Are These ‘Health Foods’ Making You Gain Weight?

04 Jan Are These ‘Health Foods’ Making You Gain Weight?

Posted at 08:36h in Food by

Food shopping can be a confusing experience. Manufacturers often use misleading language and imagery to make us believe a product is a health foods, when in fact it’s not at all. Here are five foods that many of us believe to be healthy which are actually best avoided…

FRUIT JUICE

It might claim to be ‘one of your five a day’ but did you know that one small (300ml) bottle of pure, squeezed orange juice contains the equivalent to six and a half teaspoons of sugar? Yes, it’s ‘natural’ sugar, but the body doesn’t know the difference between sugar from fruit juice and sugar from a glass of Coke. Sugar is sugar. Also, beware of shop bought green juices. Many are marketed as green vegetable juices but actually have significantly more fruit (and therefore sugar) than vegetables.

PROCESSED ‘FAT FREE’ AND ‘LOW FAT’ FOODS

Most processed ‘low fat’ foods are a hangover from the days when we believed that low fat diets were the answer to weight loss. The fact is, when you remove fat from something it significantly reduces the taste so manufacturers often replace the fat with sugar, sweeteners or artificial flavourings… or a combination of them all. Most of the time it’s best to stick to the original full-fat version and be mindful of how much you’re consuming and what else you’re eating. Remember that healthy fats are an important part of our diet, so low-fat versions may not be the health foods they’re being sold as.

Read more: Everything You Should Know About UPFs (Ultra-Processed Foods)

‘HEALTHY’ SYRUPS

Agave syrup, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, date syrup… these are all widely promoted as healthy natural sweeteners and are even used in products that claim to be ‘refined sugar free’. However, they are all sugars and should be viewed as such. Syrups like date and maple do contain some beneficial nutrients that are stripped away in the sugar refining process but not enough to outweigh the downsides. Honey, too, is more sugar than anything else and should be treated as an occasional treat. Agave is highly processed and some argue that, because of it’s high fructose content, it’s even worse than standard table sugar.

BREAKFAST CEREALS

Most of us are aware that cereals like Frosties and Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are packed full of sugar, but there are a lot of breakfast cereals out there pretending to be healthy options when they’re actually not. Watch out for granola and muesli – they’re often significantly higher in sugar than you might imagine. The only way to know for sure is to read the label.

WHOLEWHEAT BREAD

It might look healthy, but most shop bought brown bread is incredibly processed. For many people, standard supermarket bread triggers a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, contributing to weight gain. Read the label on your typical brown loaf and you’ll see it’s packed full of chemical additives – emulsifiers, mould inhibitors, preservatives, and even trans fats. Steer clear of any big brand sliced bread, it is definitely not a health food. To find out more about the healthiest breads, take a look at our article What Are The Healthiest Breads?

The moral of the story? Pay less attention to the front of food labels and focus your attention on the nutrition information and ingredients list at the back. It’s the only way to be sure of what’s really in your food.

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Originally from Texas, Linda completed her MBA at SDA Bocconi in Milan. Linda has worked as a Strategy Consultant across multiple industries globally in cities including Kyoto, Paris, Chicago and San Francisco. She developed an interest in nutrition whilst volunteering for an organisation that provides cooking and nutrition education to children and families.

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Sarah has worked with hundreds of clients over the past decade to help them live in a healthy body that they feel confident in.


Sarah spent a large part of her teens and 20’s as a professional dancer battling with orthorexia and an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. This created a desire to understand the human body more so she could finally cut through the confusion and end the cycle of yoyo dieting. This fuelled her passion to help other women do the same.

 

Sarah specialises in supporting women who are struggling to lose weight due to underlying health issues. She’s helped many women manage their weight during and after the menopause, as well as clients with thyroid disease and immune system dysfunction. Sarah loves food and sharing healthy recipes with her clients. Her aim is to ensure that clients don’t feel deprived and instead, achieve their weight loss and health goals in a positive and sustainable way.

 

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Working with Ailsa you will be comprehensively supported, not only in improving your nutrition and lifestyle, but also your eating habits and your relationship with food. When you work on all these elements together, the results can be truly astonishing.

 

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NIKKI ANDRIANI

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team and heading up the day-to-day running of our clinic.

 

Coming from a background in town planning, Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, continually ensuring we are delivering the very best service to our clients.


A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 where she lives with her husband, two children, and her rescue dog Skyy.

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Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

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Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

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Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

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