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Getting to the Heart of a Healthy Diet: Empty-Calorie Foods

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Related Media: Choosing Less Calories, Salt and Alcohol

The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks and candy that have a lot of sugars. We know that soda and junk food is bad for us. But do we actually know why?

Here's Why:

People may think that any food that is low in fat is inherently healthy. This is not the case! For example, soda and hard candy have no fat, but they also have no vitamins, minerals, fiber, or other health-promoting ingredients. What they do have is sugar, and lots of it. And a lot of sugar can add up to a lot of calories.

Eating foods high in sugar and calories can lead to weight gain, and being overweight is a risk factor heart attacks and heart disease.

In addition, sugary foods often take the place of healthier foods. For example, when was the last time you chose a soda over a glass of skim milk or snacked on gummi bears instead of an apple?

How to Minimize Empty-Calorie Food Intake:

Here are a few tips to help you minimize your intake of empty-calorie foods.

Do not be fooled by low-fat sweets. Often, when food manufacturers remove fat from cookies, crackers, cakes, and other snack foods, they add sugar to make up for the flavor lost with the fat. The result is that many low-fat snacks provide the same amount of calories—or more—as the original product. So a low-fat banner on the package does not give you free reign to eat the whole box. It's still important to look at calories and limit snacks.

Find other ways to satisfy your sweet tooth. Sometimes a little bit of sugar goes a long way. Try some of these tactics:

Instead of the sugary cereal you have been eating since you were a kid, make a bowl of oatmeal and top it with some brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup.
Snack on a bowl of applesauce; if it's not sweet enough, add raisins.
Fruits, both fresh and dried, are sweet and may offer you the sweet fix you are looking for at 3 o'clock in the afternoon or after dinner. Try some fruit first, before heading for the candy, to see if that satisfies your sweet tooth.

Choose diet versions. If you just love the taste of soda and can't imagine having popcorn or pizza with anything else, try a diet version. Or if it's the bubbles you crave, have a glass of one of these super low calorie beverages:

Seltzer water (some are flavored)
Club soda (add a splash of fruit juice for flavor)

RESOURCES

American Dietetic Association http://www.eatright.org/

American Heart Association http://www.heart.org/

The Nutrition Source Harvard School of Public Health http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

CANADIAN RESOURCES

Canadian Cardiovascular Society http://www.ccs.ca/

Dietiticans of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca/

References

Diet and lifestyle recommendations revision 2006: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. Circulation. 2006;114:82-96. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/114/1/82.full.pdf. Accessed September 14, 2012.

Dietary recommendations for cardiovascular disease prevention. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/. Updated September 15, 2012. Accessed September 17, 2012.

What are empty calories? MyPlate.gov website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html. Accessed September 17, 2012.

Revision Information

Reviewer: Brian P. Randall, MD
Review Date: 09/2012 -
Update Date: 09/17/2012 -

This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

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