3 common dietary pitfalls which could come back to haunt you

As a result of rising obesity rates, the food production industry has introduced a wide range of 'healthy' alternatives. These offer a more favourable option to common treats for those trying to lose weight. 

However nothing comes for free, what is the compromise for these healthy alternatives?

Meal Replacement Shakes 

The Pros

These foods contain all the nutrition of a well balanced meal, but with the added convenience of a quick drink. They are low calorie and as a result they have been shown to help people lose weight. They taste good and most importantly they keep healthy eating very simple: one shake at breakfast, one shake at lunch and then a meal in the evening. 

The Cons

These foods are digested very quickly, they contain simple nutrients and are almost always consumed on an empty stomach. As a result the nutrients are also absorbed quickly and produce a spike in blood sugar. This effect means that a lot of the calories absorbed will be turned into fat and hunger will soon follow. They do not stimulate the metabolism and will most likely slow it down. These effects mean that although you may be losing weight in the short term, you may be conditioning your body to store fat long term

Low fat options

The Pros

These meal options have the same taste as the regular options but contain less fat. These may help to contribute to an effective weight loss programme based on a calorie controlled diet. 

The Cons

In order to make their products taste good, fats are replaced with carbohydrates so often the calorie value is not that different. The big difference is that fat gets absorbed into the blood stream more slowly than carbohydrate which means that there is a more gradual infusion of nutrients into the blood so the fuel is used more effectively and hunger is reduced. This again means that in the long term people who eat full fat options should have better body compositions. 

Diet soda drinks

The Pros

These offer the same taste as normal fizzy drinks but without a caloric value and they don't induce the high blood sugar that follows regular fizzy drinks.

The Cons

These are a contentious issue, but should be treated with caution. The sweeteners which are used in diet sodas are toxins. Toxins which cannot be cleared are stored in fat tissue and prevent it from being mobilised. Toxins require energy in the liver for detoxification, so when the liver is overburdened with toxins it cannot focus on fat mobilisation. Lastly over-consumption of sweeteners has been shown to increase cancer risk. 

The point I am making here is that when improving body composition nothing comes for free  There is a good chance that the diet foods being eaten are actually making people more unhealthy than they were, just for a different reason. 

It is important to exercise your own reasoning with these foods, some may be a better option in an emergency or exceptional situation. But with that in mind, they should never become a staple part of your diet.