Have you been trying to lose weight or live a healthier lifestyle, but you’re not seeing the results you desire? It could be because you’re eating or drinking things that seem healthy, when they actually aren’t. In reality, lots of “diet” or “low-fat” foods seem like smart options, but the listed ingredients are nothing short of scary, and are thwarting your efforts.
Lots of “diet” or “low-fat” foods seem like smart options, but the listed ingredients are nothing short of scary, and are thwarting your efforts.
Don’t worry, we’re going to break it all down for you in this article, so you can be armed with the truth! We’ll reveal 10 foods that might appear to be healthy choices, but absolutely aren’t. Plus, we’ll offer an “Action Plan” for each listed food – with recommendations on what you can choose instead for glowing health and vitality.
1) Some Plant-Based Oils
Certain oils (like olive and coconut) are undoubtedly an important part of a healthy diet – providing healthy fats to your body and supporting heart health. However, it’s important to remember that even good fats are high in calories, and you should eat them in moderation.
In addition, some oils are healthier than others because of the way they’re processed and due to their omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. While omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both essential to good health, there’s an imbalance in how much people consume in Western countries; In short, people are getting too many omega-6 fats and not enough omega-3 fats. Some estimate this ratio to be as high as 20:1, since vegetable oils are used in many processed foods.
Action Plan:
Do consume oils that are minimally processed and have a better ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, like olive, coconut and avocado oils; Like anything else, these should be eaten in moderation, as fits into your health and calorie goals. But limit or eliminate your intake of oils that are highly-processed and high in omega-6s including the following oils: canola, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, peanut, sesame and rice bran. We also recommend that you eliminate processed foods (such as pre-packaged baked goods and potato chips) from your diet, and choose healthier alternatives.
2) Fat Free Salad Dressings
As we just mentioned, some fats are good for you… So, don’t be scared of them! In fact, many people are discovering immense health and weight loss benefits from the keto diet – which focuses on healthy fats as 75% of your daily calories.
The bottom line is, fat-free salad dressing is not doing you any favors. This is because the manufacturer still has to do something to make it taste good, once they remove the fat (or oil). These fat- free dressings are therefore usually chock-full of preservatives, sugars, added sodium, artificial sweeteners and flavors.
Action Plan:
Look for a salad dressing that does include healthy fats (like olive or avocado oil), as one of the main ingredients, that’s also low in sugar, and doesn’t contain artificial or chemical ingredients. The more natural, the better! In fact, your best option is to make your own with a healthy oil, vinegar, some lemon or lime and dried or fresh herbs. Either way, enjoy the healthier full-fat salad dressing in moderation, as part of your overall daily calorie plan.
3) Diet Drinks
Just because it has the word “diet” in it, doesn’t mean it’s healthy! And it doesn’t make it fit for your weight loss or healthy lifestyle plan, either. Diet beverages (like soda, juices, ice teas and lemonades) may be tempting, because they typically still taste good while containing little to no calories. But doesn’t that make you wonder what they actually do contain, and what that could be doing to your body?
Diet beverages contain artificial sweeteners, along with a slew of who-knows-what chemically-created ingredients. And studies show that not only may these fake sweeteners lead to health problems down the road with excessive use, but they may actually LEAD to weight gain!
Diet Beverages are actually WAY sweeter than table sugar. But because they don’t contain calories, they confuse your brain and make you crave high-sugar, high-calorie foods even more. So, basically they sabotage your efforts and may cause you to eat more sugar and calories – exactly what you’re trying to avoid.
How do they do this? Since they’re actually WAY sweeter than table sugar but don’t contain calories, they confuse your brain and make you crave high-sugar, high-calorie foods even more. So, basically they sabotage your efforts and may cause you to eat more sugar and calories – exactly what you’re trying to avoid.
Just a note here that we aren’t talking about Stevia – which is a natural, plant-based sugar alternative. Although Stevia is also sweeter than sugar, studies show that it does not increase hunger or make you crave more sugary foods the way that artificial sweeteners do.
Action Plan:
Just say no to diet drinks. If a product contains any type of artificial or chemical ingredients, you shouldn’t be putting it into your body – as it’s going to work against your health and weight loss goals.
Instead, if you want to drink something other than water, make it a truly healthy choice. For instance, 310 Lemonades are also low in calories (10-13 calories per serving), but they don’t contain artificial ingredients. Instead, they contain a metabolism-boosting, caffeine-free green tea extract and alkalizing minerals that increase energy naturally. Plus, they come in lots of yummy flavors!
Other great choices are green juices (make them yourself or use a green juice powder), and herbal detox teas.
