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Tasty Tuesdays: Unhealthy Diet Foods and a 60 Second Salad Dressing

By July 26, 2011April 15th, 2018General Updates

Is eating a “diet” food product good for your health? Before eating products labeled “diet”, “low-fat”, or “light”, make sure you read the nutrition facts. Does the list of ingredients look like a science experiment or your grandma’s pantry?

Here is a list of 5 “diet” items that are that you should stay away from if you are trying to lose weight:

Top 5 Unhealthy Diet Foods:

  1. Diet Soda

    Diet drinks may actually prevent weight loss despite what you may think. Because diet drinks have fewer calories, it may lead some to believe they can eat more. Diet drinks also have less sugar, but the artificial sweeteners are actually thought to make you feel more hungry.

  2. Light Salad Dressings

    For the most part, “light” food products may contain less fat and calories, but they are often very high in sugar, artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup.

  3. Smoothies (Store Bought)

    In many cases, the smoothies you buy at the store are high in calories, fat and sugar and the serving sizes can be tremendous. Make sure the ones you buy or make at home are filled with whole fruits and vegetables, reduced fat milk or plain yogurt rather than sugar-filled juices and syrups.

  4. Flavored Yogurt

    Yogurt is a great choice to add to your diet everyday. However, you must read ingredients to make sure you really are making a good health choice. Most flavored yogurts are filled with sugar and artificial sweeteners. Try using plain yogurt and add your own ingredients at home.

  5. Processed Diet Foods

    Again, check the ingredient list. If you can’t understand anything on the list, chances are it is not good for you.

Source: Dietriffic.com

An easy way to cut calories when eating a salad is to make your own dressing. It may even taste better than the store bought varieties and most of the time you can use ingredients you have at home already.

Below is a recipe for a “60 Second Salad Dressing” from the Nutrition Action Newsletter.

60 Second Salad Dressing

4 tsp. regular mayonnaise
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. orange juice
2/8 tsp. salt

Whisk all ingredients together and serve over your choice of salad greens and vegetables. You can also get creative and try to combine other ingredients at home like olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon or lime juice and spices that you think would taste good together.

Do you know of any unhealthy diet foods we did not list? Leave a comment and get the conversation started or let us know what you thought of this recipe with a comment on our blog!

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