9 intermittent fasting Foods to avoid
One of the most popular diet trends in recent years has been intermittent fasting. Popularized by celebrities, people have been using it to lose weight, improve their sleep quality, and feel healthier. However, it is important to know that not all foods are suitable for this diet. There are 9 foods that should be avoided during intermittent fasting.
1.Fried Foods
a) High in Calorie: Deep-fried foods are notoriously high in calories. The process of frying food typically involves covering the food in flour or batter before putting it into hot oil. As the food cooks, it loses water and absorbs fat, which explains why deep-fried foods such as french fries and doughnuts come with such a high calorie content.
Example
Baked potato (100 grams)- 93 calories & 0 gram fat
French Fries (100 grams)- 319 calories & 17 grams of fat
b) Trans Fat: This component of fried foods makes it very difficult for your body to break down the food which leads to an extremely negative effect on your health.
Trans fats are a group of unsaturated fats that have been artificially created. In the past, these fats were largely used as a way to make food more solid and give it a longer shelf life. However, studies show that trans fats can cause weight gain and increase the risk of chronic diseases.
c) Contains Acrylamide : A chemical that is found typically in fried foods, acrylamide has been shown to cause cancer. How much you fry the food, that also matters. “The darker the food, the more acrylamide there is,” says an expert.
2.Pizzas
a) High in fat, salt and calories: This point is self sufficient. As you are on an eating schedule to lose weight, you must stay away from every unwanted calorie that you know you w=can’t burnout, and pizza is one of the treasure houses of calories containing upto 300 calories per slice.
b) Bad for acidity: Intermittent fasting, in few cases, has caused acidity in practitioners. Acidity is not only caused by the excessive intake of food but also due to other factors such as stress, smoking, alcohol consumption and more. The combination of tomato sauce, cheese and crust in the whole pizza makes it an important contributor to acidity.
c) High Glycemic Index: The pizza base has a high glycemic index because of the ingredient, white flour. This leads to quick rise in blood sugar levels right after consumption. The effects of white flour consumption is similar to that of sugar, which contribute to high blood sugar levels, weight gain and low nutrition.
3.White Bread
a)Little nutritional value: Since white bread is made of refined flour, it is stripped off all its vital nutrients. After the refining process of the grain, some nutrients like iron and B vitamins are added back in but it’s still lower in fiber and protein than whole-wheat flour.
b)Weight gain: After consumption, there is surplus sugar in your bloodstream. Also, soon after ingestion, the blood-sugar crash will leave you hungry so you’ll crave for another snack. “ Due to rapid digestion, you may not feel satisfied after eating, resulting in an increase in caloric intake afterward ” says Palinski-Wade.
c)Unhealthy for liver: Refined grains tend to contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
4.Sweetened Breakfast Cereals
a) Spikes blood sugar levels: Breakfast cereals are undoubtedly the most popular processed foods that are loaded with added sugar. Check the ingredient list, sugar will be the second or third ingredient.
Starting your day with a high-sugar diet spikes your blood sugar and insulin levels and a few hours later, your blood sugar may crash making your body crave for another high carb snack. Thus begins the vicious cycle of overeating.
b) Though advertised as healthy, they really are not: There is this one word that precedes all breakfast commercials and marketing tactics and that is ‘healthy’. The words ‘low-fat’ and ‘whole-grain’ stamped on the packets are often misleading, manipulating you into starting your day with refined grains and sugar.
c) Loaded with refined carbs: Refined carbs have been stripped of almost all vitamins, minerals and fiber and this is the reason why they are called “empty” calories.
Carbohydrates are essential for the body to produce glucose for energy. Refined carbs are also known as simple carbs and they give an instant boost of energy. However, if eaten too often, too much of these foods can lead to overeating and chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease.
5. Pastries cookies and cakes
a) Fat: One slice of a sponge cake contains 9.9 grams of fat which includes 2.7 grams of saturated fat. Adding chocolate frosting adds another 7.2 grams of fat and 2.3 grams of saturated fat.
b) Refined Flour and Sugar: As it has been discussed before for other food items, refined flour is devoid of nutrients and most of their fibre. Thus becomes instrumental in gaining weight.
c) Contains excessive sugar: Your intermittent fasting will go for a toss if you end up consuming a lot of sugar. Sugar, in all possible ways, is devastating for your health.
6.Potato chips
a) Causes Belly Fat: The mole behind causing excessive weight gain because of its extremely high calorie and fat content. Regular potato chips eaters have the maximum risk of developing obesity. And the fat that is caused due to this type of food is dominantly belly fat. Worst part about it is that an entire packet doesn’t reduce your hunger. So you munch on and on!
b) No nutrition:
To extend their shelf life, potato chips go through massive processing. Due to this, they have zero nutrition and usually prevent nutrient absorption.
7. Ice Cream
a)Contains Fat and Saturated Fat: Whole milk content in ice creams is high which in turn makes the food high in fat and saturated fat. The fat isn’t that unhealthy as it provides energy and protects the organs from stress but it’s the saturated fat that leads to weight gain and cardiovascular diseases.
b)Full of Cholesterol: Too much of anything has disadvantages like in this case, it will cause your cholesterol level to rise up.
Example: One cup of vanilla ice cream contains 25mg of cholesterol.
c)High in Sugar: This sweet dessert comes with copious amounts of sugar in every serving which is directly linked to weight gain.
8.Processed meat
a) Indication of having an unhealthy lifestyle: This is a mere observation. Coming to the health disadvantages later, choosing to eat processed meat is directly related to leading an unhealthy lifestyle. Those who choose to consume processed meat, tend to depend on other unhealthy food as well, studies have shown .
b) Linked to chronic diseases: Studies on consumption of processed meat is based on observation. And those who habitually resort to this kind of food are likely to develop high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach cancer and of course, obesity.
9.Soft drink
a) High Sugar Content: The last thing you need while you are fasting is sugar in your diet.
b) Weight Gain: They are so high in calories that unless you have a wholesome workout plan, you won’t be able to burn all those calories out. As a result, calories get stored and each time you step on the weight machine, you will go a notch higher.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you must know that these foods are not only a disadvantage for those who are fasting but in general, they are simply bad for your health. I agree, we cannot just wipe these delicious foods out of our lives but what we can do is control the frequency in which they are consumed.
Also read 9 most effective Intermittent Fasting foods that you should try
