Most of the time, we can spot a bad menu choice a mile away—a piece of cheesecake or a double bacon cheeseburger. But did you know that a bunch of foods that’s kept in your refrigerator could be unhealthy too? These common foods could hinder your weight loss plans by adding more salt, sugar, saturated fats and/or trans fats to your diet without you even being aware of it. While we list these worst foods, you can take comfort that we’ll also examine their healthy food substitutes.
Soda and Sweet Beverages
Sugary drinks like soda, sports/energy drinks, sweetened teas and fruit drinks contribute to empty calories. These drinks have little or no nutrition and the calories are all sugar. Unfortunately, when we drink these beverages we eat the same amount—not less—which packs on the added calories.
What’s the best drink you can put into your body? Water. Actually, water is the greatest source to keep you hydrated through your busy day. Plant-based milk like coconut or almond milk and regular skim milk are great sources of vitamin D, potassium, B-12, magnesium and calcium; these milks are also low in calories. If you prefer other beverages, there’s unsweetened black and green teas which are loaded with nutritious antioxidants and free of calories.
Processed Lunch Meat
Although bologna, ham and cold cuts may seem like a healthy option, they’re possibly high in fat, loaded with sodium and contain preservatives like nitrates. Just 5 slices of salami or 1 slice of bologna has 310-480 milligrams of sodium! If your diet is high in salt, there’s a danger of developing high blood pressure which could cause stroke and heart disease; you’re also at a greater risk for getting colon cancer.
Instead of processed meats, other great selections are roasting and slicing your own chicken, roast beef or turkey. They don’t contain any of the preservatives or sodium but they do have vitamins, minerals and protein. You could also search for your favorite deli brands that have low sodium and low or no nitrates.
Sausages and Hot Dogs
As Americans, we consume more than twice the amount of recommended sodium. Most people love sausages and hot dogs yet these, too, are processed meats and loaded with fat and salt. In each 2 oz. serving of sausages and franks there’s a whopping 520-680 milligrams of sodium! Plus, every serving contains 7 grams of saturated fat and total fat is 23 grams. Wow!
There are low-sodium, low-fat alternatives like pork tenderloin, shrimp, poultry and roast beef. For recipes that include sausages or hot dogs try delicious, fat-free substitutes like grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers or grilled portabella mushrooms.
If you just can’t live without your sausages and frankfurters, search for turkey kielbasa, soy-based vegetarian meat or a “light” variety of your favorite brand. The sodium might be the same, but the fat could be much less.
Creamy Salad Dressing
Salads are definitely healthy but it’s that Thousand Island, Creamy Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing you put on it that might not be. You could be adding lots of sodium, calories and fat. Many salad eaters really pour on the dressing—up to ¼ cup. A serving size of salad dressing is 2 tablespoons and even that has 12 grams of total fat, 380 milligrams of sodium, 120 calories and 2.5 grams of saturated fat.
Your favorite brand of salad dressing might have a “light” version of your creamy dressing which will be lower in fat and calories. Perhaps you could even try some dressings that are missing the heavy cream such as Ken’s Lite Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette or Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger.
Frozen French Fries
Potatoes are healthy and fat-free—until you fry them into tater tots, hash browns or French fries, then they become bad for you. Your supermarket has many frozen varieties of these convenient, ready-to-bake potatoes. We tend to eat twice the allotted serving amount of these tasty treats. Just one 3 oz. serving has 3 grams of saturated fat, 190 calories, 8-11 grams of total fat and 390-540 milligrams of sodium!
The healthy option is to roast or bake your own French fries, hash browns or tater tots using fresh potatoes; this will provide you nutrients without the salt or fat. However, if you’d rather choose frozen simply for the convenience, you may discover that there are some frozen hash brown brands that don’t have any added fat; likewise, frozen steak fries are a better low-fat choice. But always read your labels!
Did some of these surprise you? Stick around for part two in next week’s blog. We’ll cover the last five worst foods in your fridge.
Teri
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