AVOID These 10 Healthy Foods If You Want To Lose Belly Fat!

There's one food in your kitchen right now that is so dangerous, it's the only thing on earth proven to physically move fat onto your belly, even when you're eating less. And it's probably sitting in your kitchen right now wearing a healthy label. In fact, there are a ton of everyday foods that hide behind the words like natural or high protein or plant-based. So you eat them thinking that you're doing the right thing when they actually pile fat around your organs. So in this video, I'm gonna show you 10 quote unquote healthy foods that are secretly feeding your visceral fat. How each one works against you, even when the label says otherwise. And then the simple swaps that you can use instead. And I saved the worst one for last, which is in way more foods than you realize. So to start, I'm gonna show you an ingredient that's hiding in foods you'd swear were healthy. It's in whole grain bread. It's in no sugar added applesauce. It's in flavored yogurt, even the Greek kind. It is in canned tomato soup, salad dressing, crackers, protein bars, that's just to name a few. One ingredient buried in over 50 everyday foods. And a lot of them are wearing a healthy label on the front. Even if you've been trying to avoid it, you probably still can't because it changed its name. I'm talking about high fructose corn syrup. Now this isn't really considered a healthy food, but it's in a lot of the foods that are considered healthy. And it gets away with it because food companies have been allowed to disguise it. A few years back, its reputation got so bad that the companies using it asked the FDA for permission to rename it to corn sugar. The FDA said no. So they found a loophole instead. The most concentrated version of it, that one that's up to 90% fructose, now gets listed on the label as just fructose. So you flip the package over, you don't see the words high fructose corn syrup. I've literally done this. You then feel safe like, okay, my kid could have this treat or this fruit snack, but it has high fructose corn syrup in it. It also can hide as fructose syrup or corn sweetener or corn syrup solids. Now here's why this matters for your belly. Fructose is different from regular sugar because your muscles can't burn it. It can only be processed in one place, your liver. And when your liver gets more than it can handle, it does the only thing it can. It turns fructose straight into fat, especially visceral fat. Researchers at Princeton fed rats high fructose corn syrup at levels below what's in a can of soda. And every single one of them got 48% fatter than the rats eating regular sugar. And almost all of that fat went straight to their belly. So stop trusting the front of the package and flip it over. If you see the word fructose anywhere in that ingredient label list, put it back. That's high fructose corn syrup wearing a disguise and it goes straight to your liver and straight to your belly. Now let's talk about a snack that markets itself on the one thing your body actually needs more of as you age, protein, specifically protein bars. You grab one because it says protein on the wrapper and protein is good for you, right? Not necessarily. You have to be careful here because protein is the magic word that lets a company take what's basically a candy bar and sell it to you as health food. More than half the snack bars on the shelf say protein on the front, but over a third of them have so much sugar that in some countries they'd be slapped with a warning label. Now here's where it gets worse because sugar isn't the only thing in there. These bars are loaded with cheap processed fillers that pack on the pounds. You'll see seed oils like soybean and canola oil. Those drive up inflammation, which is one of the biggest reasons fat gets stored around your belly and stays there. You'll see sugar alcohols, which can be okay in moderation, but you gotta be careful because they can wreak some havoc on your digestive system and leave you craving more if you overdo it. And you'll often see artificial sweeteners, which force your liver to stop burning fat and override the system to focus on cleaning those chemicals out first instead of addressing other toxins in the system. That's why they're so dangerous and they're very prevalent in protein bars. Now, if you're over 50, you actually need more protein as you get older. It's what protects your muscle and your muscle is the engine that keeps your metabolism burning and the food companies know that. That's why these bars are aimed right at you. They're using a real need that you have to sell you something that actually makes the problem worse. So what should you eat instead? Real food beats a bar every single time. Two hard boiled eggs, incredible clean protein, a bowl of plain Greek yogurt with some berries thrown in, a handful of almonds, a can of wild salmon or sardines. It's all easy to grab. It actually fills you up and it doesn't stop your body from burning fat. If you're still planning on buying a protein bar, you don't have to memorize every shady ingredient hiding in them because I built a free app that does it for you. Just scan the barcode or take a picture of the ingredients portion of the label right there in the store and it'll tell you on the spot whether it's helping your fat loss or working against it. I would put a download link in the description below. You can grab that app. It is free. It's like taking me to the grocery store with you. Next, number three. Let me tell you about a drink that was built to fuel professional athletes. But today it's patting the bellies of people sitting on the couch. Back in the 1960s, a doctor made it for a college football team down in Florida. These guys were sweating so hard in the heat they'd lose 15 pounds in a single game. So he built this drink to restore the water and the electrolytes they were losing and keep them on the field and it worked. In fact, it worked so well that it got bought up, loaded with sugar, dyed bright colors and sold to everyone including myself as a kid. I'm talking about sports drinks, Gatorade, all of the brands like it and their cousin, Energy Drinks. You see the word electrolytes, you see athletes on the commercial so your brain files it under healthy. But here's what they don't tell you. A big 32 ounce sports drink, I used to get a lemon lime one as a kid, has around 54 grams of sugar. That is more sugar than your body should get in an entire day in one bottle. Even the vitamin waters that sound so healthy can carry as much sugar as a can of Coke. As for the electrolytes, they're just minerals you lose when you sweat hard. And yes, you lose them during real intense exercise but for a normal workout, a glass of water with some electrolytes powder or a little bit of sea salt can replace everything that you need. You don't need 14 spoonfuls of sugar to put back a little bit of salt. The Energy Drinks are even worse. Things like Red Bull and Monster, they pack caffeine and sugar together and that combination spikes your stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is the single biggest signal telling your body to store fat right around your midsection. So for just about any normal workout, plain water does the job. And if it's a real energy booster after, have some organic coffee or some matcha green tea. It gives it to you with no sugar at all. Now, if you're older and training hard, there are times you really do need to put these electrolytes back in. Just skip the sugary stuff and reach for a clean electrolyte mix instead. The one that I make is sweetened with stevia and it uses mined sea salt instead of things like sucralose or table salt that you find in most of the electrolytes powder. I'll drop a link to that below for anyone interested. Next up, I wanna show you how the healthiest meal at the restaurant becomes the most fattening. Talk about the salad bar. It looks healthy. It's a big spread of vegetables with nothing fried in sight. So you load your plate up and then you feel really good about it. But by the time you're done, that salad can do more damage to your waistline than the fast food burger. That's because there's a trick your brain plays on you that researchers have studied for years. When you believe a meal is healthy, you actually eat more of it. You wildly underestimate how many calories are in it. And nowhere does your brain do this more than at a salad bar. So let's walk through what really ends up on the plate. The greens are fine. And then comes the dressing. Just two tablespoons of ranch has 130 calories and most dressings are made with high fructose corn syrup plus inflammatory seed oils. And the low fat dressings tend to be worse because when they take the fat out, they have to pump it full of sugar or artificial sugars to make up for the taste. Then you add the croutons, which are just fried white bread, a scoop of bacon bits, a big handful of cheese and maybe some candied nuts coated in sugar. So you started with vegetables and built yourself an 800 to 1200 calorie meal. Meanwhile, most people would guess that a salad has like 300 calories. So when you're making a salad, build it yourself and keep it simple. Make it mostly greens. For dressing, just use olive oil and vinegar. Then add in real protein, like a plain grilled chicken breast or a couple of boiled eggs and skip the sweet toppings completely. Do that and you turn the biggest trap in the restaurant back into the healthy meal that you thought you were getting in the first place. Number five. Now here's one that's been called a healthy food for so long that almost no one questions it. Dried fruit. It shows up in trail mix and gorilla sprinkled on top of that salad that we just talked about. So it feels like one of the safe choices. But here's the problem. When you dry fruit out, you pull out all the water from it and the water was the part filling you up. What's left behind is just concentrated sugar. Take grapes for example. A quarter cup of raisins has the same amount of sugar as a full cup of fresh grapes. So you'll pour four times as much into your bowl before your brain ever realizes you've had enough. Just two tablespoons of raisins has as much sugar as a whole piece of fruit. It gets even worse with dried cranberries. I really avoid those. Mangoes you gotta watch out for. Pineapple you gotta watch out for. Because those are so sour on their own that the companies dump even more sugar on top just to make them taste good. Especially the cranberries. So just eat the real fresh fruit instead. Berries are one of your best bets because they're low in sugar. They're packed with fiber and it fills you up. Granny Smith apples are great. That way you get everything that's good about fruit without the sugar overload. Number six. I wanna show you how one of the most popular healthy drinks of the last few years spikes your blood sugar faster than sugar sitting in your kitchen. It's plant-based. It's in every coffee shop. Your barista pours it like it's the responsible choice. And it comes from a food that's genuinely pretty good for you. Oats. That's exactly why this tricks so many people. Whole oats can be a great option for your blood sugar and for your cholesterol as long as you don't overeat them. They've got a special kind of fiber that acts like a sponge in your gut slowing everything down and then keeping your blood sugar steady. So you'd think that anything made for them would do the same thing, but that's a trap. I'm talking about oat milk. Because of how this drink gets made, it does the complete opposite. To turn oats into a smooth milk, they hit them with enzymes that chop the starches apart. And that process creates a brand new sugar called maltose. Scientists rank how fast a food spikes your blood sugar on a scale. The plain table sugar in your kitchen sits at a score of 65. And this maltose that they create from oats comes in at 105. So the sugar they manufacture making oat milk hits your blood faster than eating straight sugar. And that same process strips out nearly all the good fiber that makes oats healthy to begin with. So you're left with a glass of fast sugar and none of the health benefits. Plus, almost every oat milk has a rancid seed oil in it. So it just keeps getting worse. So what do you pour instead? Unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk are your best swaps if you need a milk alternative. They barely touch your blood sugar, they work just fine in coffee, and they're in nearly every store now. Just make sure that the label says unsweetened. Because the regular kind starts to sneak sugar or artificial sweeteners right back in. And consider just using regular milk. Try to get it organic, grass-fed. That's usually what I do if I need something in my coffee. Number seven, I wanna show you a food that you might be eating because you're trying to be healthy. When people decide to clean up their diet, one of the first things they reach for is more protein. So they grab a sliced turkey for sandwiches and ham for a quick lunch, figuring it's the lean smart choice. But these deli meats might be doing more damage than just about anything else in your fridge. Back in 2015, the World Health Organization looked at over 800 studies and they put processed meats, ham, bacon, hot dogs, deli slices, into the same danger category as cigarettes. Not the might be risky, the same group as tobacco. So what does this have to do with your belly fat? To keep these meats pink and fresh on the shelf, companies add chemicals called nitrites. When those nitrites get into your body, they fire up inflammation. And inflammation is like a low, constant fire burning inside of you. When your body's stuck in that inflamed state, it holds onto fat around your organs and it refuses to let it go. Now, how do you get your protein without all of that? Cook your own is the number one way. Roast a chicken breast, turkey breast, slice it yourself for an on-the-go, high-protein snack. Make several hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week and pick off of them. Easy ways to get protein. A can of wild tuna or salmon. It's cheap, it's fast. It actually fights inflammation instead of feeding it because of the omega-3 concentration. And if you're gonna buy the packaged deli meat anyway, look for words like uncured, no nitrites, no nitrates. Add it with a short, clean ingredient list and watch out for added sugars. They're snuck in there all the time. Number eight is one hiding in almost every pantry in America. Sold to you as a natural protein snack. Talking about peanut butter. It seems so harmless, which is exactly why this one slips past people. But let me point something out that you've probably never thought twice about. Some jars have a layer of oil sitting on the top that you have to stir in, while others are perfectly smooth without stirring every single time. That smooth, no-stir jar is trying to tell you something. Real peanut butter is just peanuts and salt, and peanuts naturally have oil in them. So that oil rises to the top and that's why it separates. But the big brand stuff stays perfectly smooth because they've added a hydrogenated oil to hold it together. The kind of cheap processed fat that works against fat loss. That no-stir feature that you love is actually a massive red flag, and it doesn't stop at the oil. They also pour a lot of sugar in these big brand peanut butters. Sometimes high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. When you mix that fat and sugar together in just the right amounts, it lights up the reward center in your brain almost like a drug. I remember going to the Skippy jar as a kid and just using my finger on that creamy peanut butter because it lit the brain up like a reward. And that smooth processed texture takes away the natural feeling that tells your body that you've had enough. So you can sit there with a spoon or your finger and eat half the jar without ever feeling full. It's built that way on purpose. So when you're at the store, buy the jar with just two ingredients on the label. Peanuts and salt, that's it. And if you open it up and the oil's sitting on the top, that's how you know you've got the real thing. Now there are several other nuts that are also incredible for nut butters, including cashews and almonds and hazelnut. You can enjoy those just the same. Just make sure same rules apply. Number nine, let me show you a drink that can have more sugar in it than seven donuts. Seven. And people order it every single morning thinking that it's just coffee. I'm talking about fancy coffee drinks like Frappuccinos and flavored lattes and big iced creations with whipped cream on top. Here's the trick your brain falls for. Coffee, real black coffee. It's actually good for you. It's got compounds in it that help your body burn fat. So when you order something with the word coffee in the name, your brain gives it a pass. But these drinks aren't coffee anymore. They are dessert and oftentimes diabetes in a cup with a little coffee stirred in. One of those big holiday Frappuccinos has about 68 grams of sugar. That's the seven donuts that I mentioned sitting in one drink. In a study of 131 different coffee shop drinks, 98% of them had more than three times the sugar you should have in an entire day. Remember that cortisol problem from the energy drinks? That caffeine and all that sugar hit you with the exact same one-two punch parking fat right on your belly. So if you can stick to just plain black coffee, that's a great start. So if you wanna make it creamy, ask for a splash of heavy cream or a half and half, which has no sugar in it. If you want a little flavor, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. It tastes sweet and it actually helps your blood sugar stay steady. I actually did a whole video on six things you can add to your coffee that make it an even better fat burner in the morning, and a couple of them will surprise you. I'll include a link to that in the description below. All right, let's bring this thing home. Number 10. We get to the worst one of all, the food I've been telling you to wait for since the very beginning. This is the only thing on earth that's been proven to physically move fat onto your belly even when you're eating less. And before you think you already know this one, hear me out, because it's hiding in places you never expect. It's in the microwave popcorn that you make for movie night. It's in the little coffee creamer that you pour in your coffee every morning. It's in those refrigerated biscuits and croissant rolls that pop out of the can. Frozen pizza crusts, store-bought frosting, crackers, cookies, and some of the margarine still sitting in people's fridges. I'm talking about trans fats. Now, nobody's calling trans fat a healthy food, but they are hiding a lot of the foods you do think are healthy. And here's the lie that helps them get away with it. Food labels are allowed to say zero grams of trans fat as long as there's a tiny bit per serving. So you eat two to three servings like a normal person does, and you take in a real dose of trans fat from a product whose label swore it had none. The only way to catch it is to ignore the front of the label and read the actual ingredient list. If you see the words partially hydrogenated anywhere on there, that's trans fat, no matter what the front of the box claims. So why is this the worst one? There was a six-year study where they fed two groups the exact same number of calories. The only difference was one group got trans fats, the other one didn't. At the end of the study, that group that got trans fat had 30% more fat packed around their belly. And here's the part that's almost hard to believe. The fat was getting pulled off of other parts of the body and moved to their gut, just like what happens when cortisol is chronically elevated. And if you're over 50, this hits even harder. Your body is already shifting fat towards your belly as your hormones change with age. Trans fats just grab that fat and shove it there faster. And for years, margarine was sold to your parents as the heart-healthy choice over butter. And it was doing the exact opposite the whole time. So here's how you protect yourself. Real butter, eliminate the margarine, get a grass-fed version. For cooking, use olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. Make your popcorn the old-fashioned way, on the stove instead of the microwavable bag. And the only label you can trust is the ingredient list. Make sure you're not eating partially hydrogenated anything. And then you should be in the clear. Again, if you need help identifying that, use the link below to the app that I created. It's free. It'll scan and identify any partially hydrogenated oils in any of your foods. All right, we made it through all 10. But here's the thing. The 10 you just saw aren't even the most common foods doing this to your belly. Before I made this video, I put out the original list. And those foods are the ones hiding in just about everybody's kitchen. They're foods that you've been told your whole life are good for you and you're probably eating some of them this week without a second thought. So if belly fat is what you're fighting, that's the video to watch next. I will put a link to that right here. Click to watch it now, and I'll see you there.