13 Diet Foods To Avoid At All Costs

If you’re a Prevention reader, you’re probably interested in buying the healthiest foods. Just like us, you may even reach automatically for items with a “health halo,” such as spaghetti sauce (love that lycopene!), or labels like reduced fat!, low sodium!, and whole grain! But unless you’re a supersavvy shopper, be warned: Your diet may conceal some nasty surprises. That low-fat cottage cheese you love? It could be higher in sodium than potato chips. And the low-fat dressing you drizzle on your salad? It could contain nearly as much sugar as two chocolate chip cookies. The truth is, no manufacturer wants to compromise on flavor, so even healthy-sounding products can contain appalling levels of sugar, salt, and bad fats. To save you time, we’ve flushed out some of the most surprising diet food offenders—and found some truly healthy alternatives. SNEAKY SALT SOURCES Most Americans already consume double the recommended amount of sodium—currently set at 1,500 mg, or about ⅔ teaspoon of table salt. If you’re in the high-intake group, that could significantly escalate your blood pressure and increase your risk of stroke and heart attack (even if your blood pressure is normal), says Elisa Zied, RD, author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips. Fast-Food Chicken Caesar SaladCulprit: McDonald’s Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken contains 570 mg of sodium—more than one-third the recommended daily limit. And that’s without the Caesar dressing, which can pile on another 500 mg. In these ready-to-go salads, says Lona Sandon, RD, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, “the worst part is usually the chicken, which is often cooked in a high-sodium marinade for flavor and may also be injected with a sodium solution to keep the meat moist.“Smarter choice: Skip the entrée salad and go for the burger with a garden salad on the side. A McDonald’s plain hamburger has 480 mg of sodium (240 calories, 8 g fat); add the side salad (20 calories, 0 g fat, 10 mg sodium) or fruit n’ yogurt parfait (150 calories, 2 g fat, 80 mg sodium).  Frozen Chicken DinnerCulprit: Bertolli Roasted Chicken Risotto packs 930 mg of sodium in a serving. And if you eat both servings in the 24-ounce package (it’s not a stretch), you’ll consume more than your daily sodium in one sitting. Smarter choice: Amy’s Light in Sodium Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada has just 190 mg of sodium per serving. Boxed Rice PilafCulprit: Near East Spanish Rice Pilaf contains 910 mg of sodium in its 2.5-ounce serving (240 calories, 0.5 g fat)—nearly two-thirds of the recommended daily dose (and more if you add the suggested butter). That’s high, even by the standards of these supersimple dishes, which generally contain about 500 to 800 mg of sodium.Smarter choice: Near East Original Plain Whole Grain Blends Wheat Couscous contains no salt; simply season with your own spice blend. Bonus: Many herbs and spices like cilantro and turmeric are packed with disease-fighting phytonutrients. Fat-Free Cottage CheeseCulprit: Breakstone Fat-Free Cottage Cheese has 450 mg of sodium per 4-ounce serving (80 calories). That’s like eating 2¼ 1-ounce bags of Lay’s potato chips. In order to give cottage cheese its curds-and-whey consistency, manufacturers must add salt during production. This salt, plus the natural salt contained in the milk used to make the cheese, gives this typical health fixture a surprisingly high sodium level.Smarter choice: Equally creamy and still diet friendly, Sorrento Low-Fat Ricotta (140 mg sodium and 100 calories per 4 ounces) is worth trying. MORE: 10 Diet Splurges—And How Often You Can Afford Them SNEAKY SUGAR Various forms of sugar—especially high fructose corn syrup—sneak into a wide array of savory items, where you would hardly expect to find them. “When you remove fat, you also remove moisture, so manufacturers add sugar to help retain moisture and flavor,” notes Sandon. Besides the obvious danger to your teeth and your weight, excess sugar ups your risk of heart disease. Remember: Your recommended limit is 25 g of added sugar a day (about 6 teaspoons, or 100 calories). Regular Jarred Tomato SauceCulprit: Prego Traditional Italian Sauce sounds like a healthy food. (How could “traditional” marinara be anything other than wholesome?) But its third ingredient is sugar, which is added to balance out the acidity. Combined with the natural sugars in the tomatoes, that makes for a total of 10 g.Smarter choice: Muir Glen Organic Garlic Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce has only 4 g of sugar. For an option that’s also low-salt, try Amy’s Organic Light In Sodium Family Marinara Pasta Sauce (5 g sugar and 290 mg sodium). Fruit Juice CocktailsCulprit: At 28 g per 8-ounce glass, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail has almost as much sugar as a can of soda. (The word cocktail is a red flag.)Smarter choice: For a refreshing (and guilt-free!) alternative, try flavored seltzer, such as Vintage Raspberry Seltzer (0 g added sugar). Low-Fat Ice Cream Photo by Tastyart Ltd Rob White/Getty Images Culprit: Häagen-Dazs Low-Fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt has 21 g of sugar in a half-cup serving—nearly double the amount in real ice cream such as Edy’s Grand French Vanilla (11 g) and close to your limit for the entire day.Smarter choice: Edy’s Outshine No Sugar Added Fruit Bars will satisfy your sweet tooth with just 2 g of sugar and only 30 calories per serving (0 g fat). Fat-Free Salad DressingCulprit: Maple Grove Farms Fat Free Honey Dijon Dressing has 9 g of sugar in 2 tablespoons. That’s like tossing 10 jelly beans into your salad.Smarter choice: Newman’s Own Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette has just 2 g of sugar (and 4 g fat). Wish-Bone Light Italian Dressing has 2 g of sugar (2.5 g fat). MORE: 10 Diet Mistakes Seriously Slowing Your Metabolism SNEAKY FAT If low-fat foods add sugar to make up for missing flavor, then full-fat varieties must be healthy and satisfying, right? Not when you look over labels with an expert eye. One pitfall is heart-stopping saturated and trans fats, which increase blood sugar levels, blunt insulin resistance, and decrease your ratio of good to bad cholesterol. Then there’s the serving size, which can trick you into thinking you’re getting a dollop of fat—when you are actually getting most of a day’s serving. Overall, try to keep fats to no more than 35% of caloric intake. (In a 1,600-calorie diet, that’s 62 g.) Baked Veggie Chips Photo by William Reavell/Getty Images Culprit: Calbee Snapea Crisps may be vegetable-based—and baked—but they still have 4.5 g of fat per 1-ounce serving. Smarter choice: For a chiplike feel with a protein bonus, try Glenny’s Lightly Salted Soy Crisps, which have just 1 g of fat per serving (5 g protein and only 170 mg sodium). If you’re looking for vegetable chips as a healthy snack, try Just Tomatoes, Etc.! Just Veggies, a mix of freeze-dried carrots, corn, peas, peppers, and tomatoes that has 1 g of fat (4 g protein and just 40 mg of sodium). Greek YogurtCulprit: Fage Total Plain Classic Greek Yogurt has 10 g of fat (7 g saturated) and 190 calories in 1 cup. That’s not to say there aren’t good reasons to buy this ultrathick and creamy yogurt. It’s a great source of calcium (you’ll get 20% of your daily value in a 1-cup serving) and protein (18 g), plus it has those good-for-your-gut live active cultures. But the whole-milk variety has 2.5 times the fat content of the 2% fat version and 40 more calories (190, versus 150 in the 2% product).Smarter choice: Fage Total 0% Plain Greek Yogurt is made with fat-free milk so it still provides all the calcium and cultures, and it even has a power-packed 18 g of protein, all with no fat and just 100 calories.  Movie Theater PopcornCulprit: When you survey the king-size choices at the concession stand, a smaller size popcorn seems like a smart choice. But think again: According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Regal (the country’s biggest movie theater chain) serves a medium-size popcorn with 60 g of saturated fat (and 1,200 calories)—as much as five Burger King Whoppers. The problem: It’s popped in artery-clogging oils, then topped with even more offending fats in the buttery topping. “They don’t call them tubs for nothing,” says CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, RD.Smarter choice: BYO. Newman’s Own Organics Pop’s Corn (unsalted) has just 1.5 g of fat per serving, none of it saturated or trans fat (just don’t get caught sneaking it in!). Get a healthy, delicious microwave popcorn recipe. Poultry SausageCulprit: Aidells Smoked Chicken and Apple sausage has 12 g of fat (3.5 g saturated) and 180 calories per link (and really, who eats just one link?). Many brands of poultry sausage have more fat than typical sweet Italian sausage (7 g) because they’re often stuffed with some of the fattiest parts of the chicken, including the skin and dark meat.Smarter choice: Low-fat grilled chicken breast has only 3 g of fat (and 140 calories) in 3 ounces. Frozen Meatless Indian DinnersCulprit: Amy’s Indian Paneer Tikka has 20 g of fat (and 370 calories) in a 9½-ounce serving. You’d think going meatless would be a healthy choice, but you can blame the cheese (made with whole milk), as well as the oil the dish is cooked in.Smarter choice: You don’t need to swear off Indian completely. Amy’s Indian Mattar Tofu provides protein (12 g) and also delivers fiber (5 g) with just 8 g of fat. MORE: 6 Signs It’s Definitely Time To Ditch Your Diet