7 Unhealthy Diet Foods

Diet soda:
Though it has fewer calories and less sugar than regular soda, diet soda may actually keep you from losing weight. New research suggests that dieters who choose to drink diet soda may actually add weight instead of losing it.


Smoothies: 
Although they can be packed with powerful nutritional benefits, smoothies can also carry loads of calories, fat, and sugar. Make sure your smoothie is filled with whole fruits and vegetables and low fat milk or milk alternatives. Skip smoothies laden with peanut butter, chocolate, or fruit syrups. Try these delicious and healthy smoothie recipes.


Artificial sweeteners:
Research is still being conducted on the safety of artificial sweeteners, but some research to date has shown that they can actually make you hungrier than natural sugar. Look for foods that contain natural sugar, or little or no sugar at all, for dieting success.


Light salad dressings:
Though they carry less fat and calories than full-fat dressings, light dressings are often high in sugar or high fructose corn syrup, which are added for flavor. Look for natural dressings that don’t list sugar as the first ingredient. Or make your own healthy salad dressings easily with these recipes.


Processed diet foods and snacks:
Switching to a frozen diet meal from the freezer seems like a good choice when trying to lose weight, but often these foods are high in sodium and sugar. Check the nutrition labels on the foods that you purchase. Look for a short ingredient list that relies on whole foods, rather than ingredients you don't recognize.


Flavored yogurt:
Yogurt is filled with calcium and protein that’s great for keeping your diet in check, but flavored yogurt can also carry loads of extra sugar and calories that sabotage your healthy eating. Try plain yogurt and adding in a small teaspoon of honey for sweetness.


Baked chips:
Although these are a good alternative to saturated fat-laden chips, baked chips usually have tons of sodium, sugar, and empty calories. If you’re in the mood for something crunchy, try snacking on a bag of fresh, raw veggies or plain rice cakes.

Foods to avoid during pregnancy

These nine months may be the most challenging months of your life. With your body undergoing a number of changes, you need to be extra careful about yourself as well as your surroundings. And watching your diet should on top of your list. Here are a list of things you must avoid to ensure a smooth pregnancy.


Skip aerated or caffeine-based beverages like coffee, tea and colas. Too much caffeine may affect the growth of baby. A recent study said that pregnant women who consume even about a cup of coffee everyday are at a higher risk of giving birth to an underweight baby. Cut down your consumption drastically if you can't go without your daily fix.


Avoid eating foods that have been prepared with maida. Likewise try and cut down on eating foods that are high in sugar content. Although not scientifically proven, including large quantities of nutmeg in your meals can be detrimental.


Seafood that is high in mercury should be strictly avoided. Swordfish, shark and king mackerel are among these. Raw fish may contain listeria, a bacteria that can cause food poisoning. While canned seafood is considered safe, skip smoked or frozen seafood like oysters, sushi, sashimi, and smoked salmon.


Unpasteurised milk may contain listeria, which can cross the placenta and lead to infection or blood poisoning in the baby. Ensure that the milk you drink is pasteurised.


Stay away from mould-ripened cheese (cheese that has a blue vein in it) like brie or camembert. Make sure you cook raw eggs. When the eggs are cooked, see that the yolk and white are firm.

Food Mold Facts

Sometimes, people find moldy food in their kitchen, whether it's bread that didn't get used fast enough or forgotten leftovers sitting in the back of the refrigerator. Moldy food should usually be discarded, but a few types may be salvageable.


Identification
The mold growing on your food is a microscopic fungus with three parts. The roots, which grow down into the food, are nearly impossible to see without a microscope. The stalk rises up over the surface of the food, and the spores form on the end of the stalk. The spores are the part you see. They give mold its color, usually either green or white.


The United States Department of Agriculture estimates there could be as many as 300,000 different species of mold fungi. Alternaria, Botrytis, Neurospora and Penicillium are a few that commonly grow on food.


Growth
Mold thrives in warm, moist environments. It doesn't require both of these conditions to grow, though, as it can form even in the refrigerator. Mold spores float through the air searching for a hospitable place to land and grow. This is why you should check for mold on food that was stored near food which has gone moldy. The spores spread rapidly from one food to another.


Dangers
Some types of mold form mycotoxins, which are poisonous. They grow primarily on nuts and grains. One of the most dangerous is aflatoxin, which can cause cancer and other diseases in humans and animals. It's most commonly found in seed corn and peanuts.


If you find mold on your food, don't sniff it. Breathing in mold spores can cause breathing problems. Wrap the moldy food in plastic and throw it away. Wash the shelf or cupboard where it was stored, and check nearby food for signs of mold.


Misconceptions
Many people believe they can pinch away a moldy spot on bread and the rest of it is still safe to eat. This isn't true. The visible surface mold is only part of the mold on food. The spores have sent roots down into the food which you can't see but which are still potentially harmful. Soft or moist food should be thrown away if it has any visible mold. Some hard foods with a low-moisture content, like cheese, salami or firm vegetables, may be safe to eat if you cut the moldy parts off.


Considerations
Not all mold is bad. Some food, such as certain cheeses, are created using mold. This may be on the surface, as with Brie, or internally, as with Roquefort. The mold used for this process is safe to eat.


Some dry-cured ham develops mold on the outside. This should be wiped off, but the ham is still safe to eat.

8 Things That Are Making You Fat

1. Your Reading Comprehension : We all know that person, the one who eats burgers and still loses weight while you eat salad and yogurt and can’t shed a pound. Turns out the problem may not be your appetite; it could be your reading skills. According to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, healthy-sounding labels are duping dieters.


2. Your Diet Soda Habit: Put down the pop! Studies have shown that subjects who drink two or more diet sodas a day have waist size increases up to six times greater than those of people who don’t drink diet soda. These insidious sodas may be free of calories, but they're not free of consequences!


3. Lack of Sleep: New research suggests sleepless nights don’t just ruin your mood the next day—they could also damage your waistline. Researchers at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital found that while sleepy folks seem to burn the same number of calories as well-rested people, they consume about 300 more calories a day. 


4. The Room Temperature: Trying to lose weight? Turn down the thermostat. A cozy home could be contributing to making you fat, suggests research in the journal Obesity Reviews. When our bodies are cold, we shiver, causing our muscles to contract to generate heat—and burn calories.


5. Your Overweight Friends: A New England Journal of Medicine study declared that people can actually ''catch'' obesity from close friends.


When researchers followed 12,067 people over 32 years, they concluded that those of us with very close friends who are obese have a 171 per cent higher chance of becoming obese too. The theory goes: you're influenced by your friends, and if they overeat, you may unwittingly follow their lead. Surprisingly, spouses have less sway over the belly than close friends of the same sex. The good news is that it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin people and you might lose weight.


6. Eating Too Much: If you prescribe to the idea that eating small meals frequently throughout the day makes it easier to reduce overall calories, you could be doing yourself in. Turns out we're programmed to think that a meal is a perfect combination of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. In reality, the mini-meals in some studies are much more like small—very small—snacks. How small? Check out the story below for a reality check.


7. Toxic Chemicals: While you may never have heard of phthalates—a family of chemicals used to make plastics flexible—new evidence linking these and other so-called “endocrine-disrupting” chemicals with obesity has been growing. In fact, researchers have taken to calling many of these substances obesogens (obesity-promoting chemicals). A healthy immune system can help ward off the dangers of these chemicals, but why not boost your body's efforts by not packing your produce in plastic the next time you buy groceries?


8. Your Stress Level: When you have chronic stress, your body steps up its production of cortisol and insulin. Your appetite increases, and so do the chances you’ll engage in “hedonistic” eating in the form of high-calorie sweets and fats. When you try to combat stress with food, you activate the reward center of your brain. After that initial feel-good spell wears off, you’ll reach again for the same thing that made you feel good, calm, and relaxed in the first place: more food.