This is an archived article and the information in the story may be outdated. Please check the time stamp on the story to see when it was updated last.
The key steps to weight loss are eating well and exercising regularly. While this can be very difficult to keep up with, it doesn’t mean that you can’t eat foods you like or snack when you’re hungry. It just means you have to be sure to eat the right foods. But there is one seemingly healthy snack that might be hurting your diet, without you ever realizing.
On the surface, rice cakes look like the perfect healthy snack because they are incredibly low in calories. Most people use them in place of bread or as a base to top with other healthy snack foods like peanut butter, bananas or other fruits. But don't be fooled by rice cakes - they aren't as healthy as you would think.
The truth is that rice cakes are one of the worst snack foods you can eat while on a diet because of how low they are in every nutritional value. When you are trying to lose weight, the foods you eat impact everything about your lifestyle. So eating low-calorie foods shouldn't be your only priority. You should be eating foods that are high in important nutrients that benefit weight loss.
Rice cakes aren't unhealthy, but they aren't good for you either. This is because they contain virtually no fiber, protein or other important nutrients. This means that they can't fill you up, so you can end up eating way more rice cakes than you should. And you would still be low on the most essential nutrients your body needs.
In short, eating a rice cake for snack won't hurt you, but eating one or more on a regular basis could impact your diet. To be safe, get into the gabit of prioritizing nutritional value over calorie counts. Eat snacks and meals with high levels of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein for the best diet results.
