13 'Healthy' Swaps That Can Backfire

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Losing weight, boosting your energy, eating better: Whatever your health goals may be, dropping bad behaviors and replacing them with healthier ones is the first step to achieving them. Sometimes, though, your "better" choice has its own downsides—and may not actually be good for you at all. Here, experts reveal the truth about some of the most common health swaps to help you decide what's best to help you reach your goals.

27 Mistakes Healthy People Make

quicklist: 1category: 13 'Healthy' Swaps That Can Backfiretitle: The swap: A normal diet for gluten-freeurl:text:

People with celiac disease have a reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, or rye, and if they don't eliminate it from their diets they can seriously damage their intestines. But other people jump on the gluten-free bandwagon as a way to lose weight. And it's not an effective approach, says Kari Ikemoto, RD with HealthCare Partners in Los Angeles, Calif. "Many packaged, pre-made gluten free foods are often higher in calories, sugar, salt, and fat and lower in valuable nutrients like fiber and iron." If you do want to avoid gluten because you think you might have an intolerance, try to stick to naturally gluten-free foods such as fruit, corn, brown rice, legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy, oatmeal, and lean proteins.

10 Bogus Health Trends That Waste Your Time

quicklist: 2category: 13 'Healthy' Swaps That Can Backfiretitle: The swap: Cigarettes for E-cigsurl:text:

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices designed to deliver flavor, nicotine, and other chemicals, and without the harmful effects of smoking tobacco products. And while they do contain fewer contaminants, no study supports any benefits for using e-cigs to wean yourself off regular cigarettes, says Ray Casciari, MD, board certified pulmonologist at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif. "One small study showed the rate of getting off cigarettes by using e-cigs was about 14%, the same success rate as going cold turkey. In fact, people often end up smoking both types of cigarettes, so it's actually worse." Talk to your healthcare provider for more effective ways to quit smoking.

quicklist: 3category: 13 'Healthy' Swaps That Can Backfiretitle: The swap: Regular soda for diet sodaurl:text:

Gave up sugary drinks? Good for you! Thing is, switching to diet won't necessarily help you drop pounds. A 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that people who drank diet soda daily nearly tripled their abdominal fat over nine years versus those who did not drink diet soda. Those who didn't drink diet soda gained an average of 0.8 inches around their waists, while daily diet drinkers gained 3.16 inches. "Artificial sweeteners increase your addiction to sweets and are a much stronger stimulant of the brain's pleasure center than sugar," says Brian Quebbemann, MD, a weight loss specialist in Newport Beach, Calif. "As a result, artificial sweeteners may be more addictive than sugar, and in fact cause people to crave sweets even more." Cut out soda sweetened beverages altogether or substitute fizzy water with lemon or other fruit slices.

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