Recent years have seen a push toward “healthy” alternatives to unhealthy food options like fast food. But many of these alternatives are not any healthier than the “unhealthy” burger and fries. A 2012 report from Temple University found although menu options at fast food restaurants increased by 53 percent over the previous 14 years, average calorie content hardly changed at all. Fast food salads, with chicken and dressing, can often have more calories than a regular burger and fries. (Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/11/29/despite-more-healthy-options-little-change-in-fast-food-calorie-counts)
Artificial Sugars: It’s not just the food at these restaurants that’s adding calories, diet sodas are sweetened with low calories artificial sweeteners. Although research on the effects of artificial sweeteners has only recently begun, the indications seem to be the sweeteners may actually make you consume more calories. Sugar is the byproduct of one of two plants: sugar cane and sugar beets. But the first artificial sweetener, saccharin, was actually a mistake: in the 1870s, two Johns Hopkins University researchers were researching coal tar derivatives, and one of the researchers found out saccharin was sweet when he touched the tip of his cigarette to the substance and tasted it. It was already being used as a substitute for sugar by the late 1800s, and companies flocked to using it because it was so much cheaper than actual sugar. Since then, other sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose have become as popular and widespread as real sugar. (Sources: http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/694,http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/complete-guide-to-sugar-and-sugar-substitutes)
SMART WOMAN CONTACT:Judy Simon, MS, RD
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