These aren’t the healthy foods you’re looking for.
Some foods that’ve received fanfare for being ‘good for you’ are undeserving of their image. The following five foods, which you’d swear any nutritionist would back, might surprise you as being not-so-good for you.
Save your money on fruits & veggies, rather than these too-good-to-be-true foods that’re some of the most useless products you can consume.
Flavoured yogurt
Yogurt can be a strong source of calcium and protein – if you buy it plain. Pre-flavoured yogurts, on the other hand, can be as sugar-loaded as a candy bar.
Save money (and calories) by getting a big ol’ tub of plain Greek yogurt, instead of individual-sized containers, and sweeten it yourself with fruit and honey.
Related: Six Processed Foods Nutritionists Approve Of
Puffed veggie chips
Just because ‘veggie’ is in the name, doesn’t automatically make this snack a good one.
Double-check that ingredients list – you’ll likely see a combination of additives like potato starch, soy flour, and corn starch.
Oh, and calorie-wise, you’re doing yourself no favours: a serving contains as many calories as a serving of your average, fatty potato chips.
Bottled salad dressings
Salad dressing from a bottle is surprisingly unhealthy. There’s simply too many things going on there: highly-processed oils, sugars, and artificial colours regularly find their way onto the ingredients list.
Opt to create your own dressings from scratch, using olive oil, vinegar, and herbs. A homemade combo like this is not only more nutritious, but costs much less than the store-bought alternative.
Cold-pressed juices
Myth: cold-pressed juices offer the same nutritional value as the fruit itself.
Fact: you’re not getting the value out of juice as you would with the actual fruit or veggie.
Juicing produce robs you of the beneficial fiber from the food, leaving you with fruit sugar, basically. Even juices harbouring multiple fruits or vegetables isn’t ideal; the body can only take so many nutrients in one go.
Your wallet (and waistline) will thank you for going with wholesome, un-squeezed produce.
You Might Also Like: Living on liquid meals – the future of food?
Gluten-free packaged foods
Unless you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, there really isn’t a great reason to avoid gluten. Gluten-free packaged foods, specifically, are heavily marked-up – not to mention foods that come in a bag or box aren’t typically ideal for the body anyway.
Photo credit: Africa Studio/Shutterstock
