Dieting Research

You may have read on my post about the 30 Day Shred about foods to avoid. Here is what I have learned by watching a video on The Trim Down Clubs website. Here is what to avoid:

•  Concentrated Orange Juice: Most concentrated fruit juices (like Cranberry and Apple) add to your waistline. When companies concentrate their juice they take out the fiber and nutritious elements. Talk about concentrating the wrong ingredients! Without the fiber you’re pretty much drinking sugar water spiking your blood sugar, making you tired and making your body store everything as fat!
• Excess Sugar: Sugar is actually found in a ton of food that is processed! But how do you know when reading the nutrition facts if the product contains a lot of sugar? Manufacturers use fancy words disguised as sugar. Avoid anything that says: high fructose corn syrup, dextran and dextrose. These kinds of sugars are found in concentrated fruit juice as well and are directly the cause of weight gain and even worse type 2 diabetes. Keep your blood sugar level balanced. When your blood sugar level gets too low, your body thinks its starving making it react in a way that causes your body to store everything you eat as fat rather than fuel to burn off.
• Margarine: a high fat storing food containing Trans Fat. Trans Fat is made when hydrogen’s are made into a solid this makes the food less likely to spoil. They, increase your LDL levels causing bad cholesterol because it lines your arteries with plaque. And then it reduces your good cholesterols. Trans Fats cause not only weight gain, but cardiovascular disease.  A better alternative is butter. While butter also has fat it has a different kind of fat called saturated fat. Your body uses this kind of fat as fuel and it doesn’t put any plaque in your arteries.
• Whole Wheat Bread and Pastas: Surprisingly enough whole wheat breads along with pastas make it nearly impossible to lose weight and stay healthy. Another word for these kinds of foods are “comfort foods” composed of high carbs such as apple pie, cake, muffins, beer, wine and pizza. Why do we crave these foods? Well, these foods also contain cortisol this is a hormone produced by adrenal glands giving you an adrenaline rush to cope with stressful situations both physically and mentally that sparks that sweet tooth for these comfort foods. This directly goes to the waist line. This doesn’t mean you have to remove these foods completely out of your diet. You just need to get the right ratio of carbs to proteins. Carbs aren’t totally bad for you, when combined with proteins it won’t sky rocket your blood sugar levels or cause your body to store it as fat. Low Carb foods would be vegetables and some fruits. High Carbs balanced with low carbs and proteins are better for you and your blood sugar level. Making simple changes like whole grain bread instead of wheat can put you in the right direction.
• Processed Soy: Soymilk, tofu and other soy proteins are not only foods that mean infertility but it can also increase allergies! Other problems caused by soy are breast cancer, thyroid disorders, kidney stones, immune system impairments and even fatal food allergies. Why does this happen? Well, it’s because of how soy beans are processed. Manufacturers take out the good nutrients and minerals and 90% of phytonutrient content. Phytonutrients are a medicine found in foods that are disease-fighting. These foods cause weight gain and health problems because it throws your hormone balance completely off track. They even have more grehlin, the more your body produces the hungrier you feel, increasing cravings. Eating things like snap peas, green beans and other legumes decrease the amount of grehlin your body takes in. This will balance out your metabolism. Proper metabolism is so important for your kidney, brain, heart and liver to function the way it’s meant to.
• Processed Corn: Genetically modified corn and other products that are genetically modified contributes to obesity and problems with your organs. Not just corn on the cob we’re talking about all genetically modified food such as gluten free corn cereal, corn puffs, flakes and honey coated oats. Those are just cereal’s, there are tons of other genetically modified food that are bad for you.
• Energy Bars: Some have as much sugar and saturated fat as a candy bar.
• Soda/ Soft Drinks: Not just because of the sugar content, but because of artificial sweeteners like aspritain. These sweeteners stimulate appetite, trigger weight gain through fat storage and increase your carb cravings. Even diet sodas are on the list. Each 20oz soda has 227 calories which is 1/10 of the amount women need to maintain to keep their healthy weight. Women who drink just two soft drinks or 500 calories of added sugars increase your LDL levels. Not to mention the caffeine is not good for you either.
• Canned Soup: Not only does it contain high sodium but it also contains MSG. This causes you to gain weight faster than eating a double fudge sundae.
• Microwave Popcorn: Containing very high amounts of trans fat and gives you “popcorn lung” This is a disease causing severe respiratory problems.
• Anything Labeled “Fat Free”: Most times the fat taken out by manufacturers is replaced by sugars and not to mention they take out the kind of fat that is good for you.