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9 Faux “Health Foods” That’ll Blow Up Your Belly

Posted by on May 23, 2012 in Diet It UP, Featured Article, Food Lists | 6 comments

7. Tuna Salad

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-tuna-salad-i15128

Why it’s fattening:

This falls into the same “ironic” category as Vitamin Water. On its own tuna is low calorie and PACKED with protein, and salad is *typically* just chicken, lettuce and veggies — marry the two and magically a mayo-filled, artery-clogging hell spawn results.

A friend who worked at Subway once told me that their tuna salad is made from literally half mayo, half tuna. Not that Subway was ever healthy, but nom on that one.

1 cup of tuna salad — about 1 large scoop — packs close to 400 calories, 19g of fat, and 3g of saturated fat. Tuna salad sandwiches easily average over 700 calories, and tuna melts conveniently pass the big, fat 1K calorie mark.

Smart swaps:
  • Canned tuna with mustard, avocado/guacamole, or hummus
  • Turkey or chicken

A can of tuna mixed with mustard and hummus cuts off nearly 200 calories and 13 grams of fat, plus the fat from the hummus is actually healthy.

My personal favorite is canned tuna with a little mashed avocado, honey mustard, and balsamic vinegar. The avocado brings a TON of heart-healthy unsaturated fats, and the mustard/balsamic add calorie-free flavor.



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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP
Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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  • LisaHiles

    I find it interesting that one of the suggested smart foods to eat (yogurt)  instead of #9 rice cakes is the #1 food mentioned in this article that it says will “blow up our bellies.”

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

       @LisaHiles These aren’t ranked in any sort of order based on level of “fatness,” per say, it’s meant to simply be a list.

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

       @LisaHiles But with that said, Yoplait yogurt and others with a ton of sugar and artificial ingredients added ARE incrementally more fattening than a rice cake. Go with Greek Yogurt (preferably plain), Siggi’s Icelandic, or other low-sugar varieties.

  • A

    I’m not a dietician, but shouldn’t Fiber One cereal be an exception with 11 grams of fiber (8 insoluable). It does have 45g of carbs, but I assume it will help lower my cholesterol better than oatmeal.

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Absolutely, and there are definitely a few other cereals that are exceptions to the group. I don’t have science to compare Fiber One vis-a-vis oatmeal, but it likely wouldn’t have a greater impact on chol. – the type of fiber in F1 is different from the type that’s naturally occurring in oatmeal, plus it’s got a ton of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and other ingredients that aren’t totally great for our health.

      This was meant to be more of a generalization about the cereal category as a whole, the majority of which are absolutely horrible for your health and belly.

      We ranked every single cereal here, check it out to see which options are better than others. https://www.leanit-up.com/part-3-the-cereal-fatness-index/

  • Adrienne

    I would add anything with wheat (dwarf GMO hybrid) or wheat gluten to your list because of the negative glucose-insulin response it has on the body. Wheat crops are not the same as they were 30 years ago. There’s lots of research out there that suggests that a wheat/gluten free diet will result in weight loss, not because you’re cutting carbs because you would need to get them from other wheat-free grains, but because of the response it has on the body and the increase in production of insulin which leads to stored visceral fat in the abdominal area as well as other illnesses. A couple of other interesting side-effects of a diet with wheat are mental fogginess and craving for more carbs. Took me awhile to grasp the concept, but it makes sense and especially because I’ve cut it out completely from my diet and saw the effects for myself.