Have you have ever gone all out and bought products that claim they are healthy for you, yet you don’t see any promised results? Be warned, most of the foods you get at supermarkets are imposters and might pose a serious threat to your health.
8 Food Products To Avoid At Supermarkets
We all fall easy prey to the pretty packaging and the bold slogans. And with so many clever marketers around, it’s hard to tell the good food products from the “fake” or unhealthy ones, so one must take care to read in between the lines on labels. Hopefully, this list of the most common foods to avoid buying from supermarkets should be a good start.
1. Lunch Meats
Aside from containing animal protein, lunch meats are high in carcinogen content. Many types of lunch meat also contain alarming amounts of corn syrup, refined sodium, bacteria, sugar, and nitrates (which is a carcinogen). Not only are they one of the top foods that are linked to cancer, but have also been shown to cause various other health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
2. Ready To Eat Salads
According to bacteriologists, the most dangerous food in supermarkets is cut and packaged salad. The packaging may read “ready to eat”, but there’s a high chance that it’s already home to some harmful bacteria inducing intestinal diseases. They make their way into the food from the soil and can’t be removed because this type of salad isn’t thermally processed. To stay on the safer side, always thoroughly wash the greens that you buy.
3. Diet Products
Fat-free, calorie-free, sugar-free – these can be really tempting if you’re determined to get healthy fast. These foods, however, are not real foods for they contain artificial sweeteners, hard-to-digest proteins and fibers, modified forms of soy and corn, chemicals, and emulsifiers. These will only do more harm than good to your body, especially over time and cause you to gain weight. Stick to real food instead, or foods with ingredients you won’t find hard to pronounce.
4. Flavored Yogurts
Yogurts are not always healthy. If you’re choosing an almond, soy, or coconut yogurt that’s flavored, it is very likely that it’s filled with added sugar which will give you frequent hunger pangs and make you crave more sweets. Instead, try making your own coconut, almond, or soy flavored yogurt at home and add your own fruit at home for a healthier kind of sweetness.
5. Breads On Shelves
Shelved bread is a common source of added (not natural) fibers, refined grains, sodium, and artificial preservatives. The better option would be to pick up a loaf of sprouted grain bread from the freezer section. Though it’s frozen, it has never been refined and is actually made of whole-grains and it completely flour-free. Not only can you choose from various flavors, but can also store it in your fridge for almost a month.
6. Vegetable Oil
Try choosing some olive oil, coconut oil, or plain vegetable broth and leave out the vegetable oil altogether. Vegetable oil is full of trans fats that will only give you empty calories with zero health benefits. It is also one of the worst foods that are linked to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
7. Bottled Green Tea
Bottled drinks that claim to be green tea have nothing in common with it. Most of them contain as much water and sugar as you’d find in soda. It’s much better to brew your own green tea with real tea leaves.
8. Ground Spices
Store-bought ground spices are very easy to mix in with cheaper additives. Safflower is often sold instead of saffron, while cassia is often sold instead of cinnamon. They also contain sodium glutamate, a taste intensifier. This is quite harmless, but if eaten continuously, they will make natural food flavors seem insipid. The healthier alternative is to take whole spices and grind them at home yourself.
