread.

French Fries

Your go-to fast food joints achieve perfectly crispy fries by frying the spuds in oil that has been reused over and over again. A study in the Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research found that heating oil to the smoking point during stir-frying may decrease the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids because of oxidative degradation. Those are the heart-healthy fats that nourish your skin and joints. Instead of grabbing a bag of fries at the drive-thru, opt for baking your own at home with a brush of olive oil and fresh herbs.

California Roll

The avocado and cucumber are innocuous enough, but the California roll's imitation crab meat is not the protein you want to load up on. Imitation crab, or krab, isn't a crustacean at all: the pseudo seafood is actually a mix of ground whitefish and other fillers like wheat, egg white, and transglutaminase (also known as meat glue). It also often contains harmful food dyes that mimic real crab's rosy hue.

Low-Fat Flavored Yogurt

If you're an avid reader of Eat This, Not That! You likely know that low-fat foods aren't the best for neither your waistline nor your health. Many seemingly diet-friendly foods that are labeled low in fat sneak in added sugars to make up for the lack of flavor that results from stripping out the fat. And when it comes to yogurt, which already contains natural sugar in the form of lactose, you definitely don't want the extra added sweet stuff. Not to mention, fats found in dairy have been shown to keep you satiated and slim down your gut.

Frozen Dinners

The freezer aisle is stocked with appetizing frozen dinners that make busy weeknight suppers a breeze, but these convenient and inexpensive foods may cost you your health in the long run. Many of these meals are jam-packed with sodium and preservatives and are void of sufficient fiber, which will help keep you full and less prone to midnight munchies.

Pancake Syrup

Baking up a batch of fluffy pancakes for breakfast is one of life's simple pleasures, but the syrup that you choose to drizzle your hotcakes with may be spelling trouble for your tummy. Maple-flavored syrups like Log Cabin's and Aunt Jemima's are made with high fructose corn syrup, a sugar that has been linked to metabolic syndrome including abnormal weight gain, increased triglycerides, and increased harmful visceral fat around the gut, Princeton researchers found. Instead, stick to real maple syrup, which contains trace minerals.

Whipped Toppings

We're looking at you, Cool Whip! Since these products don't contain cream as the primary ingredient, government regulations prohibit the brands from labeling them as whipped cream. The next best thing? Whipped topping. These imposters are filled with sketchy ingredients such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrupótwo culprits your diet could definitely do without.