8 Surprising Foods That Will Make You Fat

If you’re trying to loose weight, but not having much success it may be that you’re selecting all the wrong items to eat and drink. Just because something is listed as sugar free it may actually make you fat and may be very bad for your overall health.

One key principle to remember for a healthy body and foods that won’t make you fat is to select foods that are living and not dead.

Foods which grow such as fruits, vegetables and nuts, as an example, are naturally good for your body and will help you lose weight. Foods that do not grow are considered dead such as white breads, processed foods or similar, and will decrease your health and cause the body to gain weight in many cases.

Listed below are some foods which nutrition experts believe can block you from losing weight or even make you fat while trying to watch your diet.

1.  Diet Soda

According to findings from the San Antonio Heart Study just one daily drink of diet soda can boost your risk of becoming overweight by 65%. Since diet soda tastes sweet your body expects it to have calories and when the soda doesn’t provide the calories to match the sweetness on your tongue your body goes into serious craving mode.

Instead of diet soda add a splash of lemon or lime to your Evian or seltzer water. Even better, fresh lemon juice squeezed into water will help the body to naturally detox.

2.  Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

A recent study published in Pediatrics and led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have a strong link to the rise in obesity. Sodas, fruit drinks, punches and sports drinks are high in calories and are considered empty calories which add to weight gain.

3.  Reduced-fat peanut butter

Many reduced fat peanut butters have a lot more sugar than regular versions. Which means in many cases you’ll wind up eating the same or more calories in the reduced-fat peanut than if you ate the regular kind.

However, the same principle applies as it does with the diet soda. Your taste buds will be triggered with sweetness and will encourage more cravings.

4.  Coffee Creamer

Switch to fat-free half and half which has just 20 calories for two tablespoons. There are 80 calories in every two tablespoons of the flavored stuff.

5.  Instant Oatmeal

While plain oatmeal is very nutritious, flavored versions or instant versions may have sugar added which can pack twice the calories of the original version. While organic or all natural oat bran is considered an excellent food, skip the processed kinds.

6.  Potatoes, Instant Potatoes And Potato Chips

The biggest problem in America’s battle of the bulge isn’t necessarily cupcakes, soda or even double bacon cheeseburgers. While those items can definitely knock-out any diet, potatoes are even worse.

The simple potato, according to Harvard University researchers can cause more weight gain than downing an addition; 12 oz can of a sugary drink or taking extra helpings of red or processed meats. And no, baked potatoes aren’t exempt from the bad rap. Any type of spud from French fries, crispy potato chips, masked, boiled or baked are also to be avoided.

Instant potatoes are also a problem. Manufacturers often blend dehydrated potatoes with fat to improve the reconstituted product’s texture. Even a tiny serving of instant potatoes can hide as much as 200 calories.

7.  Processed Meats

Packaged meats and cold cuts contain nitrates which many experts believe cause deadly cancers. Processed meats also contain very high amounts of salt and saturated fats, which can lead to hypertension and heart diseases.

Many experts believe that eating these foods is guaranteed to cause you to gain weight. This means you should really think long and hard before eating bacon, hot dogs, sausage, salami, bologna, and any other processed deli meat.

8.  Processed Foods

Although a lot of foods marked as low sugar or low fat seem like great diet or healthy choices while trying to lose weight, not only will they make you fat, they can cause a variety of very serious health problems.

Processed foods contain no natural antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, or minerals.  Processed foods like white breads, breakfast cereals and white rice, to name a few, may actually be very high in sugar, salt, food additives or other toxic fats.

The human body was not designed to be able to fully process and digest this type of man-made food. Consuming them puts a strain on your digestive system. Avoid processed foods whenever possible in order to have a healthy body.

Image courtesy HAAP Media