10 Healthy Ingredients That Are Causing You To Gain Weight

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the avalanche of “healthy” ingredients and products that seem to multiply daily? And the truth is, some of these things are not only far from being healthy, but they are expanding your waistline as well.

If you are trying to lose weight, you should be sure you aren’t consuming these 10 foods or ingredients. Check out our top 10 list of not healthy “health” foods and put them on your “don’t buy” list… unless you want to gain weight!

weight scale

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1. Vegan Cheese

This is one example where the packaging is misleading. You might think that vegan cheese would be a healthier choice but, alas, it isn’t. Vegan cheese still has 100 calories per ounce and this cheese is loaded with artificial ingredients such as xanthan gum, and protein isolates. The problem with eating this cheese is that you are losing all the protein real cheese has. String cheese, for example, has 8 grams of protein. Vegan cheese? 1 gram. This means less nutrition and you are going to feel less satisfied from each serving.

 

2. Tomato Sauce

Although tomato sauce can be a great, low calorie, flavor filled option for cooking; you will need to check the label carefully. Most brands of tomato sauce have tons of added sugar and sodium. Choose your tomato sauce carefully.

 

SEE ALSO: 10 Rules Of Losing Weight Infographic

 

3. Wraps

The coolest trend in “healthy” eating: wraps! But the truth is, no matter what you put in it, it’s really not a healthy option. If you were to unroll a wrap, it’s a much as 12 inches long and have as much as 300 calories. And, since the surface is larger than two simple slices of bread, you can pack it with a lot more of that dressing and/or mayo than a plain old sandwich.

 

4. Granola

So yummy, and so loaded with healthy nuts and oats, it’s got to be ok, right? It might be if it wasn’t for the fact that manufacturers add tons of oil to make it crisp and tons of sugar to make it yummy. One bowl has about 500 calories. Read labels. There are plenty of other cereals with the same amount of nutrients but far less sugar and oil.

 

5.  Coconut Oil

Although this is the hottest ingredient in years, and is being touted for everything from cooking to hair treatments, you need to know that just two tablespoons of coconut oil have about 200 calories. So if you want to start using coconut oil regularly, be sure to either get more exercise, or cut out 200 calories somewhere else in your diet. Find out how to lose weight with coconut oil. Feel free to use it on your skin and hair, however!

 

6. Gluten-Free Foods

First it was “low fat”, then “low carb”, now it’s “gluten free”. Unless you have a true intolerance to gluten products, then there is nothing healthier about these gluten free pastas. In fact, truth be told, gluten free pasta is lower in fiber and protein than whole wheat pasta. This also goes for breads and all those other gluten free products. The calorie count is about the same, so there really is no reason to choose these “healthy” foods because, they really aren’t very good for you.

 

7. Agave Nectar

Although many manufacturers will say that agave nectar is natural and organic, pure agave nectar is as rare as chicken lips. What you are buying from your store is just man made, chemically produced syrups with some artificial flavoring. Most of these have 45 calories per teaspoon, much more than cane sugar!

 

8. Brown Sugar

White, brown, liquid, it doesn’t matter, sugar is sugar and it still has 16 calories per teaspoon. Brown sugar isn’t any healthier than white sugar so don’t use it with abandon. Find out 27 foods that hide sugar.

 

9. Carob

Although you have probably heard people say that carob is the “healthy” alternative to chocolate, it’s got the same amount of calories, minus the health benefits linked to dark chocolate.  Now carob is caffeine free, something chocolate is not, so if you are sensitive to caffeine, then by all means, use carob, but don’t eat it because of the mistaken belief that it’s somehow healthier.

 

10. Sushi Rolls

Ok, the seaweed wrap and the veggies are low calorie, but almost all of these rolls are covered with cream cheese or mayonnaise. (Yes, that spicy sauce on top? It’s made with mayo) Sometimes the seafood inside is tempura battered first. So, because of those ingredients, a standard roll has somewhere around 600 calories. And don’t forget that sodium soaked soy sauce. It’s got enough salt to make you look, and feel, super bloated.

Sources:

Womenshealthmag.com

Cosmopolitan.com

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