Diet Trends That Keep You Overweight

TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT? YOU’LL FIND PLENTY OF SO-CALLED NUTRITION ADVICE OUT THERE TO HELP YOU LOSE THE BELLY, PLUS EATING TRENDS THAT APPARENTLY WORK MIRACLES. BUT IF YOUR SCALES AREN’T BUDGING, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHICH POPULAR TIPS ARE PLAIN WRONG…

JUICING 

It’s fine to drink juice when you’re watching your weight but, as with any food or drink, you need to count the calories it provides as part of your daily total. This is one reason health experts advice sticking to a 150ml serving size. This will give you around 65 calories in standard orange juice, around 70 in apple and about 80 in pineapple. Vegetable juices tend to be lower as they contain only small amounts of the fruit sugar fructose (about 60 calories in green juices, 40 in carrot).

The problem comes when intakes shoot above this, which is very likely once you get into juicing or buy a lot of juices. Most juices are sold in 250ml individual serving sizes, progressing to 1 litre cartons and bottles designed for sharing (but all too easy to gulp down over the course of a day). It’s therefore hardly surprising that calorie intakes quickly creep up.

It’s important to realise eating whole fruits and vegetables will be more satisfying than drinking their juice. This is partly because chewing food begins the process of sending signals to your brain that help to tell us we’re feeling satisfied and it’s time to stop eating.

In addition, whole fruit and veg take up more space in your stomach. Because you’re eating the soluble and insoluble bre along with water inside the cells, the sheer physical presence of food again helps to trigger a sense of satiety.