Fruit
juice and a bran muffin for breakfast; a Caesar salad for lunch; a
protein bar snack; and a turkey burger with all the fixings for dinner.
Sounds like a reasonably healthy day, right? Not so fast. All of these
foods have a healthy reputation, but they all have something else in
common, too: They’re hiding the types of sugar, fat, and calories that
can bust your diet or even lead to weight gain.
Get the inside scoop on these and other popular diet darlings to find out what to avoid and what to eat instead.
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Granola: Sugar Overload
More than any other food,
granola has tricked the diet industry into thinking it’s healthy, when
really those organic, all-natural whole grain and nut mixes are packed
with calories, fat, and sugar. Just a quarter-cup serving of granola can
easily have upwards of 130 calories, not to mention at least 4 grams of
sugar and 5 grams of fat. To get the crunch you crave, make your own
healthy mix to skip out on added sugars. Measure your portions
carefully, and sprinkle granola on top of yogurt instead of eating it
alone.
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Dried Fruit: Sugary Saboteur
Dried fruits are great sources
of concentrated vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but — and it’s a big but
to avoid — you have to limit your intake because you’re also getting
very concentrated calories and sugar. Consider prunes, which are dried
plums: Just one cup of prunes contains more than 400 calories and 45
grams of sugar while one cup of fresh plum has just 76 calories and 16
sugar grams. Plus, when you eat fresh fruit you get the added water
content that can help you feel full.
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Sushi Rolls: Beware of Sodium
In theory, sushi rolls are
almost perfect — protein in the form of seafood (often from healthy
fatty acid sources such as salmon and tuna) combined with seaweed,
veggies, and a small amount of rice. If you ate sushi in the traditional
small quantities along with some miso soup, you’d actually be doing
well for both nutrition and diet. But modern sushi rolls are a little
more dangerous: Many varieties, such as tempura rolls, come fried or
topped with mayo and cream cheese. Plus, soy sauce contains excess
sodium, and all the white rice can cause blood sugar spikes in people
with diabetes. When eating sushi, it’s best to stick to brown rice
rolls, fresh veggies, and no sauce.
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Caesar Salad Calorie-Bomb
Romaine
lettuce, the foundation of Caesar salad, is richer in vitamins and
minerals than iceberg lettuce, so that’s a good start. But look past the
leaves, and you’ll see plenty of diet trips, such as high-fat dressing,
calorie-rich cheese, and fatty croutons. Just because you ask for
dressing on the side when you order your salad doesn’t mean you’re
spared all the excess calories, says Villacorta, adding that a
fully-loaded Caesar can top 800 calories. Instead, top your greens with
grilled chicken strips and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
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High-Calorie Fish Sandwiches
Fish is often touted as a
low-calorie superfood (in fact, the American Heart Association
recommends eating fish at least twice a week), but once you fry that
fish, slather it in high-calorie tartar sauce, and slap it between two
slabs of white bread or a buttered roll, you’ve more than negated any
health benefit you might see. Opt for grilled fish or chicken on an
open-face sandwich or a fish taco loaded with salsa and vegetables —
hold the sour cream and cheese!
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Margarine: Hidden Trans Fat
Margarine
can be a better choice than butter, particularly for people who are
concerned about their heart health. But not all margarines are created
equal: Many stick forms contain hidden trans fat, which can be even
worse for your heart than the saturated fat in butter. When choosing a
stick, go for the brand with the lowest levels of fat and cholesterol.
If you’re at risk for heart disease, choose a brand that has been
fortified with plant stanols and sterols, which can help reduce bad
cholesterol levels.
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Sugary Fruit Juice
A
drink that's 100 percent fruit juice sounds like a healthy way to check
off your daily fruit needs. The problem is, even if you’re drinking
unadulterated juice (not a juice drink, a diet trap with tons of added
sugar and sometimes barely 10 percent real juice), you’re missing out on
the fiber and the nutrients available only in the whole food,
especially fruits with edible peels. In general, experts advise that
only a third of the 2.5 cups of fruit you need each day should come from
juice. And moderation matters for this health food. Serving sizes for
store-bought juice in bottles and at juice bars and cafes are out of
control, says Villacorta, and if you’re not careful, you can add
hundreds of calories to your daily diet through juice. He suggests
scaling down your fruit juice servings to one 4-ounce glass a day, or
skip fruit juice entirely and just eat the real thing.
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Fat-Filled Bran Muffins
Store-bought
and café muffins may seem like a healthy food choice, but too often
their whole grains are lost in a sea of oversized portions, sugar,
sodium, and fat — a resounding diet trap. To add insult to injury, some
store-bought muffins skip out on the whole-grain ingredients and many
don’t contain enough to counteract the sugar and fat in your diet
anyway. You can keep your muffins from becoming a diet trap by making
them yourself and boosting the fiber fill-up with oat bran and ground
flaxseed — just refrain from using supersized muffin tins to maintain
diet portions.
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Needless Nutrition Waters
Although it seems intuitive to
combine two components of healthy nutrition — water and vitamins — into
one package, brand-name vitamin or nutrition waters might not be the
best choice for your body or your budget. Dietitians generally recommend
a varied diet as the best way to get good nutrition, in part because
your body may not be able to absorb vitamins as effectively without
other dietary elements such as small amounts of fat and the fiber.
That’s why a big mixed salad with a touch of homemade dressing is the
health food choice to get your vitamins and minerals — and just plain
water from the tap will do for hydration. Know that some nutrition
waters may not even contain all the vitamins you need for the day, and
be doubly aware to avoid any that contain sugar (and calories) — a diet
trap to steer clear of.
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Diet-Busting Turkey Burgers
Turkey is generally thought of
as a fit and trim alternative to red meat, but depending on the cut and
preparation, a burger can easily have more fat than a lean cut of beef,
not to mention the calories from the bun you save when you just eat a
cut of meat. Look for the leanest ground turkey available at the store,
or go completely meatless and try veggie burgers. Regardless of your
patty preference, go light on the condiments, layering vegetables onto a
whole-grain bun or lettuce wrap instead of cheese and mayo .
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