This hidden ingredient found in almost everything could be making you fat!

It's hiding right in front of your face. You're eating it every day, without even knowing it … And this sneaky substance is causing you to put on weight. It's the "secret" ingredient in almost all the foods you eat. And it's literally in everything: It's in your bread, cereal, salad dressings, fruit juices, ketchup, jams, sauces, frozen dinners, soft drinks, and ice cream.

If you're eating or drinking anything that comes in a bag, box, or bottle, then there's a good chance you're getting way too much of it. What is this super common but very dangerous ingredient? Read on…

Read more ¿Qué más? Cut this out of your life to lose pounds INSTANTLY

The fattening food I'm talking about is corn. And even if you never pick up a cob, or walk down the vegetable aisle, there's still a good chance you're eating tons of it every day. Because corn is in nearly EVERYTHING.

In some foods, it's used as filler, in a cheap attempt to extend shelf life. In other foods, it's turned into a sweetener known as high-fructose corn syrup (just look on the back of the bottles, you're almost guaranteed to see it). It's an insulin-spiking simple carbohydrate (similar to table sugar) that shuts down your ability to burn fat for energy.

You know the saying, "You are what you eat"? Well, Todd Dawson, a plant biologist at the University of California-Berkeley, has proven it to be true. Dawson says, "If we eat a particular kind of food, and it has a particular kind of carbon in it, that's recorded in us, in our tissues, in our hair, in our fingernails, in the muscles." And when he conducted hair strand analysis, he found over 70 percent of the carbon found in the typical person comes from corn!

And this isn't just people who eat lots of junk food. Even if you make the effort to stick to fresh whole foods, chances are, you're still eating your fair share of corn each day.

Corn has made its way into the meat we eat. Because "you are what you eat" also applies to animals. Most livestock today are raised on grain diets. The most common ingredient in their feed happens to be corn. So now we're eating more of it every time we throw a steak on the grill or roast a chicken in the oven.

While corn is cheaper for farmers to use, it lowers the quality of the meat. Cows are meant to eat grass. When they're fed grains, they have problems staying healthy and are treated with harmful antibiotics that get passed on to us. Grain-fed meat is also much lower in essential omega-3 fats, the healthy fat that is necessary for healthy hearts and mental well-being.

So what can we do about this? What steps can we take to cut the corn out of our diets? Well, a good start is to cut out all the processed food: the sodas, the fruit juices, the cakes, the cookies. Anything that contains high-fructose corn syrup should he kept to a minimum. Stick to real food like fresh fruits and vegetables.

Also, buy organic grass-fed beef whenever possible. Sure, it's a little bit more expensive, but the improved quality and impact it plays on your health more than outweighs the slightly higher cost. Plus, it's free from those hidden "corn" carbs that widen our waistlines.

Taking these two steps will go a long way in cutting this hidden fat-causing culprit out of our lives. So make sure you read your food labels, cut back on the junk, and use that extra money for some quality grass-fed beef.

Because once you cut the hidden corn out of your diet, it becomes much easier to melt fat. I promise!

Want even more weight loss tips? Check out the MamásLatinas Weight Loss Group!

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