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Updated 04 Jan, 2012 10:59am

Top 10 Foods to Watch Out in 2012

What you eat determines the next shot of hunger pang. There are certain foods which leave you craving for more within a short duration. Let's check out the foods that cause hunger..

White Rice
One food that can cause you to become very hungry shortly after eating it is, white rice. Its ingestion leads to a large blood sugar spike, which is then followed by a sharp decline as insulin is released and comes and sucks all that glucose out of the blood. As the blood sugar levels crashes, this sets of the hunger signal in the brain that’s going to prompt you to consume more food.

Sugary Cereals
Always read the package label when purchasing any cereal that you plan to eat on your weight loss diet. Very often you may think a cereal is a very healthy choice but upon further inspection you discover that it actually has a good amount of sugar listed on the label. An example would be one popular choice that has 13 grams of sugar per serving while only providing 1 g of dietary fiber and 2 grams of protein. These cereals end up being empty calories. These cereals are—candy bars with milk on top. Instead, try heartier choices like oatmeal or whole grain cereals topped with fruit. These will be far superior for helping boost the process of weight loss.

Snack Bars
Snack bars are also another problematic food as far as hunger is concerned. The big issue here is that these will tend to be very low in total protein and often fat content, so there’s nothing to balance out the carbohydrates that you eat with them. This results in that blood sugar spike that we talked about previously and will cause you to quickly experience an energy low. As your energy level comes crashing down, you’ll want to reach for more food to help bring it back up. This cycle can cause you to take in very high amounts of calories daily, moving you further away from fat loss.

Cookies & Candy

They are basically empty calories, full of sugar while providing little benefit, but most of them contain those awful trans fats. Once in a while, will not make a great difference but, if you’re eating them with any regularity, you would be better served by healthier munchies like dried fruits and nuts to snack on. The sugar content may range from 37-66.6 grams per 100 grams of cookies or candies.

Jell-O
You probably remember the slogan, "There's always room for J-E-L-L-O." Depending upon your dietary needs and restrictions, though, there may or may not be room in your diet for this sweet treat. Most varieties of regular JELL-O gelatin contain 19 grams of carbohydrates, all of which come from sugar.

French Fries and Doughnuts
French fries and doughnuts are deep-fried starches. Before they’re even fried, they’re simple sugars. Then they’re fried, only compounding their dwindling nutritional value. One French fry is worse for your health than... one cigarette, so you may want to consider this before you order your next ‘Biggie’ order. An average doughnut contains about 200-300 calories, mostly from sugar, and few other nutrients.

Fruits vs. Fruit juice
The sugar in fruit is known as fructose. Fructose is slowly broken down in the body and does not cause the same wild fluctuations in blood sugar levels as table sugar (also known as sucrose) does. Some fruits are higher in sugar than others, and the easy and obvious way to tell is by taste--the sweeter the fruit, the higher the sugar. Some fruits that are high in sugar are dates, bananas, figs, persimmons, grapes and mangos. Lower sugar fruits include cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, passion-fruit and strawberries. The sugar content in dried fruit or in fruit juice is much higher than in whole, fresh fruit. When a fruit is dried, the water is taken out, leaving the sugar in a highly concentrated little parcel, and when fruit is juiced the fiber is removed. The water and fiber content in whole, fresh fruit helps contribute to a "full" feeling. Eating fresh, whole fruit is a perfect, natural way to limit your sugar intake. After all, how many oranges can you eat in one sitting?

Soda
When Purdue University researchers had people consume 450 calories a day from either jelly beans or soft drinks for four weeks, the candy-eaters consumed no more total calories than usual. The soda drinkers, however, downed 17-percent more calories each day. Soda is loaded with artificial colors and sugar. Studies have also linked soda consumption to osteoporosis, obesity, tooth decay and heart disease. Sugary drinks such as squashes and carbonated fizzy drinks (including sports drinks) can result in dental erosion and decay. Diet drinks are not recommended either as they contribute to dental erosion as the bubbles in the drink are acidic. Water and milk are the best drinks to consume between meals. With just a medium popcorn and Coke, you’re at nearly 1,200 calories.

Ramen noodles
Dry noodles are basically made of water and flour: they roll dough into little "tubes," mince them and expose the noodles to steam. When the product is cooled, they fry it a little to get rid of moisture. Dry noodles are usually packed with little packs of spices and powder, which gives the product the taste of meat or shrimps. Noodle makers do not promise any beef or chicken: they usually write "chicken-flavored," for example. Pork-flavored noodles may contain not only bean protein, but the powder concentrate of pork paste at best. A package of ramen contains more than 1,560 mg of sodium. According to the Dietary Reference Intake, our total daily intake of sodium should be between 1,200- 1,440 mgs. In some ramen noodle brands, the sodium content reaches 3,000 mgs. The noodles are deep-fried, so they have minimal nutritional value. Another potential health hazard posed by ramen noodles is the food additive and glutamic acid sodium salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is one of its key ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration found that MSG contributes to long-term health problems like Alzheimer's disease.

Sugary coffee
Gourmet coffee drinkers consume, on average, 206 more calories a day than people who sip regular coffee. Also, Americans get more than 20 percent of their daily calories from beverages. 53-proof coffee-flavored liqueur has 16 grams of added sugar per ounce. According to AHA released guidelines, women should consume no more than 6 teaspoons (about 100 calories or 25 gms) of added sugar. Administered acutely, moderate doses of caffeine can increase blood pressure and decrease heart rate. Besides, Caffeine causes a release of glycogen by the liver, which can generate wild swings in blood sugar, causing attacks of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Hypoglycemia has a variety of unpleasant symptoms, including weakness, nervousness, sweating and heart palpitations. Some sufferers even have difficulty speaking during an attack.

So there you have the main foods to note in the coming year, if you want to control your hunger levels and succeed at your fat loss diet.

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