Sometimes healthy eating is relatively straightforward – but other times it’s hard to work out if a certain food is good or bad for you.
Fruit-based snacks may seem healthy, but according to one doctor, they could be derailing your weight loss goals.
On her YouTube channel Healthy Immune Doc, Dr Liu said that these two fruity snacks are among the “worst foods that sabotage your diet”.
According to the expert, fruity yoghurts will often include more added sugar than ice cream.
Slimmers have been warned against some surprising snacks
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Dr Liu said: “Added sugar raises your blood sugar and insulin levels – and that makes you pack on fat.”
She said that eating sugary foods isn’t a problem if you exercise, but if you don’t “use up your sugar”, it will be packed on as weight.
Dr Liu added: “And that weight will be packed on as fat because of insulin.”
The expert explained: “Insulin is a natural hormone that helps you gain weight by storing calories into fat.
“Both proteins and sugars can stimulate the release of insulin, but fat in the muscle or liver prevents the normal action of insulin.
“Fat makes the tissue insensitive to insulin and this phenomenon is called insulin resistance.”
She explained that insulin resistance in the body encourages the body to “create more insulin whenever you eat”, which causes people to gain weight and fat.
Like fruity yoghurt, fruit bars are often “packed with added sugar”. The doctor explained that there are many names for added sugar, such as honey, maple, agave juice, brown sugar and fructose.
But the name “doesn’t make a difference when it comes to metabolism”. She said: “They may spike your blood sugar levels differently, but they are all bad for your health when they are consumed in excess.”
The weight loss expert told slimmers to be mindful of flour in food products, explaining that there is “more sugar in flour than there is in table sugar”. This is due to the amount of glucose molecules in each.
As for fructose, slimmers should be aware of food products containing this because it “irritates the liver”.
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Fruit bars are often ‘packed with added sugar’
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For those who love to snack on fruity bars, the doctor urged them to refrigerate or freeze them overnight before consuming, as this “reduces their sugar content”.
She said that the cold causes the amylopectin to bind to another starch called amylose to form resistance starch.
Resistance starch “won’t raise your blood sugar and is healthy for the body”. Indeed, a journal published in the National Library of Medicine said that resistant starch “has many attributes which could promote weight loss and/or maintenance”.
This includes an increased release of gut satiety peptides, increased fat oxidation, lower fat storage in adipocytes (cells that specialise in storing energy as fat), and preservation of lean body mass.
Whole fruits are a better bet than processed foods containing fruit, and some have particularly strong weight loss benefits.
A doctor named the “number one” fruit that will help you lose weight. It specifically torches tummy fat.
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
