Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctors Asks: Are there foods that appear healthy but really are not?

Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctor Say: Pay Attention to these Foods…

Yogurt-covered raisins
Yogurt is healthful. Raisins are healthful. So, yogurt-covered raisins are healthful, correct? Wrong! A ¼-cup (C) portion of yogurt-covered raisins actually contains nearly 200 calories and 6 grams (g) of fat. Most of that fat is the saturated kind. There is also nearly 35 g of carbohydrate and 30 g of sugar in this measly portion.  This combination not only are high in calorie (bad for weight loss) but also trigger craving due to the high sugar content.

Prepackaged heatable lunch sandwiches
 A turkey and cheese sandwich on hearty-looking bread is good for you, right? These are lunchables for adults—take one to work, heat in the microwave for about 1 minute, and enjoy a healthy, warm meal as part of your diet. One sandwich contains just a little more than 300 calories, 13 g of fat, and whopping 600 milligrams (mg) of sodium. To lose weight and cut down salt, you would do much better to pack a sandwich that you made yourself.

Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctors Also Recommend Monitoring these Foods….

Baked wheat crackers
One serving of wheat crackers can easily contain 140 calories, 6 g of fat, and 260 mg of sodium. Consider this: How many people really only eat one serving?  That’s a lot of fat when you are trying to lose weight. Furthermore, look closely at the ingredient list, and you are likely to find that enriched flour is the first ingredient listed, again a big no no for weight loss. 

100% real fruit juice snacks
At 100-150 calories and less than 1 g of fat/packet, it is appears that many worse choices are available.  However, most brands contain 15 g of sugar in the diet nutrition content. The added vitamin C makes them seem nutritious. Consider choosing a fresh orange in your diet, which contains 60 calories, no fat, and 12 g of sugar, in addition to the fiber and antioxidants that the fruit snacks do not contain.  Again, by minimizing the sugar content, craving will be minimized to allow for better weight loss results.

Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctors Debunk these Food and Diet Myths….

Granola
Granola, considered as a nutrition powerhouse since the 1960s and 1970s, is not as healthful of a choice as some other cereals in your diet. Consider that 1 cup of a popular brand of granola (with added raisins) contains 300 calories, 4 g of fat (1 g of which is saturated), 65 g of carbohydrate, and less fiber than a bowl of raisin bran. You have to ask yourself why eating granola won’t help you to lose weight. 

Cereal bars
A fruit-filled cereal bar in your diet is probably better than nothing, but not by much. The average cereal bar of this type contains 140 calories, 3 g of fat (1 g of which is saturated), 13 g of sugar, less than 1 g of fiber, and less than 1 g of protein, which means that you will probably get hungry again within 1-2 hours.  Constant hunger and cravings are the biggest hurdles to successful weight loss.

Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctors Say: Limit these Foods….

Sugar-free candy
Sugar is bad; so, sugar-free is good or so goes the common perception during weight loss. Actually, in most cases, a small serving of the real thing is a better choice when planning your diet. For example, one popular 16-g sugar-free chocolate bar provides 80 calories, 4 g of fat (nearly 2 g of which are saturated), 10 g of carbohydrate, and 8 g of sugar! The 8 g of sugar come from milk—what the package should read is “free of added sugar.” Even so, consider that  the same company’s 16-g regular chocolate bar contains 78 calories, 5 g of fat (3 g of which are saturated), 10 g of carbohydrate, and 9 g of sugar. The packaging does differ, and the sugar-free bar may make you feel more virtuous and more likely to eat another serving as part of your weight loss regimen.

Banana chips
Here is the unsettling truth about what banana chips are—essentially deep-fried, dried fruit.  Banana chips are deep fried in oil, usually saturated oil. Ten little chips contain 50 calories, 1 g of fat (the fat in banana chips is approximately 60% saturated), and 12 g of carbohydrate, nearly as much as is found in a small apple or orange, or in one half of a banana. 

Los Angeles Weight Loss Doctors Says: Calories from these Foods Add Up Fast…

Muffins
How harmless is a little blueberry muffin? If you are dieting or trying to lose weight, well, the first thing you need to look at is the serving size. A medium-sized muffin generally weighs in at around 113 g. The average coffee-house muffin generally weighs in at 125-150 g. So, even if you eat a 113-g medium-sized muffin, you would consume 445 calories, 22 g of fat (4 g of which are saturated), 56 g of carbohydrate, 31 g of sugar, and 45 mg of cholesterol. That’s a lot of calorie to fit into your diet as you try to lose weight. Good thing you did not go for a large muffin.

Coffee drinks
A caramel latte seems like a safe choice—full of calcium from the milk, with just the right amount of sweetness to feel like a treat. It should feel like a treat – which mean during your diet and weight loss, your should not have it more than once per week at most - because it contains nearly 450 calories, 18 g of fat (12 g of which are saturated), 50 mg of cholesterol, 200 mg of sodium, 54 g of carbohydrate, and 49 g of sugar in a 12-fluid-ounce serving. And you thought the molten chocolate cake was bad for your diet and weight loss! 

For more information about Los Angeles’ premier Medical Weight Management Center, please contact Valens Medical and come in for a One-on-One consultation with one of our specialist doctors.

www.valensmedical.com