Everyone deserves a treat now and then but don't let your splurge be one of these foods
So your diet is going well, you’ve started exercising, and you’ve cut
down on junk food big time. However, everyone needs a treat now and
then, don’t they?
But even on your cheat days, here are five unhealthy foods you need to avoid at all costs.
Muffins
We’re not too sure how this unhealthy food has
managed to masquerade as a healthy breakfast option for so long, but it
needs to stop. You’d never dream of eating a Sausage McMuffin from
McDonald’s as a healthy breakfast would you? Well, clocking in at 444
calories an average blueberry muffin actually contains more calories
than McDonald’s fast food breakfast, and over a third of your daily
recommended allowance of fat.
Even bran muffins or low fat
muffins should still be avoided as they’re still absolutely packed with
sugar, meaning the calorie count is still alarmingly high. For example, a
‘low fat’ blueberry muffin from Starbucks contains 430 calories, which
is nearly a quarter of a woman’s recommended daily calorie intake.
Chicken nuggets
Chicken
nuggets are the fast food choice of many, with some even thinking that
they’re a slightly healthier option. Sadly they’re anything but healthy,
and if you could see what went into them you’d steer well clear.
Research published in the American Journal of Medicine investigated the contents of chicken nuggets at two unnamed fast food chains, and the results were stomach-churning.
Less
than 50 per cent of the nuggets were found to be actual chicken meat,
with the rest made up of fat, blood vessels and bone. As if that wasn’t
bad enough already, chicken nuggets are usually fried in trans fat
filled oils, and packed with harmful additives like MSG.
Fried desserts
We’ll share with you the basic recipe for most
fried desserts. Step one: find yourself a dessert food that is already
high in sugar and fat. Step two: coat it in oil, deep fry it, and make
it even unhealthier. Starting to see the problem? The batter on most
fried foods is practically devoid of nutrition, and does nothing but
pile unwanted fat and sugar into your body.
A recent study at
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that the dangers of
fried foods go well beyond expanding your waistline – in the study, the
researchers found that men who ate fried foods more than once a week
were up to 37 per cent more likely to suffer from prostate cancer.
Ice cream
There
are some problems in life that only copious amounts of ice cream can
solve. We’ve all been there, but when you find out just how bad for you
ice cream really is you might think twice about using it as your
emotional crash mat. Ice cream is high in sugar, additives, and most
alarmingly, cholesterol. A pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream contains
240mg of cholesterol, and when you consider your recommended daily
intake is only 300mg alarm bells should start to ring. Research
published in the American Journal of Nutrition proved that this
sweet treat really does have you coming back for more, with ice cream
found to be as addictive as illegal drugs.
Microwave popcorn
Popcorn
is the go-to food for cosy nights in front of the TV watching a film,
but this is actually a deceptively unhealthy snack you need to stop
eating. To achieve the buttery sweet taste popcorn is famous for,
companies add the sweetner pentandedione, which according to research
published in the American Journal of Pathology has been found
to cause respiratory illnesses. Popcorn is also loaded with trans fat,
with around 5g per serving of some of the worst brands. Remember though,
a ‘serving’ is only around one third of the size of a regular bag of
popcorn, so if you’ve been known to work your way through a whole bag
then that’s up to 15g of trans fat in one sitting.
