Top 10 Foods That Make You Fat!

Fat does not make you fat. Carbohydrates make you fat. Let's go ahead and get that out of the way. Fat is used in 70% of your brain, every cell in your body requires fat to work, all your nerves are coated with a myeline sheath that is made of fat, and about one-thousand other reasons fat is good for you. There is a hormone in your body called insulin and insulin is the director of fat storage in your body. Other than storing carbohydrates in the muscle cells and managing blood sugar, insulin’s primary job is to store fat on the body. Insulin stores it’s fat in the hips and mid-section. It is a nasty hormone that we need to avoid.

Insulin is raised with carbohydrates and is suppressed with fats and protein. Because carbohydrates raise insulin levels, this is why carbohydrates make you fat - aka they raise your bodies fat storing signals. You can eat “low fat” or “low calorie” all day long and millions of people do, but millions of people are still fat. 

*Look out for my next blog post! This post tells you what makes you fat and my next post will tell you what makes you thin! 

*When I say something like “this food is 75% carbohydrates” I mean that of the total calories, 75% of them are carbohydrates. For example: if something is 100cal and it is 75% carbohydrates, the means 75cal of the 100cal are coming from carbohydrates. 

1: Fructose and Granulated Sugar

Fructose and granulated sugar represent a pure refined carbohydrate and are indeed 99.999% carbohydrate with practically no fats, proteins, minerals or vitamins to speak of. Fructose send insulin levels through the roof and makes your body pack on the pounds! Look for fructose on your food labels. 

- Fructose, high fructose corn syrup, and crystalline fructose are all to be avoided.
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2: Drink Powders/Hard Candies/Gummies 

The large majority of hard candies are simple derivatives of the refined granulated sugars and should be avoided. Gummie candy is also mostly starch and should be avoided as well. These foods tend to be 98-99% carbs with little nutritional value otherwise.
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3: Sugary Cereals 

Most ready to eat cereals which come in a box are packed with sugar, this is even true for those that claim to be "whole grain". Whole grain is useless and does not mean anything because your boy does not need grains. Not only does cereal send insulin through the roof but the dairy from the milk send insulin levels higher than the cereal.
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4: Dried Fruits (Apples, Prunes, Dates) 

Dried fruits like apples, prunes(plums), bananas, and dates are all high in carbohydrates. Refereeing back to #1, fructose is fructose, no matter what the vessel. There are 30g of fructose in a banana and there are almost 30g of fructose in a Snickers. The fructose is not any different. These tricky little snacks can really help your weight go up. Dehydrated apple, prunes, and bananas are 88-90% carbs, dried peaches and apricots are 83%, raisins are 79%, and dates are around 75% carbohydrate.

 Click to see complete nutrition facts.

5: Low fat Crackers, Rice Cakes, and Potato Chips

The large majority of low fat products and snacks on the market have high carb levels to keep items tasty. Low fat crackers, rice cakes, and potato chips are 81-83% carbohydrate. For purposes of comparison honey is 82% carbs. Be sure to consult labels on any low fat products before consuming.
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6: Flour, Cakes, and Cookies

Flour and it is derivative products, usually cakes, cookies, and breads are all high carb foods (depending on the recipe, again, low fat tends to denote higher carb). Cookies and cakes can get up to 84% carbohydrate, and most flours will be 70-78% carbohydrate. 

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7: Jams And Preserves 

These sweet spreads can be 64-68% carbs, often depending on how "gelled" or dry they are. The less water and the more dry, the more carbs. 

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8: Potatoes (Hash Browns and French Fries) 

Of all potato products hash browns have the highest percentage of carbs with 35%, french fries contain about 27% carbs, and a baked potato (with the skin) is 21% carbs, or about 36 grams of carbs in a medium sized potato.
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9: Sweet Pickles, Sauces, and Salad Dressings 

Sweet relish can be as much as 35% carbs, and low fat dressings are often sweetened to 32% carbs or more.
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10: Pizzas

The amount of carbohydrate in pizza depends on the thickness of the crust, and people often create ultra-thin-crust pizzas in order to cut back on the carbs. Depending on the toppings and thickness of the crust, pizzas tend to be 22-30% carbs.
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Top 10 Foods That Make You Fat 

Mitchel Black, CPT, NC