In these days of dieting,
cutting calories, and smaller portion sizes, people are trying their
best to be skinnier. But certain foods are trying to trick you into
thinking that they are healthy choices when they really aren't. And by
just looking at them, it's easy to think that they are good for you. In
fact, they tricked me for many a year! But I'm here to show you 10 foods
that seem healthy, but actually aren't.
1.
Diet Soda
People know that drinking regular soda is bad for them, so
they switch to diet because it doesn't have any sugar. That's only half
right, it doesn't have any REAL sugar. It's full of artificial
sweeteners which, if you drink an abundance of, can cause terrible
things like type 2 diabetes and makes you more likely to be obese. Diet
soda=bad.
2. Dried Fruit
Ok, this is one that
fooled me. I always thought that dried fruit was good for you all of
these years! But alas, no. It has a lot of sugar and trans fats because
the majority of us buy our dried fruit from the store in a bag, and by
adding all of those bad things is how the dried fruit keeps shelf life.
Unless you are drying your own fruit, the stuff from the store is no
bueno.
3. Muffins
Muffins are
sugar mines. When people tell you, "Oh boy this is low fat and has no
calories!" that's fine and all, but how much sugar does it have? Because
sugar just turns to fat like THAT when you digest it. So don't let them
trick you, always check for sugar content! Muffins are made with white
flour, sugar and butter, all recipes for disaster! Specifically bran
muffins, that's the biggest surprise of all! They have about 420
calories a muffin. Trust me, I'm disappointed that my friend bran muffin
tricked me. That fiend.
He may look cute, but he's really evil!
4.
Turkey Burgers
Most people (including myself...well before I found
this out) think that eating a turkey burger is better for you than a
regular beef burger. Incorrect. My boyfriend works in our college
cafeteria at the grill and he has told me that the regular beef burger
has about 150 calories LESS than a turkey burger. At my school they have
the caloric intake for pretty much every food sitting out (trying to
keep us fit as a fiddle) and I even read myself that the regular burger
at school has 150 calories and the turkey burger has about 300. And they
were both the same size! Still unconvinced? Medicinenet.com claims that
turkey burgers are hidden uhealthy foods in that they are full of fat.
I'm personally appalled. Here's the website if you'd like to look for
yourself.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56301
5. Certain Salads
I'm not saying
salads are bad for you, I'm just saying that you have to be careful with
what you put on your salads. Let's take the ceasar salad. Personally,
it's one of my favorites. And when we think of salad, we automatically
think of a healthy choice, it's lettuce and stuff, right? Well a ceasar
salad is full of all that dressing and cheese and (if you want) chicken.
So the average ceasar salad has about 600 calories. Which is
outrageous, because salads are thought of to be healthy!
6. Smoothies
I love smoothies, they
are nice and fruity and delicious. But full of sugar. And I mean FULL of
sugar. Ever heard of Jamba Juice? Well a 16oz Aloha Pineapple smoothie
from Jamba Juice has a staggering 290 calories and 63g of sugar. Think
it's a fluke? Well the majority of the smoothies at Jamba Juice at that
size have about 60g of sugar and over 200 calories. And most smoothie
chains in America are the same. Beware of smoothies unless you make it
yourself with fresh (not frozen. it's full of sugar and syrup) fruit.
7. Whole Milk
Yes, milk is a dairy
product and dairy is important in our diets, but it depends on what kind
of dairy you consume. Whole milk is swimming with sugar, cholesterol
and saturated fat. Try skim if you want less calories, although it
clearly is not as sweet as whole milk. I'll admit, whole milk is sweet
and delicious but it has too much sugar. Personally I drink soy milk
which has it's own problems, I know. But if you want to drink soy milk
it is definitely an acquired taste, like a fine wine. Except it's made
with beans.
8. Ketchup
Ketchup is basically red
sugar. Although it tastes wonderful with fries and on burgers and things
of that nature, it's just sugar. That's mostly because it's made with
far more than just tomatoes. It has high fructose corn syrup, which is
just another word for sugar. Rule of thumb, if you are reading the
nutrition labels in anything, things that end in -ose are just another
word for sugar. So unless you are making your own ketchup, it isn't
really healthy.
9. Juice
This really only pertains
to juice that is on the shelf. It's just packed with sugar. Take orange
juice for example. Sometimes my friend, Kara, and I get Tropicana orange
juice from the cafe at college. It tastes pretty good, but 8oz of juice
has about 20g of sugar. Yikes. If you want juice I recommend investing
in a juicer. The juice tastes WAY better when it is squeezed fresh and
it has less calories. Win win situation.
10. Vitamin Water
I like Vitamin
Water, it's wonderful. My personal favorites are Dragonfruit and
Endurance (the mango one). But once again, they are swimming with sugar,
which is bad. Although I'm proud of Vitamin Water because they are
making new healthy versions with less calories and sugar. Kudos, Vitamin
Water!
Do you know any other foods that seem
healthy but actually aren't? What do you think of these 10 foods?
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