Up till now, it was generally believed that a large variety of foods or food items that titillated the taste buds the moment you tucked into them ultimately led to your putting on weight. However, recent studies and researches on the health effects of consuming these foods have indicated that these items could also take a toll on your metabolism as well. Hitherto, the perception that predominated amongst dieticians, nutritionists, and health-conscious individuals was that weight loss or gain resulting from purported healthy food was exclusively dependent upon thermodynamic laws.

Simply put, you tended to put on weight if your daily calorie intake was higher than the amount you expended. But if the current trials are to be believed, equal calorific amounts of specific food items say margarine or soda, inside your system, may not affect you in the same way, unlike what was previously thought. Following are six distinct food items whose consumption will not only boost up your calorie balance but also have other adverse effects.

1. Soda

Soda never makes it to the diet chart of any individual who swears by healthy living. The carbonated drink has earned a bad name owing to its presence of an artificial sweetener called HFCS or high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS is not only a cheap but also a detrimental sweetening agent that is used in a range of soft and fizzy drinks as well as processed foods.

As per findings of the studies, sugar when consumed in the form of fructose can be more damaging for health when compared with consumption of other sugar forms like glucose or sucrose (in equal quantities). HFCS can be a risk factor for causing obesity due to its adverse or negative impact on metabolism. Drinking soda-based beverages regularly lead to ‘metabolic syndrome’ making you highly susceptible to suffering from stroke, diabetes or heart disease.

2. White Bread

White bread is one highly treated or processed food that your body finds easy to break into smaller fragments and digests. This is so because fibers which help boost the metabolic mechanism are absent in white breads-the substance or element is done away with during the processing stage. No extra calories are expended or burnt by your body during the digestion or ingestion process which ultimately brings down the normal functioning rate of your metabolism. If your body doesn’t burn the extra or unspent calories, these get converted and stored as fats. You’ll be better off consuming healthy food items that have been made out of whole grains of rice, wheat, barley instead of ones that don’t contain any fiber.

3. Margarine

In the pecking order of fats, trans-fats also called trans-fatty acid are worse than saturated fats owing to their potential to spike up the LDL cholesterol level thereby putting you at high risk of suffering from strokes and CAD. Following FDA’s directive to clearly label the ingredients of processed food items way back in 1999, most of the foods laden with trans-fats have been removed from the racks of departmental stores. Nevertheless, baked foods and margarine blocks or sticks contain a reasonably high level of trans-fats that can cause insulin resistance. Developing a resistance to insulin, which plays a key role in metabolizing carbohydrates and fats may ultimately lead to slowing down of metabolism.

4. Vegetable or Canola Oil

Canola oil which was previously promoted as healthy food is now being considered as a harmful ingredient that might actually decelerate the metabolic process owing to its high content of omega-6 fatty acids.

5. Farm Reared Apples

Vegetables and fruits grown in farms where a high level of pesticides and fertilizers are used can cause metabolic changes leading to fat buildup. Though organic food items including apples are more expensive, consuming the same would keep you in good health and save your visits to the clinic.

6. Farmed Beef

Farmed beef, in the long run, can turn out to be more damaging to the health, compared to beef obtained from livestock that has been fed on grass. Farmed beef contain antibiotics that drive away from both the bad and good bacteria from our guts. And there is a strong correlation between gaining weight and alteration in the bacterial structure of the gut.