Have you ever wondered why we crave fried, cheesy, crunch, or creamy food that leads to a bulged waistline, higher cholesterol, or a rise in blood pressure levels? The obvious answer to this is “because it tastes good.” Weight gain is highly the result of what you consume. You might be consuming a larger number of calories than you regularly burn. We need calories for energy and healthy food items to supply our body with carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, healthy fats, phytonutrients, and minerals.
When you consume high-calorie food, you are low in nutrient value and contribute to your weight and waistline. If you combine particular foods in your daily lifestyle and eating routine, you’re more likely to expand your waistline. Below are the ten worst foods you are eating that are directly affecting your weight and health.
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Processed Meat
This food category is considered unsuitable for weight loss because it has undergone numerous manufacturing factories’ processing. These meat products can either be fermented, smoked, dried, or canned, and most importantly, they are usually packed to be preserved to maintain long shelf life. These meat products contain a high amount of salt content as a result of various processing levels. Apart from all these things, they also lack the essential nutrients that the human body needs to stay healthy.
They carry high-calorie content compared to fishes, beans, and poultry products (they are a rich source of proteins). As per the International Agency for Research Cancer (IARC) research, meats that have undergone various processing are considered carcinogenic, which means that they can cause cancers when consumed. Food items like bacon, hot dogs, ham, salami, and jerky should be avoided if aiming to lose body weight.
Sugary Drinks
A high concentration of fructose can be found in fruits that are left to dry. Therefore, it is relatively easy to conclude that dried-up fruits contain more calories and sugar than fresh ones. This statement doesn’t figure that dried-up fruits cannot be consumed for weight loss. Moderation is always the key. You must keep in mind to avoid those fruits which have additional added sugar in them. These various sugar sources, one worse than the other, and sugary drinks are highly unhealthy and harmful. When we intake calories in the form of liquid, our brains don’t register them as food. Thus, when you consume drinks like this, you are unknowingly increasing your body’s calorie intake. If consumed in large amounts, the sugar in it can drive insulin resistance and cause the danger of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases. Sugary drinks are directly associated with many severe conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart diseases, and many more.
Fried Food/ Potato Chips
When you choose to fry your food, you will most likely invite some high volume of calories, salt, and harmful unhealthy fats. Most eat-out places and restaurants serve you some deep fry food items so they can make it crispier. The harm in this is that many fat and calories are invested in such food items. When we talk about potato chips, our favorite go-to snack, but the chips are saturated with saturated fat, resulting in abdominal fat and an increase in the waistline. Why are potato chips so harmful?
There are many reasons to, but most importantly, it is cooked in hydrogenated oil, with that it is crusted with salt, which will cause a medium level of bloating. Both fried food and potato chips are pure calorie play. They are indeed your favorite snacks, but they may be giving you some belly fat. Hydrogenated oils are those types of oil that fall into the category of trans-fat. Trans-fat is reported to increase cholesterol levels, heart diseases, and mostly increase weight. If you still want to relish potato chips, you can choose baked and low-fat potato chips available in the market.
White bread and Pasta
When you about not all types of bread are bad, you are right. The highly refined white bread is the one to be avoided when you are trying to lose and maintain your body weight and belly fat. Research has shown that, when consuming whole grain food items, you can decrease the lower visceral fat deposit, but on the other hand, refined grain leads to an increase in visceral fat deposit in your belly. The refined flour is highly rich in calories and simple carbohydrates and lacks essential nutrients such as protein and fiber.
White bread and Pasta should be highly avoided to lose belly fat as they are made up of refined wheat flour. Instead of refined bread and Pasta, you can choose whole grain bread and Pasta for consumption as whole grain wheat is very rich in protein, fiber, and other nutrients, unlike refined wheat. Whole rye flour and Brown rice flour and are some examples of whole grain, a healthy alternative that will reduce the overall weight you gained.
Alcohol
If you plan on shedding some weight around your midsection, you have to avoid alcohol consumption. Most alcoholic drinks contain high sugar and calorie content without any essential nutrients required for healthy living. Research has proven that drinking a certain amount of alcoholic drinks can supply your body with more calories than is required for a healthy lifestyle. You can prefer red wine and some pure alcohols like vodka, gin, or tum while considering losing weight. There are many harmful consequences of drinking, like it can lead to dehydration and water retention, and water weight in the body can leave you all bloated and puffy. When we talk about cocktails, they are filled with sugary fruit juices and syrups, leading to a rise in blood sugar levels. Beers are low in nutritional essentials and high in calories.
Ice Cream
Majorly, all ice creams are rich in sophisticated content and calories, and thus these creamy desserts cannot provide you with essential fiber and protein content. The recommended amount of ice cream is half a cup, but we nearly forget about it while enjoying our cup of delight. You can always prefer frozen fruit or some delicious combination of flavored yogurt and chopped fruits over ice cream. No matter how much you want to consume those mentioned above, you must remember to avoid maintaining the waistline. You can always prefer to make your own less sugary and healthy ice cream with more nutritious ingredients and fruits.
Baked Food
As we know, most baked food is rich in trans-fat, saturated fat, and highly unhealthy. Trans-fat is considered to be a vast influence in causing obesity, according to research conducted in 2016. Food and drug administration have found out that removing hydrogenated oil from our food can decrease heart attacks and sudden deaths. Confectionery and Pastries are examples of baked food to be avoided while considering reducing belly fat. Also, food items containing a large amount of sugar and fructose should be avoided.
Fruit Juice
When we talk about fruit juice, we think it’s natural and is packed with a high amount of Vitamin C. How can it cause belly fat? Well, 100% fruit juice is a better pick than sugary drinks like Coca-Cola and thumbs up. Still, the fact is even these all-natural fruit juices are stuffed and packed up at least 36 grams of sugar per cup, which is the same amount of sugar that is present in delicious donuts in your nearby bakery.
Most of the sweetness in these fruit juices is because of fructose, which is a type of sugar that helps in the development of visceral adipose tissue, which in simple words, is belly fat. Instead, you can stick with plain water and add some flavor to it. You can add some sliced oranges and lemon. Citrus fruits peels are exceptionally rich in antioxidants d-limonene, a potent component that flushes toxins in our body.
Cakes and Pastries
Pastries, cakes, and cookies are considered highly unhealthy, not eaten in the right amount of excess. When packed, these are generally made up of refined wheat flour, refined sugar, and added fat, which may be highly unhealthy trans-fat and saturated fat. Cakes and pastries are a treat for our body, but they have no essential nutrients but contain calories and many preservatives. These refined sugar and refined wheat delights are high in sodium and carry all the components that add some fat to your belly.
Yogurt
Yogurt is considered an excellent food item that is added to making some powerful weight-loss food. It’s positively packed with protein, an essential nutrient that keeps your stomach full and provides belly-beneficial probiotics for body health. It’s the flavored yogurt that is considered harmful to the belly, as it is highly filled sugar that is the big offender and harmful for a perfect waistline.
All of that sugar added in the flavored yogurt can promote unhealthy gut bacteria. And the fact that is eating too much sugar is directly linked to weight gain. We should be careful of the fruit-at-the-bottom options and be sure to choose any of these best low-sugar yogurts that are approved by nutritionists when your snack craving hits for a much healthier alternative.
