41 Foods That Are Bad for Your Heart
Your complete daily dose of sugar might be hiding out in that grande cup.
“If that’s not enough to shock you, think about this: a grande blended frappuccino may provide more carbohydrates than 4 ½ pieces of bread, without the fibre or any nutritional value,” Werner says. “When ordered with whole milk, these drinks can shoot your saturated fat intake up pretty high for the day.”
High sugar + high fat = a heart-harmer. Instead, stick to an iced coffee with unsweetened almonds or skim milk. Try these low-sugar Starbucks drinks instead.
23 Coffee creamer
Want to be even better? Drink your coffee black. And whatever you do, don’t dump in the non-dairy coffee creamer.
“They might contain trans fat or hydrogenated oil, which increases the risk of developing plaque in the heart’s arteries,” Rivera says. Plus, some fat-free versions contain as many as 65 calories in two tablespoons, making it easy for your brew habit to become a bulk-up mission.
24 Margarine
Butter isn’t so bad after all. A 2016 PLOS One review found very few links between butter consumption and heart disease. Instead, margarine appears to be more of a villain since it can be full of additives and saturated fats.
These factors can “increase triglycerides in the blood, which can lead to the build-up of arterial plaque,” Rivera says.
