Oh my, what have we been eating these past years? Here we thought we are eating something healthy but turns out, it was actually not a good decision. No wonder we can't seem to lose weight!!!
Let's take a look at what's harming our bodies and see if we can be more conscious in avoiding them.
1) Fruit juice
Indeed, you can still get the antioxidants from drinking a glass of fruit juice but unlike eating the actual fruit, the calories are much higher and the sugar is more concentrated. Eating the whole fruit is preferred due to the dietary fiber present that can help to reduce the sudden increase in blood sugar level.
Even better, take vegetable juice as they are surely have much lower sugar content, calories and still give you the wholesome goodness in a cup.
2) Sugar-free / Fat-free drinks, peanut butter, cheese
Sugar free means that artificial sweeteners are added. They may not give you calories but some artificial ones are harmful to your body. For example, aspartame has been said to cause cancer. Always check where the sugar replacement products come from and better still, opt for sugar that come from plant source.
For fat-free food, some can actually contain up to 10% more calories and 40% more sugar! Fat usually gives lots of flavor, so to account for the loss of it, manufacturers usually add more flavours and sugar to bring up the flavour! That makes the whole fat-free logic totally worthless, doesn't it?
3) Llao llao / yoghurt
Yoghurt contains probiotics that aid in digestive system so they are good when taken in moderate amount. However, you should always choose choose plain or natural flavours instead of fruity flavors because highly likely there is no no actual fruit in your yogurt yet there is a whole lot more sugar! True, they can be low in calories but don't forget about the toppings in Llao Llao, they sneakily add up to a load of calories!
4) Energy bar
Energy bar seems to be on trending nowadays especially when you are trying to skip meals, or a quick snack post-workout. While it’s tempting to grab a bar make sure you stop to read the ingredients before you gobble them up. Admittedly, they may be packed with protein, but most are also fill of sugar, salt and sometimes oil, which will more than makes up to a high fat and calorie count. Not forgetting that there may be a amount of artificial ingredients and preservatives, negating the health benefits of a good workout.
5) Sushi
Sushi is delicious and great if we are going for healthy options like sashimi. However, 3 reasons why they are not as healthy as you think: 1. White rice, 2. Small amount of proteins, 3. Processed food.
Unfortunately, we don't really see much of brown rice sushi although with the government push to fight diabetes, I hope we will get to see more of it. Think of the amount of fish, on a big lump of sushi rice and that means you will have to eat a whole lot of rice for a few pieces of sushi meal. Not just that, sushi rice contains high amount of salt too. What's more, some of the toppings which include crab sticks or Japanese mayo are loaded with processed food complete with sauces that are high in salt and sugar! The world seems darker now if even sushi is not as healthy as we thought.
We all have our diet-fail, gourmet nuts days and that's ok! The worst part is when we are trying to eat healthy and cut down, yet end up on the heavier side of the weighing scale. That just means something is going very wrong, and there is a high probability that you are just eating the wrong 'healthy' snacks and food.
Gobble some of our healthy nuts range and see the effects yourself!
