 The next time you crave a sugary drink, try a little bit of 100 percent juice—you’ll still get your sugar fix, but without consuming anything artificial. You’ll also get some healthy vitamins and antioxidants, to boot.
5. Packaged Snack Foods
Just because you bought a snack at the grocery store instead of the fast food drive-through doesn’t mean it’s healthy. To give cookies, chips, cake mixes and other packaged foods a long shelf life and pleasant taste, these foods are often loaded with trans fat (partially-hydrogenated oil is resistant to spoilage), salt, sugar, and artificial preservatives. Since they’re typically made from processed grains, most supermarket and convenience store snacks are also high in simple carbohydrates, which raise your blood sugar and contribute to weight gain. Fortunately, most supermarkets also offer some healthy snack options, like fruit, yogurt and lightly-sweetened whole grain products, so it should be easy enough to steer clear of the frozen pie aisle. If you’re not sure whether a snack is healthy or not, check the label. Some bad ingredients to watch out for include: high fructose corn syrup, partially-hydrogenated oil, sodium (your daily intake shouldn’t exceed 2,300 mg), enriched flour, and monosodium glutamate (MSG).