Hidden calories in food

culled from:tescohealthandwellbeing.com

Thousands of diets exist, hundreds of health products line the supermarket shelves. Everywhere you look there are claims of low calorie this and that. So why do you struggle with your weight? Maintaining a healthy weight should be easy peasy, but the simple fact is that the number of hidden calories in food is huge. If you’re forgetting the everyday extras in your meals or recipes, chances are you will take in more calories than you burn, and gain weight. Check out the list below to see if any of these foods are regularly sneaking into your diet.

The forgotten calories in food

Bread

It may sound obvious, but you could be eating much more bread than you think and it all adds up. A slice of bread with an otherwise low calorie dish like a salad or a large wedge of crusty bread drenched in butter with your soup will send your calories soaring.

Oil

You knock up a tasty stir-fry. Packed with vegetables and chicken, this sounds like a calorie cutter's dream. You shouldn't forget that dash of oil though. Calorie-wise, oil is the most underestimated ingredient in your kitchen. Olive oil may be good for you, but it contains 135 calories per tablespoon. Think twice before you slosh your ingredients together in a pan full of it.

Prawn crackers

It’s easy to absentmindedly crunch away on prawn crackers while you are waiting to get started on your main. Before you know it you've ploughed through a bag or prawn crackers. In an average sitting you could consume 600 calories from these bad boys.

Avocado

These strange looking green fruits are packed with healthy monounsaturated fats which may improve your cholesterol levels. But half an avocado contains 180 calories. Slice them up and throw them into a salad and you may have doubled the number of calories in your ‘low calorie’ salad without even noticing.

Dips

Crudités like carrots, peppers or cucumber are delicious and good for you. But once you start loading them with dips like guacamole or sour cream you are looking at 100 calories on top of your healthy little snack. Vegetables sticks make a great snack, but go for lower calorie dips like sweet chilli or natural yoghurt.

Seeds

If you make your own homemade cereal bars or muesli in a bid to stay healthy, you probably throw in a handful of seeds. You might be aware that peanuts are quite calorific, containing 150 calories per 25g. Believe it or not, but a 25g portion of pumpkin seeds contains 156 calories, so eat them for their health benefits, but be careful.

Cream

One serving of double cream (30ml) rocks in at 140 calories. Order a hot chocolate, iced mocha or a Frappuccino loaded with cream and you probably end up eating as many calories as you would if you went for a dessert instead. The cream you see at the side of your plate or on top of your coffee isn’t the only problem. Some pasta dishes are calorie laden because of sauces like garlic cream. Don’t forget soups either, read the small print as some vegetable soups have added cream and aren't as low calorie as they might sound.

Peas

Small, green and really nutritious, what can go wrong? Compared to other vegetables peas pack quite a calorie punch. A serving has around 80 calories whereas other green vegetables like broccoli have half the calories. Keep eating peas, but watch your portions.