You understand how some sneakers are specifically engineered for others and workouts, it turns out, are appropriate for nothing more than making fashion statements? Well, foods really are like that also. Many are dressed up to appear as they’re good for you when in fact they’re anything but. When you are trying to eat well, it can be bothersome when unhealthful impostors–full of sugar, fat, and sodium–undo your great work. Here’s how to spot and prevent seven of them.
With so much fruit, how can a smoothie be a bad thing? Trouble comes to tropical heaven when a smoothie’s main component is fruit juice, which adds calories without supplying any of the good-for-you fiber you receive from the fruit itself. What is more, a few smoothie stains utilize sugar-loaded sherbet or frozen yogurt to bulge up flavor. Therefore you are going to be adding on the calories later when hunger comes back back.
They sure sound good, but the issue with fat-free foods, says Greaves, is that “people view them as a ticket to eat more.” Which is particularly problematic because when you take fat from meals, something must replace the taste–and that something is generally added sugar and sodium. The proper kinds of fats are actually essential to a healthy diet, providing flavor, lowering the potential for heart disease, and even picking up your mood, says Greaves. What’s more, fat can help you feel complete; many meals become less satisfying without it, which may lead one to consume more in your next meal.
Just because they are available in a tiny package that says they’re loaded with vitamin and minerals, energy bars are not always a nutritious option. In fact, “a great deal of these are nothing more than glorified candy bars,” says Sari Greaves, RD, nutrition director for Step Ahead Weight Loss Center in New Jersey. “They can be packaged with enriched white flour, higher fructose corn syrup, and other additives.” Many are high in saturated fat, too, and low in fiber. “And should you eat them in inclusion to meals,” says Greaves, “that is an extra 300 to 400 calories in daily, which many of us can not manage.”
An increasing body of research indicates that ingesting added glucose from sweetened beverages increases the risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes. In fact, the American Heart Association urges we get no more than 6.5 teaspoons of additional sugar daily. But the majority people strategy outpace that. Between 1970 and 2005 the average American’s intake of added sugars (cane sugar, beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, or agave) jumped by 20 percent, and the majority of the increase came from beverages. You likely have 22 to 30 teaspoons of additional sugar every day, which adds around 350 to 475 empty calories daily.
Soda takes a whole lot of the heat, but the problem doesn’t start and end there. For instance, the 20-ounce jar of SoBe Green Tea provides 15.5 teaspoons of added sugar–only 1 teaspoon under a 20-ounce Coke. Along with a Minute Maid lemonade of the same size includes a half-teaspoon over a Coke. Gatorade and Vitamin Water may sound healthy, but a 20-ounce jar of either exceeds your daily sugar allowance by two teaspoons.
“I’ll just have a salad” has been the universal slogan of the well-intentioned eater, but consider this: Some restaurant chains possess salads on their menus that top out at 1,000 calories. And if you pick up a premade Caesar-salad kit at the supermarket you may also have stopped into Burger King for a Whopper, ” says Greaves. The truth is, many fries are packed with unhealthy add-ins, such as cheese (100 calories in four dice-sized cubes), bacon pieces, creamy dressings, and croutons. Nothing against a big bowl of healthy greens; it’s the company they maintain that is worrisome.
With little leaves of lettuce peeking out and slender slices of deli meats, wraps look like a solid option. Nevertheless, the flat breads that provide the sandwiches their name may bring 300 calories into the table all in their own, says Marisa Moore, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in Atlanta. By the time you add in certain cheese, cold cuts, along with a disperse, you could be putting away a 700-calorie meal that feels more like a snack. Plus, wraps are often made from processed grains–so they don’t give you the fiber that you need for a healthful lunch.
Cooking healthy recipes hasn’t ever been this easy.