Too Much of a Good Thing…
It seems strange to mention healthy foods and fat in the same sentence, but these two are linked. Many people think that because they are eating healthy foods they will not gain weight. The truth is, healthy foods may be packed full of nutrients, but they also can have high caloric values. It is important to know which healthy foods might be secretly adding pounds to your scale.
8 Healthy Foods that Should Be Eaten in Moderation
Nuts
Nuts are loaded with heart-healthy fats, and they are good sources of protein. Unfortunately, healthy doesn’t always mean lean. If you consume a one-ounce serving of nuts, you have consumed roughly 135 calories. At this rate, you should pick your poison carefully.
12 cashews have the same number of calories as 22 almonds. You don’t have to cut back on nuts, but you should make your calories count.
Dried Fruit
You see the word ‘fruit’ and immediately think healthy thoughts. Fruit is obviously a healthy food choice, but dried fruit might be causing you to gain some weight. Dried fruit is shrunken down and this makes it easier to consume more.
One cup of fresh raspberries has the same number of calories as two tablespoons of dried cranberries. It is best to stick to fresh fruits and eliminate your consumption of dried ones.
Nutrition Waters
These beverages advertise their powerful benefits on their label in huge print and convince you that you are making a healthy decision. Take vitamin water, for example—every label has a specific vitamin listed in bold print that is contained in the drink.
This convinces you that you are making a very healthy decision, because this water has the benefit of vitamins, and your tap water doesn’t. What you may miss is that this water tastes so good because it has a high volume of sugar.
It is best to get your nutrients from food, rather than synthetically modified water.
Smoothies
You can’t have a smoothie without some fresh fruit, right? The fresh fruit has to make a smoothie good for you. Many smoothies come in very large sizes these days and they are essentially a puréed dessert.
Some smoothies even offer excessive quantities of fruits and vegetables. It is easy to consume a smoothie that has anywhere from 600-1000 calories. Many individuals don’t realize it, but the overconsumption of fruits and vegetables can negatively affect diets.
Your best option is to prepare your smoothie at home. You can control portion sizes and what additional additives are used. There are many healthy smoothie recipes online.
Coffee
If you like your coffee black, then this beverage isn’t affecting your weight. Most individuals add some sort of supplement to their coffee, and this can cause them to easily waste 300 calories on a drink. An easy way to cut back on your calorie intake is to eliminate coffee from your diet (or at least the cream and sugar).
Flavored Greek Yogurt
Most individuals will choose a flavored yogurt over a normal one any day of the week. Unfortunately, a significant amount of sugar is used to create that special flavor. A blueberry Greek yogurt has 16 grams of sugar, which is half of your suggested daily intake. Can you imagine blowing half your sugar intake on a simple yogurt?
If you don’t like the taste of regular Greek yogurt, a good alternative would be to add a serving of fresh fruits.
Avocado
It seems as if over the past couple of years, avocados have become a super prevalent food. Everyone seems to be consuming these—after all, they are considered a superfood. Avocados are packed with great nutrients and antioxidants, but they are also packed with calories.
A single avocado can have up to 350 calories. Some people eat meals less than that value. If avocados are your go-to snack food, it is in your best interest to eat smaller portions or find an alternative.
Sushi
If you are a fan of the raw sushi rolls, then you are in luck. These types of rolls have very few extraneous calories. The special rolls, on the other hand, can pack more calories than you would have imagined. Try and avoid the rolls loaded with spicy mayo and cream cheese.
Wrap-Up
It’s crazy to think that foods classified as healthy can contribute to a gain in weight. Healthy foods may lead to fat if you eat too many of the high-calorie ones, but they also have high levels of nutrients and antioxidants that make them overall good for you.
Most healthy foods will not affect your weight, but it is important to look at all the nutrition facts before you devour any food.
Don’t let the classification ‘healthy’ fool you and your diet. As long as you control the portions of the healthy foods that can cause weight gain, you shouldn’t see the numbers on the scale going up.
- 8 Healthy Foods That Make You Gain Weight - April 11, 2018
