AVOID THESE
HIDDEN FOOD TRAPS
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The one time numbers
almost never add up is when you’re counting calories to lose weight. No matter
how frugal your diet, how elaborate you exercise plan or how good your math,
the weighing scale stubbornly sticks to a digit several kilos higher than what
your calorie-calculator throws up.
Before flushing your
fitness-tracker and deleting your nutrition app in righteous rage, consider
dodging these five hidden calorie traps that derail more diets than cheesecakes
and banoffee pies.
SATURATED FAT
If you want to lose
weight, stay away from saturated fat. These fats — found in meat, poultry,
dairy and vegetable oils such as palm and coconut — are not only packed with
calories but also affect the functioning of the hypothalamus, the part of the
brain that regulates hunger and satiety.
A study in the journal
Frontiers on Cellular Medicine found saturated fats trigger inflammation in the
brain that affects its ability to control how much you eat, what you choose to
eat and when to stop eating, all of which are essential ingredients in the
recipe for obesity.
Saturated fat is widely
used in processed foods because it is cheap and adds to the flavour and
shelflife of products.
Healthy alternatives are
unsaturated fats, such as mustard, soyabean, canola, groundnut, sunflower, fish
and extravirgin olive oils.
FRUIT JUICE
More than fat, it’s
calories from sugar and simple carbohydrates that make you fat. And even as
most people cut back on added sugar, they often don’t factor in natural sugars
in fresh foods.
It’s not just juice with
added sugar that needs to be stricken off healthy menus, but all juice except
uber-healthy vegetable ones without any additives such as salt or
preservatives. Even homemade fresh juices are high in natural calories.
Sweetened juices contain
as much sugar as soda (200 ml has about one heaped tablespoon of sugar), so
it’s best to have whole fruit with all its fibre to prevent an insulin rush
because of sugar levels spiking in your blood.
Sugar in all its forms
must be shunned, so watch out for hidden sugar in packaged juices labelled as
dextrose, fructose, maltodextrin, juice concentrate and high -fructose corn
syrup. Don’t assume juices labelled organic are free of sugar, they may have
added sweeteners that widen your waistline.
SALAD DRESSING
Among the healthiest
salads in the world is what passes off as salad in India, which is seldom more
than sliced onion, cucumber, tomato and radish arranged on a platter with lemon
wedges.
Salads slathered in
commercially available dressings are calorie-dense and if added to chicken or
meat can take the total calorie count of your dish as high as 600 calories.
Add to that soups
thickened with cream or cornflour and served with croutons and breadsticks and
you have a meal as high in calories as a burger and cola.
Fresh lemon juice,
balsamic vinegar and yoghurt are healthy low-cal dressings, while soup lovers
must stick to clear soups and broths.
PROCESSED FOOD
Foods labelled low-cal,
reduced fat, baked, low-sugar and lite are designed to take away the guilt of
making bad nutrition choices. The fact is that everything processed, however
healthy, contains some amount of added salt, sugar and fat to add to flavour
and shelf-life. This includes breakfast cereals, cheeses, breads,
heat-and-serve meals, and processed meats such as cold cuts, sausages, bacon
and ham. Even healthy-sounding savoury snacks are loaded with calories and
salt, found an analysis of 210 popular chilled dips, including hummus,
guacamole, salsa, taramasalata and tzatziki. The analysis, done by the UK-based
Consensus Action on Salt and Health found that 100 gm of hummus, made from
chickpea, had 280 calories.
SALT
The study also found that
100 gm of some dips had more salt than four packets of chips.
Salt intake for adults
should not exceed 5 gm one level teaspoon) a day, recommends the World Health
Organisation. Including foods high in potassium — sweet potato, banana,
yoghurt, leafy vegetables and kidney beans — cuts the effect of salt and lowers
water retention to help your weight stay on track
EATING RIGHT
Foods are best eaten
fresh, raw, steamed or cooked from scratch with little salt and no sugar. When
this is not possible, choose whole fruit, yoghurt and nuts and seeds over
cereal and wholemeal toast.
·
Sanchitasharma HT 31JUL16
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