If you're a woman on your weight loss journey make sure you NEVER eat these 9 foods which will ruin your weight loss and health goals!
When thinking about stocking up your fridge or cupboard, most people consider healthy food along with a few naughty treats!
Of course, there’s no reason why not, generally, everyone should be allowed to indulge once in a while – unless you’re on a strict diet or must consume certain foods for medical reasons.
However, that’s not to say that you should rush out and fill your trolley with a load of baked goodies, chocolate and sweets.
Be mindful and consider which foods could pose more of a problem to your health than others.
For example, if you’re going through the menopause or if you’re trying to conceive, you definitely need to choose wisely as certain food groups contain more vitamins and minerals than others, designed to help your body respond better and give you a smoother pathway.
Other foods are known hormone disruptors, or result in poor health for women, such as diabetes or obesity, but which are they?
Here are nine foods that women should NEVER eat and why.
1. Don’t Consume Fish with High Mercury
Certain fish should be avoided too when trying to conceive, especially those high in mercury as it can really cause health problems for an unborn baby, affecting brain development and the nervous system.
Swordfish is one of the culprits, as are mackerel and yellowfin tuna.
2. Avoid Fat-Free or Low Fat Dairy Produce
Bet you hadn’t given your fat-free yogurt or low-fat dairy produce a second thought?
Well, if you’re trying to have a baby, now’s the time to do so!
It’s best to stick to Greek yogurt or plain, natural yogurt and to drink full-fat milk rather than skimmed or semi-skimmed.
Women that eat a low-fat dairy diet are at a greater risk of infertility than those not.
3. Cut out Refined Carbs if you want to Lose Weight
Refined carbs cover white bread, white pasta, and baked goods such as donuts, cakes and sugary items.
Your body transforms carbs into sugar and that causes an insulin rise if you suffer from polycystic ovaries (PCOS).
This is very dangerous because it usually goes hand in hand with insulin resistance, so your body won’t be able to metabolize glucose.
The end result is a higher blood sugar level and potentially piling on pounds.
This is not to say you can’t enjoy a sweet treat, but make sure it isn’t on a regular basis.
So, switch out your refined carbs to wholewheat bread and wholewheat pasta, where you can.
Better still, cut out bread entirely and used spiralized vegetables such as carrot as a pasta substitute.
Look for gluten-free products when you go shopping.
4. For Better Heart Health and Weight Loss, Lose Fruit Juice!
Fruit juice is another unhealthy culprit.
It might sound healthy but mostly it is loaded with sugar and excess calories.
It’s best to stick with juice that you freshly squeeze yourself, to avoid those extra calories and that overload of sugar.
Sugar is bad for your heart, it encourages your heart to enlarge and that often leads to cardiovascular disease.
Liquid sugar poses a greater risk because it enters the bloodstream very quickly and encourages a spike in insulin!
If you crave fruit – have an apple, a banana or a juicy orange instead, full of natural vitamins, these are far better for you.
5. Give Your Heart a Chance by Getting Rid of Trans Fats
Trans fats are the types of fats that hide in packaged foods and they are dangerous to those with (or even without) heart problems.
They raise cholesterol levels which impact heart health, sooner or later, arteries block up and you could end up with heart disease.
Some foods with trans fats include crackers, biscuits, frozen pizza, coffee creamer, cakes and other frozen foods.
6. Stop Your Skin Getting Older by Skipping Margarine!
Did you know that margarine could speed up your wrinkles?
Yes – studies show that products made with partially-hydrogenated oils can even encourage fine lines into deep furrows.
This is because they are also part of the trans fats family and trans fats make the skin susceptible to sunlight, so encouraging it to enter the skin and breakdown collagen stores.
That’s when your skin loses its elasticity and starts to sag and wrinkle.
Collagen stores deplete from your mid-twenties and don’t ever replenish themselves fully.
So if you notice the aging process taking hold, get rid of margarine and other trans-fats from your diet!
7. Give Your Bones a Healthy Chance by Reducing your Coffee Consumption
Coffee is ok in moderation and there are lots of positive studies that show it can even improve your life span, reduce stress and give you an energy boost.
However, there are other studies to show that too much coffee can cause brittle bones and speed up osteoporosis.
Stick to a minimum of 4 cups (not mugs) of coffee a day (that’s around 400mg) to avoid health problems.
8. For Better Brain Power, stick to fresh vegetables
Don’t eat vegetables from a tin can, they aren’t nearly as good for you as fresh vegetables and could even impinge on your brainpower.
That’s because tin cans contain BPA which is an industrial chemical that is dangerous if ingested in vast quantities.
BPA can breakdown cell function in the brain, even affect the central nervous system and contribute to infertility because it interferes with the sex hormone estradiol (an essential hormone in reproduction).
So, don’t eat vegetables from tin cans, especially if you want to conceive, if you do want to eat veg from cans, check the labels and make sure those you choose is BPA free.
9. If You’re Trying to Have a Baby – Quit Alcohol!
Trying to conceive is easy for some, trickier for others and sometimes, there’s no reason why it takes longer for certain couples to conceive while others tend to fall pregnant in an instant!
If you are trying to have a baby, you should definitely avoid alcohol.
There are some studies that say a glass of wine once a week won’t cause any harm but your doctor will likely tell you to avoid alcohol, especially if you’re trying to conceive.
It’s best to remove it from your diet entirely, until after you’ve had a baby and finished breastfeeding (if you want to breastfeed).
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