So, do you think you are eating healthily?
A lot of products are regularly advertised as being “healthy”, but are actually not that good for you at all. When you start looking more closely at their ingredients you might find that they contain GMOs, chemical fillers and colourings, or they might have levels of sugar, salt and trans fats.
Here are 9 of those ‘healthy foods’ and why they aren’t as nutritious as you thought:
1. Prepared Salads (from a shop)
These are often hidden with low-quality, artery-clogging fats like mayonnaise and rancid oils. Choosing to make your own salads from scratch doesn’t require much more work, and you will be saving both your waistline and wallet.
2. Pre-made Smoothies
Did you realize that not all smoothies are created equal. Smoothie isn’t a direct translation of healthy! Many are loaded with refined sugar, fat, un-necessary extra calories and other unhealthy chemical-related ingredients, which, instead of making you healthier, are actually sabotaging your health.
3. Trail Mix
If you are buying these pre-mixed and bulk, you will often find ingredients like high-fat peanuts, chocolate (not good quality) dried fruit with added sulphites, and some other type of nuts which are probably rancid (nuts and seeds that sit for awhile tend to go rancid quickly on shelves). Instead, when you want a snack, grab some fresh fruit or vegetables, or make your own trail mix from scratch by making a mix of goji berries, chia seeds, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, organic raisins, un-sulphured coconut flakes and cacao nibs.
4. “Low-Calorie and Low-Fat” Frozen Dinners
For example: Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen dinners. I find that low calorie and low fat foods often translate as meaning high sugar, high salt and loads of chemical preservatives. Not such a healthy alternative after all. I suggest you invest in a slow cooker for a much healthier,very convenient and easy option.
5. Granola Bars
Many granola bars sold (even health food shops) are filled with high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, and artery-clogging trans fats. It is much healthier to make your own batch of granola bars at home. If you make a large enough batch and stick them in the freezer, they will last a lot longer, save you time and money!
6. Muffins
A lot of people think that muffins are a healthy breakfast or snack option – think again! If you haven’t prepared them yourself, chances are they are loaded with refined sugar, colouring agents, chemical flavourings and lots of saturated fat and high sodium levels (some rack up at 600mg of sodium PER muffin!). If you haven’t noticed, a lot of the muffins found in stores and bakeries today are about 5 times the size of a regular muffin baked at home. Reduced fat muffins aren’t any better because they usually make up for the loss of flavour by adding in more sugar and more synthetic chemicals to make them taste better.
7. Fat-Free Products
Fat-free processed foods do not ensure weight loss. Fats will provide a feeling of satiety (a sense that we have had enough to eat). Eating fat-free processed foods simply leaves you wanting more, eating more, and in the end, consuming more calories than if they had simply gone with the regular version of the fat-free product. Stripping away the fat in these products also leaves them tasting bland, so to make up for flavour, companies will add sugar, modified chemical ingredients and salt.
8. Frozen Yogurt
Frozen yogurt is not, by any means, a health food (contrary to what you might have thought!). It is packed full of refined sugar as well as containing synthetic and naturally occurring hormones which interfere with our own body’s hormone processing.
9. “Health” Drinks
Sports drinks, vitamin waters, diet drinks or anything of the like should be crossed off your list of foods you thought were healthy. These chemical concoctions are no better than reaching for and drinking your nearest all-purpose cleaner. Often filled with synthetic chemical sweeteners, which are carcinogenic, these drinks are a big no-no. Instead, drink coconut water to replenish electrolytes.
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