By Sweta Srivastava
Eating a balanced diet that meets our daily requirements of carbohydrates, protein, fats, fibre, and calories are very important for our body to function properly. However, we need to ensure that our diet does not exceed our daily nutrient or caloric requirements.
Our daily caloric intake depends upon a number of factors like age, height, current weight, level of physical activities etc. We all face a dilemma when trying to eat healthily and meet our daily nutrition needs. Sometimes, we add certain foods, unknowingly, to our meal because they seem to be healthy but, in reality, we end up loading our body with extra calories, sugar, sodium and unhealthy fats.
This article highlights some of the popular healthy food items which are not as good for our health as they are deemed to be.
Starchy Vegetables
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, pumpkin, yams etc. are higher in calories compared to other vegetables and contain lesser fiber and nutrients. If you really love some of the starchy vegetables like potato or peas, just make sure to go for smaller portions or simply pair them up with some green leafy vegetables to add on more fibre and nutrition value.
Granola
These days granolas have gained popularity as one of the healthiest breakfast options. However, they may not be as healthy as they are popular for. They can be high in sugar, carbohydrates and calories. If you really love your daily bowl of granola, go for the one with lesser or no sugar. You can also add fruits or nuts to your bowl of granola for more health benefits.
Canned? Cannot!
Canned vegetables and legumes may seem to be the easiest and quickest option while trying to get our daily dose of vegetables and proteins, but, they are loaded with sugar and sodium. Instead, go for frozen vegetables. And as for beans, strain them out from their sauce and you are good to go! Same goes for canned fruits. Fruits are already naturally sweet and canned ones contain extra sugar or sugar-based flavouring syrups. Sadly, dried fruits don’t do much good either. They have more calories than normal fruit and let’s not forget the amount of sugar they contain minus the fibre.
Fruit Juices
If you think that by adding juice to your meal you are actually doing good to your body, think again. Juices are all sugar and no fibre.
Fruit fibres lower down the fructose absorption and lessen the effects of its sugar. Thus, eating whole fruit is always a better option but if you really need your five-a-day juice, make sure you do not separate the juice from its pulp.
Flavoured Yoghurts
Flavoured yoghurts are laden in sugar and artificial flavouring. If you love yoghurt opt for plain greek yoghurt and add fruits like strawberries and blackberries to it or simply sprinkle some nuts on it.
Multi-Grain Bread
Multi-grain bread may sound to be healthy but most of them contain refined wheat flour as the main ingredient mixed with a very little amount of whole grains. Be careful and check the ingredients list next time when you pick your bread. Buy the ones with whole wheat or whole grains as the first and main ingredient.
Always remember that certain healthy foods are required to be consumed daily while others benefit our health only if consumed in moderation.
Click here to learn more about daily calories and nutrition intake.
