Health trends and diets seem to go away just as fast as they show up, many of which for good reason. Some of these trends are so bad that not only will they not help you, they can be extremely harmful as well. Here is a list of recent health trends you can forget for 2017.
Drinking Excessive Amounts of Water
Don’t get us wrong, drinking enough water is important in maintaining good health and functioning properly. Knowing where to draw the line however can help you benefit more and prevent unnecessary consumption.
First off, because of the way your body is designed drinking all of that additional water really isn’t doing anything but making your kidneys work over time. The body uses water to regulate the consistency of our blood among along with other thing like salt. Point is your body needs to stay at equilibrium so you can only drink so much before it is excreted.
If you find yourself urinating frequently and regularly have urine that is very light in color or completely clear you are drinking more than enough water and could cut down. Eight glasses of water a day is plenty, and remember we get water through our meals as well so don’t go chugging 8 full glasses of water daily to meet that quota.
Coconut Oil
To be quite honest, I don’t know who had the original brilliant idea of making coconut oil mainstream but it was a horrible idea unless you were a coconut oil salesman. Coconut oil originally came on the health food scene because it was deemed a good cooking oil alternative, again probably by someone who didn’t know what they were talking about.
Coconut oil has more of those notoriously bad fats linked to heart disease than any other oil out on the market, in fact its fats are 90% saturated. This is a higher percentage than margarine which is now well associated with negative heart benefits.
Also, to go along with the horrible health effects that coconut oil provides, it isn’t a good cooking oil either. Canola oil which is the most widely used cooking oil among chefs and cooks has a higher boiling point that coconut oil, making canola oil a better choice when cooking as well.
Overall coconut oil is something you want to stay away from and use very sparingly when you do.
Premade Smoothies
Most smoothies have a good healthy reputation for good reason, they are packed with healthy vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that will help us get through the day.
The problem with many of these products is that they have sugar added in addition to the already naturally occurring ones found in the fruit that they contain. The addition of sugar to these drinks eliminates many of the health benefits associated with them, making them more similar to a fruit juice or other sugary drink.
Another negative to the additional sugar is that these drinks don’t have fiber, something that helps to slow digestion down and regulate blood sugar levels. The additional sugar in these drinks and lack of fiber amplifies these effects, promoting short term boosts of energy followed by an energy crash afterwards.
To avoid this, your best bet is to make your own smoothies is possible so that you know exactly what is in it. This is a healthier option that also lets you more easily keep track of how many calories you are eating per meal.
No Snacking At Night
This whole new concept behind not eating after dinner or not eating past a certain hour because of the huge amount of weight you can pack on as a result is more based in fiction than truth.
More often than not, completely depriving yourself of food is just going to make you crave more food and eat more later on. Sometimes the right choice is to grab a snack, the key is knowing when it is ok to do so and doing so in moderation.
If you are craving a snack at night, go for something with a decent amount of protein to get rid of your cravings. Good choices are peanut butter with apple slices, mozzarella string cheese, a cup of cottage cheese or a cup of yogurt are some good healthy options to hold you over.
