Lack of easy to access credible information about nutrition and diet, often leads to people who want to eat well seeking ‘healthier’ options, but in actual fact they end up piling on the pounds. There are a lot of issue here, from food labelling and position of goods in the supermarkets, to advertising and a general yet widespread lack of health and fitness education. With Osteopathy in North London as a focus for my clinics, I come across a fair amount of people who think part of their diet is good for them, when in actual fact the opposite is true.

Here’s a list of things that we all consume that you may think would form part of a healthy option, but in actual fact, they’re the reverse…

Health Drinks

A trend that started with very calorific glucose drinks, there are lots of health and energy drinks on the market today. These drinks are often crammed with vitamins, pro-biotic and even fibre, but when it comes to helping weight loss, they fall well short of the mark. Some flavoured water drinks can contain a cup of sugar in them! Also, recent studies have linked drinks containing artificial sweeteners with vascular issues and even increases in metabolic syndrome. To avoid all of that, stick to water!

Coconut Water

Low in calories, natural fat and cholesterol free, more potassium than four bananas and super hydrating, no wonder a lot of dieters are looking to coconut water to form a part of their diet. However, this natural form of water isn’t calorie free. In fact, a large glass of coconut water will have as much calories in it as the same amount of lager or a fizzy soft drink, so it can’t be used in large quantities to quench thirst without adding significant calories to the daily allowance.

Smoothies

Some fruit smoothie concoctions can have as much as 1000 calories in them due to the condensed portions of fruit, vegetables, and added simple sugars and syrups. By blitzing large numbers of fruits and vegetables together and drinking them quickly, the calories really load up and can put on weight rather than help you lose weight.

Health bars

Many energy, fibre and protein bars are not that far away from the calorific value of a chocolate bar. Marketing tells us these are a healthy choice, high in fibre or protein, but if you think the calories are lower, think again.

Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt seems so much healthier than ice cream and when you look at the food from a saturated fat point of view, it is. However, in terms of calories and simple sugars, there really isn’t all that much different. Certainly not a healthy choice…

Fat-Free Sweets

Fat-free sweets can be quite deceiving. People automatically think that fat-free means calorie-free, but is doesn’t. In most cases, sugar replaces the fat and the calorie count will remain high.

Granola

A popular breakfast cereal, Granola is laden with fats and sugars and therefore with large amounts of calories. Add to that the milk and the size of the portions to gain satisfaction and up to half of the average recommended calorie intake for an entire day could have gone in five minutes at breakfast!