7 Foods To Avoid in your Diet

11 November 2020 by Chloe Waring in Uncategorised

7 Foods to Avoid for an overall better, healthier and balanced diet:

Nutrition is a key driving force in healthy living and goes hand in hand with a solid fitness routine, but it can be difficult to know what foods to avoid. Brands often sell foods with “low fat” labels or “zero sugar” which we tend to gravitate towards thinking it will be the healthier option however this is not always the case. That sugar is usually replaced with artificial sweeteners and the fat is usually replaced with sugar. Here’s just a few foods to avoid or cut down if they are a staple in your diet;

 

1. White Bread This particular staple is pretty high up on the GI (Glycemic Index) which ranks food on its affect on blood sugar levels. Switch this for whole-wheat (brown) bread for a healthier option!
2. Pizza This is a quick and easy staple in many peoples diets, however, pre-packages, frozen pizza and take-away pizza’s are usually filled with a painstakingly high level of saturated fat (the worst type of fat). Instead, make your own healthy version using a tortilla as a base, tomato puree, low fat cheese and lighter toppings such as chicken and spinach.
3. Pre-packed Salad Pre-made, supermarket salads may feel like a quick, healthy option but the dressings that are sold in them are usually filled to the brim with fat and double the calories with just the sauce. These usually come with cheese and croutons which cause the calorie levels to increase as well. An easy swap for this would be to buy a salad bag without dressing and then add in your own light dressing or vinegar, you can then control how much of everything goes in and the quality of those extras.
4. Ice Cream Ice creams usually have synthetic, processed sugars in them which cause the extremely high fat, sugar and calorie content. If you’re craving a sweet treat similar to ice cream, make it yourself or opt for a delicious frozen yoghurt instead!
5. Fried Food Anything fried is very popular in our day and age, from French fries to onion rings to battered fish, the oils that the foods are heavily fried in are filled with saturated fat. This type of fat, as mentioned in pizza, is what over the years if consumed heavily can lead to strokes and heart attacks.
6. Diet Fizzy Drinks This one is a prime example of deceiving marketing. It may say “diet” on the packaging however that doesn’t mean it’s a healthy option. Artificial sweeteners are used to replace the sugar in these drinks, which are 100 times sweeter than natural sugars such as fructose and sucrose which leads to the body to overproduce insulin.
7. Dried Fruit Dried fruit usually has a higher level of sugar in it in order to increase it’s shelf life in the supermarket. Not only this, it’s had all it’s water content removed which is what makes you feel full when eating fresh fruit. This can lead to over-eating due to not feeling full. Stick with your fresh fruits and veggies.