9 Health Foods That Make You Fat

Do you think you are eating healthy? Careful, some of the healthy foods out there are actually thwarting your weight loss efforts. Look out for these 9 health foods that actually make you fat:

1. Breakfast Cereals
They are usually loaded with sugar and refined, low quality carbs, which are some of the most fattening ingredients in existence. Starting your day off with a processed cereal will spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. When your blood sugar crashes a few hours later, your body will call for another snack. This is the blood sugar roller coaster that is familiar to people on high-carb diets.

2. Agave Nectar
Agave nectar (or Agave syrup) is often marketed as a natural alternative to sugar. One of the main reasons sugar is so unhealthy, is that it contains excessive amounts of the simple sugar fructose. Whereas sugar contains 50% fructose, Agave contains as much as 70-90%! Of course, small amounts of fructose from fruit are fine, but consuming excessive amounts from added sugars can have devastating effects on metabolic health (4).High amounts of fructose can cause insulin resistance and chronically elevated levels of the fat storing hormone insulin.

3. Whole Wheat Bread
Whole wheat is often recommended as a healthy alternative to refined wheat. Well… it’s true. Whole wheat is, at the very least, “less bad” than refined wheat. The main problem with most whole grain foods, is that they aren’t made from actual whole grains. It is a marketing ploy. Almost without exception, the grains have been pulverized into very fine flour that is just as easily digestible and spikes blood sugar just as fast as the refined grains. In fact, whole wheat bread has a glycemic index (a measure of how quickly foods spike blood sugar) that is just as high as regular white bread. Whole wheat bread might contain a little more fiber and some more nutrients, but there really isn’t much difference when it hits your system. You may possibly want to opt for some homemade keto bread, as it has almost zero carbs and contains no gluten!

4. Granola
If granola is made with real ingredients, it certainly can be healthy. When the food manufacturers start mass producing them, they alter them in a way that they aren’t healthy anymore. Granola contains some healthy ingredients like oats and nuts, but when you add sugar and oil to it and combine it in a package that encourages overconsumption, then it isn’t healthy anymore.

5. Low Fat Yogurt
Yogurt is often considered to be a healthy food… and it is. However, most yogurt found in stores is low-fat yogurt… which is highly processed. When food manufacturers remove the fat from foods, they taste terrible. That’s why they are heavy in other ingredients to compensate for the lack of fat. In the case of yogurt, they usually add sugar, high fructose corn syrup or some kind of artificial sweetener. New studies are showing that saturated fat is actually harmless… so low-fat yogurt has had the good stuff removed, only to be replaced with something that is much, much worse. So… eat real, full-fat yogurt, but avoid low-fat yogurt like the plague.

6. Commercial Salad Dressings
Vegetables are very healthy. They’re loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, soluble fiber and various goodies. For this reason, salads are usually very healthy meals. However, a lot of people don’t like the bland taste of vegetables, so they add dressing to their salads. The problem with most commercial dressings is that they’re made with unappetizing ingredients like soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup. It is much better to make your own dressing to keep track of the ingredients in the dressing. Something with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and some spices is a much healthier option. For example, a homemade classic balsamic vinaigrette dressing can be a healthy alternative to a store-bought balsamic dressing.

7. Fruit Juices
Fruit juice is often perceived as healthy… it comes from fruit, right? Well, not always. Sometimes “fruit juice” is actually just fruit flavored sugar water. Whole fruits contain some sugar, but it is bound within the fibrous cell walls, which slows down the release of the sugar into the bloodstream. But fruit juice is different… there’s no fiber, no chewing resistance and nothing to stop you from downing massive amounts of sugar in a matter of seconds. One cup of orange juice contains almost as much sugar as two whole oranges (15, 16).The sugar content of fruit juice is actually very similar to sugar-sweetened beverages like Coca Cola. So… eat whole fruit, but avoid fruit juice if you’re trying to lose weight.

8. “Organic” Processed Foods

Organic whole foods are excellent, but processed organic foods are not. When you look at the ingredients labels for many of these organic, “healthy” meal replacement bars, crackers, snacks, etc… then you see that they really aren’t that much different from other processed foods. Sure, they might contain Organic Cane Sugar instead of regular sugar… but organic sugar is just as bad as regular sugar. Your liver won’t tell the difference. So… eat whole, single ingredient foods but avoid organic processed foods.

9. Processed Gluten Free Foods
Gluten free is very popular these days. According to one 2013 survey, a third of Americans are actively trying to reduce the amount of gluten in their diets. The food manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and brought all sorts of gluten-free replacement products to the markets. The problem is that they are usually just as bad as their gluten containing counterparts. These foods are usually made with highly refined carbohydrates, sugar and various chemicals. If you’re going to eliminate gluten, then choose foods that are naturally gluten free (like plants and animals)… NOT processed gluten-free foods. Now that you know about the 9 health foods that make you fat you can make adjustments to your diet.