5 Snacks and Drinks to Avoid

1. Tea

What could be bad about tea?? Specifically, we're talking about the bottled tea drinks, loaded with sugar and not much else. And claims of ginseng and the like don't help because they're generally included in such small quantities that there's little to no benefit. Always be sure to check the nutrition facts to make sure your healthy tea drink isn't a soda in disguise. Or, if you want to really go for it while saving a ton of money, you could brew it yourself, add in some honey, lemon and other natural ingredients for a tasty alternative.

2. Sugary Dried Fruit

Fruit is tasty and great for you. So it would stand to reason that the same fruit, just dried, would be about as healthy. As with pretty much everything on this list, the idea of the product is good and generally healthy, but it's when manufacturers start piling in all kinds of additives that kill it. With dried fruit, its mostly the same. Whether it's using lower quality fruits from the beginning, or just wanting it to appeal to more people, the now dried fruit gets coated in sugar. You can still snack on dried fruit without all the sugar by choosing a no added ingredients option.

3. Sushi

Kind of naturally, you think of fish based meals as a healthier alternative. And a basic sushi roll prepared right can do just fine. However, many rolls pack on the cream cheese, white rice, mayonnaise and other calorie loaded extras, quickly turning it into a diet disaster. Just be careful, double-check what's all included and you can still enjoy this favorite.

4. Flavored Water

Obviously regular water is just fine, and even many flavored waters are perfectly healthy, but you can easily get into trouble downing bottle after bottle of many flavored waters without looking at the nutrition facts. Some manufacturers add in so much sugar and artificial flavoring that you might as well be drinking a soda. Since um, technically, soda is just water with syrup flavoring that's not too much of a stretch. A good choice of flavored water should be under 10 calories and little to no sugar.

5. Light Buttered Popcorn

So light and fluffy, what could possibly be bad? I mean, it says "light" right on the package! Chemical butter. Not only does it pack on some calories and usually some saturated or trans fat, but the chemical flavoring (dactyl) is bad for you too. How do you get around all the bad and still get to enjoy this snacking favorite? Choose a portion controlled option with natural flavoring.