Many things may be standing between you and your goal weight: a slow metabolism, an ineffective exercise routine, and, of course, an unhealthy diet. There are plenty of nutritious foods you can add to your meals every day in order to promote sustainable weight loss, but there are also many unhealthy foods that could be slowing your progress when eaten excess. And as it turns out, there’s one salty snack that could seriously be holding you back and even leading to belly fat over time.
To discover the worst belly fat-forming food that may be in your pantry right now, we spoke to health experts Michael Garrico, certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and co-founder and marketing director at TotalShape and Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD. According to them, you should limit your intake of potato chips as much as possible if you don’t want to put on extra pounds. Read on for their expert insight!
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Potato Chips
If you're trying to lose weight, it's important to avoid processed snacks in general. However, Garrico says that potato chips in particular are "your worst enemy, especially if you're trying to reduce belly fat." Yikes!
There are several reasons salty snacks like potato chips can slow weight loss and even lead to weight gain over time. For one, these processed foods are devoid of practically all nutritional value while remaining high in calories. As Hunnes notes, they have "no nutritional benefit, and they are often devoid of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds." That means that eating too many of them will add unnecessary fat and calories to your diet without keeping you full for very long or giving your body much to work with at all. Additionally, processed foods only lead to cravings for more processed foods, so you're likely to overindulge on the same unhealthy snacks later on.
Eating too many processed snacks like potato chips can also lead to "insulin spikes, increases in IGF-1, an inflammatory marker, and increases risk for chronic diseases and deposition (fat storage) of calories in the body," Hunnes warns.
In addition to actual weight gain, the sodium potato chips are typically packed with are also a major culprit of bloating. "Potato chips are mostly salt," Garrico says. "Salt makes your body retain water, making it seem bloated." And that's definitely never good if you're trying to fit into a smaller pair of jeans.
Of course, a little snack here and there won't kill you. Just keep in mind that if you're chowing down on potato chips on a regular basis, it may be hard to reach your weight loss goals. Instead, reach for healthier snacks like a few handfuls of popcorn or some heart-healthy nuts. It will be worth it in the long run!
