1. Breakfast Cereals So-called “healthy” cereals are the worst foods you can possibly eat at the start of the day. They are usually loaded with sugar and refined carbs, which are some of the most fattening ingredients in existence (1, 2). Starting your day off with a processed cereal will spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. When your blood sugar crashes a few hours later, your body will call for another snack high in refined carbs (3). This is the blood sugar roller coaster that is familiar to people on high-carb diets. Seriously… READ the label. Most breakfast cereals, even those with health claims like “low-fat” or “whole grain” on the package, are usually loaded with sugar. If you’re hungry in the morning, eat breakfast… but choose something unprocessed and that has protein in it (like eggs and veggies). If you really must eat cereal for breakfast, find one that doesn’t include sugar or highly refined grains. Bottom Line: Most commercial breakfast cereals are high in sugar and refined carbs, which are highly fattening and extremely unhealthy. 2. Agave Nectar Honey Agave nectar (or Agave syrup) is often marketed as a natural alternative to sugar and high fructose corn syrup. The problem with Agave, is that it is not healthy at all. If anything, it is even worse than sugar. One of the main reasons sugar is so unhealthy, is that it contains excessive amounts of the simple sugar fructose. Whereas sugar contains 50% fructose, Agave contains as much as 70-90%! Of course, small amounts of fructose from fruit are fine, but consuming excessive amounts from added sugars can have devastating effects on metabolic health (4). High amounts of fructose can cause insulin resistance and chronically elevated levels of the fat storing hormone insulin (5, 6). It can also cause high triglycerides, elevated blood sugars, harmful effects on your cholesterol, abdominal obesity and a ton of other metabolic problems (7). If you think you’re doing your body a favor by replacing sugar with Agave, think again. You’re actually making things worse.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:30:34 +0000
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