Why are sweet treats bad for your figure? TOP 10 most dangerous sweets from the store. Healthy homemade recipes.
Low-calorie sweets are often used during diets as an easy and enjoyable way to reward yourself for hardship. "Just a piece!" - we argue, taking off our favorite delicacy from the store shelf, which looks like an innocent indulgence to a losing weight, and … we lose. Excess pounds, tooth decay, diabetes, bad mood, depression. Because in fact, many sweets only pretend to be light and harmless.
Why are sweets bad for your figure?
Whole treatises have been written about the destructive effect of sweets on the human body. Too close acquaintance with sugar is bad for the condition of teeth, skin, intestines, pancreas and immunity; causes swelling; interferes with the full assimilation of vitamins B and C; contributes to the development of dozens of unpleasant diseases.
But the first consequences of an immoderate love for sweets are reflected, as a rule, on the figure:
- Excess calories from fast carbohydrates are stored in fat, and our body gets loose and flabby forms instead of toned and chiseled.
- Sugar stimulates the feeling of false hunger, forcing us to eat more than the body actually needs.
- A person who is unable to do without sweets makes his pancreas work “to the point of wear and tear”, throwing new portions of insulin into the bloodstream, which, among other things, inhibit metabolism and further provoke weight gain.
- Collagen and elastin in skin cells are destroyed under the influence of sugar, aging processes are gaining momentum, due to which not only the face loses freshness, but also the manifestations of cellulite become more pronounced.
- In addition to sugar, various types of sweets can contain preservatives, colors, thickeners, and hydrogenated fats, which contribute to disease and metabolism.
Note! Sugar abuse is also bad for intimate life. With an excessive amount of sugar in the menu, libido is suppressed, and with it the desire to flirt, keep yourself in shape. It turns out a vicious circle, from which it can be very difficult to escape.
TOP 10 sweets from the store that spoil the figure
It is a pity that many treat sweets lightly, believing that they cannot pose any particular danger to health and shape. And if they try to control the consumption of controversial products, they often make the wrong choice, because it is not always possible to accurately determine whether the sweetness is more or less neutral or frankly dangerous. Well, let's try to identify the main enemies of our harmony, so that we no longer fall for their bait.
Store baked goods
Undoubtedly, even without our tips, you perfectly understand that sweet "Napoleon" with chocolate or "Honey" with butter cream does not go well with a slender figure. But biscuits, muffins and rolls of long-term storage are considered by many to be practically safe, and completely in vain.
To keep the baked goods fresh for more than 4-5 days, they are thickly stuffed with stabilizers and preservatives, and antioxidants are introduced into the fruit or cream layer, which, together with a considerable amount of sugar, creates an impressive load on the digestive system. As soon as you taste 1-2 thin slices of store-bought baked goods, there will be a jump in cholesterol in the blood in its most harmful form, the gastric mucosa will be exposed to aggressive substances, the metabolism will receive a noticeable blow - and all this simultaneously with the growth of fatty layer on the stomach and sides.
So the next time you feel the urge to fetch sweets from the store for a scheduled cheat meal or evening tea with a friend, opt for something less dangerous. Rolls and biscuits are definitely not included in the list of allowed goodies.
Effervescent candies
Cheerful multicolored lumps, exploding on the tongue, like a festive fireworks, represent a real ode to harmful compounds. The acids that make up the candy corrode the mucous membrane of the mouth and digestive tract. Dyes, due to which "fizzy" get their bright shade, often have pronounced carcinogenic properties. Flavors and sweeteners - primarily the diabetes and heart disease-causing aspartame - interfere with normal liver function.
The result is the same: health problems, a shattered metabolism and excess weight.
Note! Aspartame is often found in sugary sodas, along with caffeine, which is harmful to blood pressure and heart, phosphoric acid, which damages bones, and sodium benzoate, which has a detrimental effect on the liver. Because of all of the above, even the dietary type of fizzy drink is firmly in the top spot among the most dangerous sugar-free sweets for health, and soda with traditional sweeteners also makes you gain weight at an accelerated pace.
Chocolate bars
The word "chocolate" has a truly magical effect on the sweet tooth. As a rule, those who lose weight are convinced that a couple of pieces of the cherished delicacy will in no way harm their figure, and maybe even benefit, and they confidently classify everything that contains a hint of cocoa beans in its composition as healthy sweets.
Alas, this is not the case. Real dark chocolate, which many diets really do not mind, despite the decent calorie content, does not smell from the bars. Quality milk chocolate, however, too. For greater tenderness and softness in their production, palm oil and dangerous trans fats are used, the company of which is made up of all the same dyes, flavors and fillers. In addition, the calorie content of the bars is about 500 kcal per 100 grams, which in the long term means problems not only with health, but also with weight.
Note! So the fitness bars loved by those losing weight are also a delicacy not without sin. Healthy dried fruits and nuts in their composition are associated with a generous portion of syrup, which is why the average calorie content of the bar reaches 350-400 kcal per 100 grams.
Eastern sweets
Baklava, kozinaki, Turkish delight … From these names, and breathes something fabulous, exotic and incredibly tasty. And also natural and theoretically less harmful than the usual sweets, because nuts, seeds, honey, raisins and fruit juices, which serve as the basis of classic oriental desserts, look promising in this regard.
Do not flatter yourself. Firstly, oriental sweets are very high in calories, although they do not create a feeling of satiety - after a very short time, you will want to eat another portion. Secondly, ubiquitous synthetic additives have long penetrated into their recipes, so you can only talk about naturalness if you take to cook sweets with your own hands, which again brings us back to the question of calories.
Lollipops
The degree of harmfulness of lollipops for health and shape largely depends on the recipe. You can make translucent glossy sweets yourself from sugar syrup and fruit juices and eat 10 grams (about 50 kcal) per day, then rinse your mouth thoroughly to prevent tooth decay. For a person who is not burdened with diabetes, diseases of the intestinal tract and the cardiovascular system, the relaxation is quite tolerable.
However, sugar remains sugar, and even after a portion of homemade lollipops, glucose will be thrown into your bloodstream, threatening to slow down your weight loss. And store-bought lollipops, flavored with artificial flavors, dyes, hardeners and preservatives, do not leave the delicacy a chance to become at least relatively safe.
Marshmallow
Airy cylinders of delicate colors look so light and delicate that they do not arouse suspicion at all. It seems that 2-3 slices, served as a pleasant snack during the day or thrown, according to American tradition, into a cup of evening cocoa, will definitely not harm the figure.
Stop! Before you buy sweets to use them as moral support for a losing weight, remember that they are made on the basis of corn syrup and store in themselves more than 300-400 kcal per 100 grams of weight, far exceeding the similar composition of marshmallows and marshmallows. Trusting the apparent lightness of marshmallows is definitely not worth it, especially when you consider the presence of artificial sweeteners, preservatives and flavors in them, which are abundant here.
Air waffles
Another "weightless" dessert, completely undeservedly ingrained into the confidence of customers under the guise of low-calorie! But the truth is that waffles are baked from white flour, practically free of fiber and devoid of almost all natural vitamins during processing, but carefully retaining its calories.
Moreover, in the composition of waffles, you will almost always find cheap vegetable oil and sugar syrup, which will make an airy dessert the enemy of a slim figure. 360 kcal and 30-60 g of carbohydrates for every 100 g - this is no joke!
Sweet corn sticks
Many people love these crispy babies for the presence of healthy corn grits in the composition and the valuable ability to swell in the stomach, pacifying the feeling of hunger, which, of course, can be considered a full-fledged plus.
But take a closer look at the treat and you'll be disappointed. Firstly, the processing process completely deprives the cereal of useful properties, leaving behind it only the function of an ordinary filler and any plant fibers. Secondly, powdered sugar sharply inflates the calorie content of the product. And thirdly, today flavor enhancers, flavors and preservatives have managed to get into the traditional GOST recipe for sweets, turning it from a favorite delicacy of Soviet children into a product incompatible with the principles of proper nutrition.
Note! The same claims can be made for the cornflakes that advertisements so obsessively recommend to us as a healthy breakfast. The sugar syrup used in the cereal boiling process provides 350 calories to a 100 gram serving of cereal, which will flood your blood with glucose and contribute to the formation of fat.
Curd snacks and miracle curds
Ask why we did not like store products made from cottage cheese recommended by all nutritionists? How can a small portion of sweetener in one fell swoop convert this most needed product from useful to harmful?
Unfortunately it can. Firstly, because there is more than one sweetener: in cheese curds, he is accompanied by cheap vegetable oil, emulsifiers and preservatives seasoned with starch to save cottage cheese, and in miracle jars - sugar, syrups, cream and high-calorie bonuses like chocolate balls, which manufacturers added to curd to attract buyers.
As a result, we have 300-350 kcal for each cheese and more than 150 for curd without taking into account the harm that artificial impurities will cause to metabolism. Of course, these delicacies, even in their worst form, are unlikely to surpass the above-mentioned sweets - “fizzy” candies, chocolate bars and other representatives of harmful sweet brethren, but one should not get carried away with them as an easy and waist-safe product.
Jelly candies and marmalade
But here everything is quite complicated. A good quality treat made with natural fruit pectin, vegetable agar or animal gelatin strengthens bones, hair and nails, is a supplier of nutrients and even removes toxins from the body. And its calorie content in comparison with other sweets looks attractive.
Compare:
- marmalade - 290 kcal per 100 grams;
- jelly candies - 320 kcal;
- chocolates - 570 kcal.
However, natural marmalade is rare today, and the one that is found in stores too often contains inadequate amounts of molasses and sugar, instead of agar-agar and gelatin, it is thickened with an artificial stabilizer, and there would be enough synthetic dyes for a small rainbow. In addition, to call 290 kcal a necessary acquisition for the body losing weight will not turn the tongue.
What sweets are good for you?
Should you give sugar a chance to justify itself, or branded it permanently as an archival product? Let's not upset the sweet tooth, gourmets always have the opportunity to pamper themselves with tasty things, unless the state of health imposes strict restrictions on their menu.
It is not for nothing that there is such a thing as "healthy sweets", which, when consumed in moderation, do not pose a danger to humans. On the contrary, they become a source of endorphins and dopamines, cheer up, drive away depression, help us gather strength and keep moving towards our goal. And first of all, homemade sweets will come to the rescue, the composition of which you can regulate independently from and to.
Recipes for healthy homemade treats:
- Marmalade … Peel and core 4 sweet apples, cut into wedges, put in a thick-walled saucepan and cover with a glass of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until soft. While the apples are boiling, dissolve 1 tablespoon in water. agar agar according to the instructions. Puree the finished fruit with a blender and combine with the dissolved agar-agar. Let the mass cool so that it remains noticeably warm, stir in 1-2 tbsp. honey, put in molds, cool and refrigerate for 3-5 hours. If you sprinkle such marmalade with powdered sugar, it can successfully play the role of New Year's sweets, which you can usefully treat your family and guests.
- Marshmallow … Purée 1 cup strawberries with a blender, add sweetener (such as stevia) to taste, bring to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and simmer over low heat for 7-10 minutes, stirring continuously. Cool the resulting syrup. Dissolve agar agar in a little water according to the instructions. Beat 2 egg whites until firm. Continuing to beat, pour half of the berry syrup into the whites in a thin stream. Combine the other half with agar-agar, boil until thickened and also mix into the berry-protein mass, without stopping to beat it. Transfer everything to a piping bag with a nozzle or a bag with a cut corner and squeeze out onto a foil-lined baking sheet in the form of fluffy cakes. Leave to dry at room temperature for 10-12 hours.
- Candied fruit … Remove a small pumpkin from the peel and seeds and cut into cubes no more than 1 cm high. Put in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Arrange the pumpkin evenly on a baking sheet and pour over 2 tablespoons. honey, diluted in a little warm water. Put the baking sheet in the oven, setting the temperature to about 40-50 degrees, and dry for 7-8 hours. You can dry candied fruits in the open air for several days, choosing for this purpose a dry, well-lit, ventilated place.
If you do not like to cook, you can try to find among the store variety that will conceal the least danger.
Choose:
- Honey;
- Dried fruits;
- Fresh fruits;
- High-quality halva with honey;
- Chocolate is natural, bitter, but ordinary milk and even those whiter chocolate will not work;
- Curd mass, personally sweetened with dried fruits or stevia;
- Milkshakes with berries and fruits.
Watch a video about the most dangerous sweets from the store for the figure:
