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7 Healthy Foods that Turned Out to Be Unhealthy

If you are struggling to lose weight in spite of consistent and genuine efforts, it may be the case that you have some misconceptions about what constitutes healthy eating. While things like fried chicken and cheeseburgers are widely known to be bad for your body, it is unfortunately true that dozens of foods and drinks with a reputation for being healthy can nonetheless cause people to pile on the pounds.

Here are seven of the very worst offenders, and some smart food substitutions that you can make in order to shed excess weight and attain the slim figure you desire.

1) Muesli
Many people make the move from consuming sugary cereals or fatty fried breakfasts to eating a portion of muesli in the mornings. This is no surprise, as muesli is often specifically marketed to the health-conscious crowd.
However, you may be dismayed to learn that the type of muesli that you can find in most stores is actually quite bad for your body if you are trying to shed fat or maintain a healthy weight.

Specifically, muesli often provides you with up to 500 calories per serving has a high fat content and contains an unacceptable amount of added sugar. If you hate the idea of giving up muesli but are committed to eating healthily, the best thing that you can do is make yourownmuesli. All you need to do is buy oats, sunflower seeds, a small amount of dried fruit, and some macadamia nuts (though you should be conservative when adding the fruit and nuts in order to keep the sugar and fat content of your muesli under control). With a serving of fat free milk, this tasty muesli will give you the fuel you need to start your day without causing your blood sugar levels to skyrocket.

2) Banana chips
Anything associated with fruits or vegetables will tend to get a reputation as a healthy food, and many dieters are in denial about the idea that any type of fruit could be bad for the body. However, banana chips are made by deepfrying, which means that just one serving of them will contain a staggering 10g of saturated fat and at least 150 calories.
This high saturated fat content will cause your cholesterol to spike, raising your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and potentially increasing the likelihood that you will be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at some point in your lifetime. In addition, it is worth noting that banana coins contain fewer of the essential vitamins and minerals that can be found in a fresh banana.

Bananas themselves are virtually fat free and provide just 100 calories per average serving. If you particularly like the taste of banana chips and were not simply attracted to them because you thought they were healthy, you can try putting sliced banana in a food dehydrator or opt to bakebanana slices in the oven. After a few hours of baking at a low temperature, they should emerge with a crispy texture.

3) Tuna sushi
Not all unhealthy foods are bad for you because they cause you to gain weight; some are dangerous in other ways. Tuna sushi is a classic example of a seemingly healthy food that can be hazardous to your health in large doses. While sushi is compatible with trying to lose weight because it is relatively low in calories and fat, there is a hidden possibility of consuming an excess of mercury. The key fact that you need to know is that you should avoid eating more than six ounces of tuna sushi per week. In particular, you should be aware of the fact that the sushi served in restaurants typically tests as containing even more mercury than the types that you can buy in stores.

If you do end up consuming too much mercury, you can develop mercurytoxicity and may develop systems such as sleeplessness, weakness, poor memory, vomiting, high blood pressure, anxiety and abdominal pain. At worst, you could be at risk of sustaining neurological damage. Further, pregnant women should be especially careful when it comes to tuna sushi, as there is a documented increase of disabilities in unborn babies whose mothers consume sources of mercury.

4) Energy bars
Unscrupulous or undereducated grocery store owners might put deliberately energy bars in the aisle reserved for foods that enhance weight loss, and these bars are also prominently featured in many health food stores.
However, the average energy bar is anything but good for your waistline, and may well be even worse than a candy bar when it comes to encouraging your body to store excess fat. Most energy bars contain at least 500 calories, providing the same amount of calories as a small dinner or a large lunch. In spite of the huge amount of calories inside them, energy bars are often very small, so you are likely to feel hungry again soon after eating one.

In addition, the sugarcontent tends to be shockingly large, so many of the calories that come from energy bars turn out to be empty. However, it is possible to find energy bars that are good for you. If you want to find a healthy one that won’t undermine your attempts to lose weight or stay slim, take a close look at the labels and pick a bar that contains no more than around 220 calories and gives you at least 4 grams of protein.

5) Trail mix
Trail mix is a highly convenient snack, and the fact that it typically contains plenty of nuts and dried fruit tends to create the impression that it is a healthy addition to your diet.
However, most trail mix products often contain sugar-covered nuts, yogurt-coated raisins, corn syrup, and the aforementioned deep fried banana chips. As a result, just a couple of servings of trail mix could lead you to accidentally consume up to600calories, a hefty amount of trans fats, and excessive amounts of empty calories in the form of refined sugars.

If you eat trail mix on a regular basis, you may be horrified and confused the next time you step onto the scales. However, it is possible to locate and purchase healthy trail mix. Bypass the mixes that are full of candy, and look out for ones that are almost entirely comprised of nuts, with a couple of pieces of dark chocolate and some dried fruit thrown in. If you can’t find it in a store, you can makeyour own using those key ingredients. Eating conservative portions of this type of trail mix is perfectly compatible with living a healthy lifestyle and keeping a trim figure.

6) Prepared salads
When you order a salad at a restaurant, you probably think that you are treating your body properly and showing remarkable restraint. However, while some salads are truly good for you, some of them can be just asbadastheburger you yearned to order. In particular, the most popular salads found in restaurants will often be drowned in extra fats and calories so that consumers will find them tastier. In many cases, these salads are particularly unhealthy due to the chef’s decision to add huge amounts of mayonnaise (which is high in both calories and fat).

In addition, you may find that the meat isn’t as lean as you would like it to be, and that there are fatty flakes of parmesan cheese. If you are concerned that a restaurant salad might not be healthy, ask your waiter about the ingredients. If you receive a vague answer or learn that your salad will be full of fat, it is better to order something else from the menu. Of course, an even better option is to make your own salad at home (using green vegetables, lean meat, delicious herbs, and a modest dressing with low fat and sugar content).

7) Reduced fat yogurts
Dieters often gravitate towards the low fat yogurt shelf in the dairy section, because the promise of reduced fat content implies that these yogurts will be helpful for those who want to lose weight. However, the lack of fat tends to create a taste that is bland at best, and outright disgusting at worst. In an attempt to compensate, yogurt manufacturers will often choose to heap a lot of extrasugar into their products, creating a much more palatable taste at the cost of selling an unhealthy snack. In the end, the high sugar content can make these reduced fat yogurts less healthy than a regular yogurt, so it pays to be particularly careful when choosing yogurts at the store.

If you want to eat healthy food, you need to find yogurts that strike a good balance. The ideal yogurt will contain low levels of fat and sugar, including enough of each to create an acceptable flavor but not so much of either that the yogurt becomes unhealthy.
Once your eyes are open to the range of unhealthy foods that are advertised as being healthy, your diet immediately becomes more conducive to developing a fit, slender body.

Source: www.mydiet.com