Diet

8 "Healthy" Snacks That Are More Fattening Than a Twinkie

Are these 8 fattening foods in your fridge? See the snacks that are sabotaging your diet now

by Sharon J. Yi

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Reduced fat peanut butter Peanut butter caught some flak for having 25 percent of your recommended daily intake of fat in just 2 tablespoons, so many peanut butter companies came out with reduced fat options. But while they may boast "25 percent less fat than regular peanut butter," you will definitely not be "spreading some on without the guilt" like the Skippy's Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter tagline claims.

"When manufacturers remove the fat from their foods, they need to put something else in to pump up the flavor -- and that something is often sugar," says Ansel. "Many brands have up to a teaspoon of sugar in a 2 tablespoon serving." Skippy's 25 percent less fat option has 4 g of sugar in 2 tablespoons -- that's double the amount of the original, "fattening" variety. So, while we admit this is less than the amount of sugar in a Twinkie, it's still astounding.

Eat this instead: Rather than reduced fat peanut butter, try almond butter. While it has a comparable amount of calories, they're substantiated with extra doses of iron, magnesium, calcium, fiber, and vitamin E. Almond butter also has about half of the saturated fats than peanut butter.

SEE NEXT PAGE: 7 Snacks That Taste Fatty but Keep You Skinny

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