Are you confused about which foods are really healthy? Every day we are so overwhelmed with healthy food lies that we have become immune to them. To make matters worse, the government makes it easier for food producers falsely label food products, because there are many loop holes in labeling laws. At the end of this post, you will be able to spot a lie and smell healthy food when you see it.
Although many people have a common knowledge that fast food, candy, and other common junk foods are not good for our health, it is the so-called healthy foods that are tricky to identify. In the little time that I spend watching TV, I see so many health claims from food industry that I decided to make a list of the most common ones and show you how to discover the falsehood of healthy foods.
Now, for our list. Pay careful attention, because I want to be able to spot these healthy foods is the next time you visit the store.
1 Cereals are healthy
This is a common lie that many people generally believe to be true. Cheerios is probably the most popular "healthy" cereals because of their heavy marketing slogan claiming that "I can lower your cholesterol." Notice how the word "may" clearly made its way up to his motto. This means that there is a possibility that it can lower your cholesterol, but it is not safe. When I researched the ingredients Cheerios online, I found that most of the ingredients contained "starch" in its name, a third ingredient is sugar. This means that Cheerios basically consists mainly of carbohydrates with little fiber and protein. Do not get me wrong, if used to eat bacon and bagels for breakfast, or not used to eating breakfast at all, it Cheerios for breakfast is a relatively healthier option, but it's not cereal choices for optimum health.
If there is a grain which I would recommend to my clients, it would be Fiber One cereal, but I would only recommend Bran Original flavor, and not the others, because it has the most fiber and has zero calories from sugar . Ingredients cereals are mostly made of bran, which is part of the cereals that contain the most fiber, which in turn gives our bodies the most health benefits.
2 Sugar free
In addition to diet drinks and other beverages have any calories our there, most of the products that are touted as "sugar free" are usually high in fat and carbohydrates. You generally can not see "sugar," said the candy, salad, and baked goods. For example, Hershey came out with a new line of sugar free chocolates. When you look at the nutrition information for their sugar-free special dark chocolate, you can see that 5 square pieces (one serving) contains the, 15 g fat, 9 g s to come from saturated fat, 23 g carbohydrates. This is an incredible 140 calories from fat alone. It signals a red flag in my head so I'd rather have 85% dark chocolate you eat this so-called "special dark chocolate." It makes me wonder what makes it truly special.
3 Fat free
fat free claim in the health food is the opposite of the application without the sugar. Most fat free food is heavy-laden with sugar. This includes fat free ice cream, fat free cookies, fat free cakes, etc. A lot of people seem to think that eating fat free foods are the answer to losing weight, but in fact it is quite the opposite. Eating healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids can actually help you lose weight.
Another type of food, which is fat free claim is used in many foods such as hotdogs, ground beef, deli lunch meat, etc. Take the Oscar Mayer fat free hot dogs, for example. Here are the nutrition facts:
* Serving Size: 1 link
* Calories per serving: 39
* Calories from fat: 2
* Percentage of calories from fat: 4.6%
* Total Fat: 0.2 g
Well, that may contain 0.2 g of fat and still be labeled fat free? FDA says that while the food product has less than 0.5 g fat, it can be labeled fat free. While 0.2 g fat May not seem like much to you, I never remember to eat only one hot dog in one sitting. Most people would probably eat 3 hot dogs, on average, so that definitely adds to the fat.
4 Portion control meals or snacks
Dieter To the ear, 100 calorie snack packs, or are likely music to their ears. You mean I can eat chocolate chip cookie, and only consume 100 calories? Yay !.... Absolutely not. (Again, the sugar in these so-called portion control snacks can wreak havoc on insulin levels, which means that they run more sweetly wish later you're better off spending those calories in fruit, which helps stabilize blood sugar levels.
food in the second category of control of frozen dinners or meals. This May sound like a good choice for a "busy" people, because it requires less preparation time, but what is hidden within all of these neat little package is a lot of sodium. In order to preserve food and add more flavors of frozen meals, manufacturers add a crazy amount of salt which can cause serious health problems such as high blood pressure, kidney disease, etc., when eaten regularly.
5 Healthy fats
I'm all for eating healthy fats - no doubt about it. But keep in mind that when you eat healthy fats from olive oil, coconut oil, almonds, pecans, etc., which fats are still high in calories. Time and time again, I'll look at the health food channel and see the host to put lots and lots of olive oil in most of their meals. Yes, it is healthy, but if you eat too much, you're still getting a lot of calories. To give you an idea of the calories in healthy fats, here is a list of common sources:
* 1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories
* Pecan halves 20 pieces: 196 calories
* 24 Whole Kernels almonds: 163 calories
* 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter: 190 calories
* 14 pieces of walnut halves: 185 calories
One of the important lessons from this:. Healthy fats are good for you, but enjoy them in moderation
6 Organic
Ok, you must read this carefully. Personally, I like to get my organic fruits and vegetables from the market because it is oh so fresh and grown locally. However, "organic" label is misused so many times that somehow lost its true meaning. For example, on my way to the grocery store the other day, I was so surprised to find organic chips, organic ice cream. I'm fine with the food is labeled organic, but do not assume that it is automatically good for you just because it is labeled as such.
7 Fruit juice and diet Sodas
But it is a fruit juice! Let's keep this in mind: I eat fruit for fiber and natural sugars. Fruit juices are nothing but pasteurized / processed sugar and probably not any better than diet sodas. If you want fruit, eat a whole one of the marketplace - you can thank me later, and so will your body
.Take Away
Otherwise, I would not rant here in my blog. However, there are certain things such as this lies healthy foods that were bothering me for a long time. The moral of the whole post is this: if you buy something that is packaged, boxed, or processed, check the ingredients first, and really look at the nutrition facts. Usually, if a product has less than 3 recognizable ingredients (not some weird name, you can not say), you will be fine. Otherwise, we'll all be better off to eat more whole foods and buy from local farmers. This rule is simple enough and yet many people do not follow, because we're so caught up in the belief that there is no magic foods out there that will solve all our health and weight loss problems. Great news ==> no.
Although it is okay to have these foods once in a while, do not buy into the false belief that it will help you reach your fat loss goals, because you'll face a big disappointment.
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