Did you make a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier this year? If so, you may be surprised to learn which foods are really not as good for you as you once thought.
Light. Reduced Fat. Reduced Sodium. All natural. Essential vitamins and minerals. Give a nod to the companies that are actually trying, but consider the flaws in foods carrying some of those labels. It’s guaranteed that the more a food is processed the more it becomes junk, regardless of claims on the label. But don’t be fooled! The following list of health foods that are actually junk may shock you:
1. 100% Pure Fruit Juice
It’s made from real fruit, right? America’s all-time favorite, orange juice, is regarded as first-line defense against colds, but after processing, you get much less than what you pay for. Upon peeling a fresh orange, its nutrients begin to deplete. Pasteurization then kills off more vitamins and minerals, and on top of that there’s no telling how long it’s stored before it reaches your grocer’s shelf. According to Alyssa Hamilton, author of “Squeezed: What You Don’t Know about Orange Juice”, what you wind up with at the end is a glass of denatured, de-oxygenated, chemical-laden orange mess.
Often, fruit juices contain concentrated amounts of sugar plus added sugar by the manufacturer. You also lose the health-promoting fiber that eating the piece of fruit would have provided. If you really love your fruit juice, it’s better to make your own as you want to drink it.
2. Microwaved Popcorn
For a long time, this has been regarded as a lesser of evils snack for dieters, touted for its fiber content, but lately it has received a bad rap. Mounting evidence suggests that microwaved popcorn contains carcinogens. The disease dubbed “popcorn lung” is even being associated with the increasingly popular e-cigs, now found to contain diacetyl that produces the same pulmonary malady as workers who inhaled artificial butter flavor in popcorn manufacturing facilities.
Not a great way to stay skinny! Want a safer popcorn and movie night? Pop your own in a stainless steel pan with real butter or couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and plain popcorn kernels. Or brown bag it with this recipe: http://bit.ly/1AADXA4
3. Trail Mix
This one is a mixed bag. Naturally, nuts do provide vitamins A and E and mono and polyunsaturated fats that guard your heart, but the natural oils in nuts have a very short shelf life. Exposure to light and air oxidizes the oils, or turns them rancid, which can cause digestive upset when you consume the nuts. If you get a mix with dried fruit and chocolate chips, you up the calories significantly along with jaw-dropping amounts of sugar. Dried fruit contains concentrated amounts of sugar that may only be beneficial for a track and field sprinter to get that quick burst of energy. That same amount of food energy will only leave extra weight on the hips of the average person.
Making fresh trail mix is a labor of love, but most people only need a little of this high-energy treat. For the taste, it’s worth it to get cracking on a homemade trail mix.
4. Fat Free Yogurt
Many times food manufacturers will add extra sugar or artificial flavorings to compensate for the absence of the flavor fat provides. Fruit flavored yogurts are especially insidious since the sugar eats away at the acidophilus that you intended for your gut.
Plain yogurt is tough on the palates of many people, so if you want to benefit from yogurt’s natural probiotics, add the fruit of your choice right before you eat it. Greek yogurt naturally has less sugar to start with, so you may opt for this choice. If the fruit isn’t enough to help the flavor, add just a bit of honey.
5. Smoothies
Sorry to inform you, but unless that smoothie that you routinely have for a snack or your lunch is made with basic, whole-food ingredients, you have what amounts to an expensive cup full of sugar. You would be just as well off to buy a soda! The only thing that would make these better than store-bought fruit juice is if you order it with ingredients blended right in front of you.
Avoid some of these health food landmines by reading labels carefully and making your own at home as much as possible. You will enjoy better tastes and better health!
