The Foods You Should Kick Out of Your Fridge Right Now
If you've found yourself wandering to your kitchen just to stare at all the food in your fridge, hoping they would all magically turn into a meal, you're not alone. While you're standing there, taking a peek inside deciding what to munch on next, you might not realize some foods just shouldn't be there. Yes, we're serious!
There are some very common foods that really have no right to be in your refrigerator.
And why is that?
They're often sugar and sodium bombs that are doing nothing to help you reach those healthy eating goals. In fact, we would go as far as to say they're sabotaging your diet plan. And no one has room for that kind of negativity.
So to help you locate these pesky problematic foods in your own fridge, we went ahead and rounded them up for you. And while you're making healthier changes, try out any of these 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work.
Flavored Yogurt
Let us preface by saying not all yogurt is trouble. In fact, research from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville even found that regularly eating yogurt as part of a healthy diet can help you slim down faster. There are tons of benefits to eating yogurt, even daily, but you want to make sure you're not stocking up on flavored yogurt.
These are the bad guys in the bunch, as they are drowning in added sugar and artificial colors and flavors. Take a look at the nutrition labels, and it's as if you're a candy bar! YoCrunch's Strawberry with Oreo Blended Yogurt, for example, is coming in at 180 calories and has 26 grams of sugar. Dannon's Low-Fat Fruit on the Bottom yogurt has 21 grams of the sweet stuff and even has sugar listed as the second ingredient before you even get to the mention of any actual fruit. So toss these yogurts out of your fridge and instead, fill it with plain Greek yogurt, which you can add fresh fruit to for a natural sugar fix.
Salad Dressings
Another seemingly innocent, commonly found fridge staple is salad dressing. If you don't take a close look at the nutrition labels, you could end up adding tons of calories, saturated fat, and sugar to your leafy greens. It's an easy way to instantly make your healthy salad, well, not so great for you.
Take Ken's Fat-Free Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, for example. One serving has 270 milligrams of sodium and 14 grams of sugar. That's as much sodium as you would get from 24 Lay's Classic Potato Chips and the same amount of sugar from one and a half Original Glazed Krispy Kreme Donuts…
When in doubt, just make your own salad dressing—it's much easier than you may think!
Soda
This one really shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but any type of soda—including diet and fruit-flavored varieties—should not be in your fridge. Ever.
Drinking soda daily can not only cause gain weight, but it can even shorten your lifespan, increasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Take a look at a can of Crush Pineapple—it's coming in at 190 calories and has 51 grams of sugar. That is an alarming amount of added sugar for one drink! Sorry, but a can of Coke just isn't worth it.
Bottled Smoothies and Fruit Juices
Bottled smoothies and fruit juices are other beverage options you'll want to clear out of your fridge. Again, these seemingly healthy drinks (hey, they're made from fruit, after all!) are often loaded up with added sugar. Keep in mind The American Heart Association recommends men should consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar per day, and women shouldn't have more than 25 grams per day. Instead, you're much better off making your own smoothie or fresh juice yourself, as you can control what is going in it.
If you're really looking to cut back on your sugar intake, this is the science-backed way to curb your sweet tooth in 14 days.
BBQ Sauce
Who doesn't love a good condiment? It's a great way to add some flavor to just about anything you make, but you do want to be careful when it comes to BBQ sauce. Like salad dressings, this is another item that is sneakily loaded up with sodium and sugar. Take Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce—one serving has 300 milligrams of sodium and as much sugar as six Hershey's Kisses. Big yikes.
Flavored Coffee Drinks
Love to start your day with a cup of Joe? You could be adding more years onto your life, as one study uncovered, and overall, has tons of health benefits. That can't necessarily be said, though, if you're guzzling down bottles of premade coffee drinks that are loaded up with sugar and calories. The ever-popular Starbucks' Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contains 31 grams of sugar per bottle!
Edible Cookie Dough
Eating raw cookie dough—you know, without having to bake it—truly is revolutionary. We won't deny that. But just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. And that goes for buying edible cookie doughs and keeping them in your refrigerator!
One serving of Toll House Funfetti Edible Cookie Dough with Candy Sprinkles, for example, serves up 14 grams of sugar. That's just for two tablespoons. We all know it's far too easy to eat this entire container in one sitting like it is with a regular ice cream pint…
Cold Cuts
Again, this all comes down to making the right choice when you're grocery shopping. Most deli meats are often high in sodium, and eating a diet full of salty foods can lead to weight gain and put you at risk of developing high blood pressure. Be sure you're filling your fridge with low sodium options if you really can't resist. If you're up for the challenge to change up your sandwich game, instead try swapping out deli meats for canned tuna or canned chicken.
