I was doing some research the other day on healthier foods for snacking and for meals, and learned some pretty startling info about foods that I thought were good that really are quite bad for you. Check out these food fake outs below. Did you know these foods are secretly bad for you?

Diet Soda

I was really sad to see this on the list of good foods gone bad. My mom has been telling me for the longest time that diet soda may be partially to blame for me not losing the last bit of weight and she may be right. How can something with no fat or calories be bad? The artificial sweeteners used in diet soda produce a rise in insulin as your body waits for the blood sugars to come. When they don't, your body may begin to react to sugars differently in the future as a result and can cause obesity.

Rice Cakes 

Honestly, these have been my go to snack for the past year. I thought they were a really healthy alternative to chips, but I guess I was wrong. The plain variety have virtually no nutritional content whatsoever and are just added calories with no benefit to your body. The flavored kinds are just another source of fat in your diet and will have you craving another snack a short time later.

Sushi 

If you are choosing sushi made with white rice and imitation meat, then you are ingesting a lot of fat, carbs and sugars that have little nutritional content. While seaweed is high in nutritional value, white rice and meats such as imitation crab are packed with tons of sugar and a load of carbs that can easily take up your daily limit in a few bites.

Fat-Free Salad Dressing

To remove the fat from salad dressing, artificial sweeteners and sugars have to be put in its place for flavoring. Veggies are fat soluble too so removing the fat also removes the nutritional content you would normally be getting from the vegetables in full fat dressings.

Salads

While salads that are packed with veggies and very little dressing can be very healthy for you, most people do not eat their salads this way. When a salad is topped with tons of dressing, cheeses and meats, it ceases to be healthy and becomes a hidden source of fat and calories. Did you know that almost all of the salads at Applebee's have well over a 1,000 calories each?

Chewable Vitamin C

As a mom, this both shocked and scared me. There is no doubt that Vitamin C is good for you, but when given in a chewable form, it can eat away at your teeth. Vitamin C is ascorbic acid and when you purchase Vitamin C chewables with the acidic form of the vitamin, you are chewing and releasing that acid onto your teeth and into your mouth. Teach your little ones to swallow a pill or look for a brand that has a non-acidic version of the vitamin.

Fruit Juices

Most fruit juices are just an unearthly source of tons of sugars, artificial colors and artificial flavors. Even brands that claim to be 100% natural juice can have up to 38g of sugar in an 8oz serving. Just grab a piece of fresh fruit instead!

Do you eat any of these foods thinking they are good for you? If so, what do you think now?