If you are a member of national dieters you are likely trying new fads and new products all the time. You believe the promises of easy and fast weight loss. But there are so many confusing food options to find out which are healthy and which are not. Here are foods you should cross off your diet list.
Mixed drinks
There are dozens of health drink options on the store today. You can find drinks filled with probiotics, vitamins and even fiber. But how do they truly work up when it comes to weight loss? If they have got more than two ingredients, you should skip it. That is due to the fact that every drink with different ingredients is likely to either have added calories in the form of simple sugars and if it is sweet but has no calories, it has got artificial sweeteners, which are not good for your waistline, either. Recent studies linked artificial sweeteners with vascular problems and even metabolic syndrome. When it comes to drinks, think simple and cheap like water, tea, coffee, etc.
Premade smoothies
The premade or bought smoothie you believe is so healthy can in fact have more calories than, for example, a cheeseburger. Smoothies may have as much as 700 to 900 calories in them due to the extreme portions of fruit, veggies and often added simple sugars or syrups. You feel more comfortable getting larger sizes of smoothies because they contain plant based nutrients your body need, but as with anything, you obviously can overdo it.
Trail mix
Is this ease way for a quick snack on your way to take a handful of trail mix from a bag? It is ease, yes but not low in calories. Although healthy trail mix is possible if it is made with some dark chocolate, just nuts and some dried apricots is one option, most of the versions that are sold at the store are loaded with candy pieces, and yogurt covered raisins, sesame sticks and deep fried banana chips. If you put your hand in the bag more than two times, you will get at almost 599 calories of simple sugars, trans fat and refined carbs.
Frozen diet entr?es
They are really loaded with sodium. And while being low in calories, they are also low in nutrients, for instance, refined grains may be used instead of whole grains. These frozen meals are a good example of quick convenient food providing no nutrition for your diet.
Muffins
Trying to eat healthier and have a bran muffin over a donut on the breakfast? You should have just had the donut. Most commercially sold muffins contain about 799 calories of pure sugar and fat. While it is definitely not suggested to consume doughnuts for breakfast, it is pointing out that sometimes what people think is healthy is far worse for them than foods they know are not healthy.
Frozen yogurt
Frozen yogurt seems to be much better than ice cream. In the case of saturated fat, it is, but in terms of simple sugars and calories, they are equaled. Once you load up the frozen yogurt with sugar and fat toppings, it is much closer to ice-cream counterparts than you think.
Sweets free from fat
Fat-free cakes and cookies are deceiving. People think that fat-free and calorie-free are the same ones, so they tend to eat more than usual. Further, the fat is replaced by the sugar in these products so they are still getting a high amount of calories.
Nut butters
Walnuts, peanuts and cashews are amazing and so are their healthy fats. They have been shown to help boost heart health and keep weight, so why would you take some of the fat out and replace it with sugar and saturated or trans fat? When it comes to nut butters, chose the options that have one or two ingredients; for instance, peanuts or peanuts and salt. Do not go beyond that, or your healthy food will become unhealthy.