PIZZA
Pizza is the second biggest contributor of saturated fat to the our diet, and most slices serve up half a day’s worth of the artery clogger. To keep your health and waistline in check, stick to one slice and pair it with a house salad.
POTATO CHIPS
According to Harvard researchers, chips are one of the worst foods for your belly. Not only are they saturated with saturated fat, which causes your gut to expand and puts your heart in the danger zone, they’re also crusted with salt—yet another nutrient linked to cardiovascular disease when eaten in excess. In the Harvard study, daily chip consumption alone was responsible for adding nearly two pounds of flab to study participants’ frame every four years. That means if you cut out chips, you would lose more than half a pound of belly fat, even if you changed nothing else about your diet.
VEGETABLE JUICE
Prefer to sip your greens rather than chew ’em? Stick with the freshly made varieties from a local juice shop (or your kitchen). The bottled versions are filled to the brim with salt. For example, just 8-ounces of V8 Vegetable Juice Essential Antioxidants has 480 milligrams of sodium. If you have to sip the bottled variety go for V8’s low-sodium blend. It will save you 340 milligrams of sodium, which over the course of a month can really make a difference in your blood pressure levels.
FRENCH FRIES
Consider Fresh fries a triple threat to your heart health. Not only are they filled with simple sources of carbs that can spike your blood sugar, but they’re also filled with fat and salt, too. In fact, one 20-year Harvard study found that people who regularly ate fries gained more than three pounds of body weight every four years. And over the course of the study, the French fry eaters gained 15 pounds of belly flab from fries alone! Exactly how bad are your favorite fries?
ICE CREAM
A healthy adult should consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day. A cup of Ben and Jerry’s has more than a third of the day’s intake (130 grams!)—and so do plenty of other creamy, cool treats. To indulge in something icy without freezing out your heart, make a batch of banana ice cream. Here’s how: Slice two bananas and place them in a bag and freeze overnight. The next day, blend them up on high with some milk and almond butter until the mixture reaches a consistency that resembles ice cream. Shavings of dark chocolate make for a tasty topping, as do raspberries—a potent heart-healthy food. High fiber foods like raspberries have been shown to reduce levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, according to the Mayo Clinic.
CAPERS KETCHUP
When it comes to your blood pressure and heart health, condiments matter. Those capers you top your Chicken Piccata with? They carry over 200 milligrams of salt per tablespoon. And the ketchup you dip your fries into has 167 milligrams in the same serving size. Scale back on the condiments to maintain your flat belly and keep your ticker in tip-top condition.
BEEF JERKY
Jerky is super trendy right now, thanks in part to the ever-growing Paleo trend. Sure, it’s free of refined grains and packed with protein, but it’s also notoriously high in salt—not good news if you have high blood pressure or want to keep your heart healthy. A small, 1-ounce serving can have an upwards of 700 milligrams of salt, which is more than four times what you’d find in the same serving of chips.