As a health-obsessed individual, I constantly check nutrition labels and ingredient lists on packaged foods, especially on the ones that claim to be “healthy”. I’ve found that more often than not, “health” foods aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Eating out is always a health compromise. One great example of a healthy-gone-wrong dish is a restaurant salad. Salads are extremely versatile, tasty, and nutritious. But covering a salad in gobs of cheese, croutons, or a fattening dressing accompanied with a pile of breadsticks turns the order into a health-disaster.
Other seemingly healthy restaurant menu items include dishes with lean proteins like chicken and fish, but they’re oftentimes served slathered in butter or cream sauce on top of a pound of pasta.
The grocery store can be almost as difficult to navigate as a takeout menu. Any pre-packaged or processed food in a grocery store should be approached with caution – even the items in sections like Kroger’s “Health Foods” one. Things like granola, protein bars, and various yogurts can be loaded with excessive grams of fat and sugar, contain unnatural ingredients, and are packed with preservatives.
Flavored yogurt cups may be available in reduced or non-fat varieties, but most often have upwards of 15 or 20 grams of sugar per serving. Meal replacement and granola bars can pack crazy amounts of fat, sugar, and carbs, and barely contain enough protein and fiber to cancel out the unhealthy components. Granolas vary by brand and flavor but oftentimes are loaded with sugar and are made crunchy by using an excess of fat.
Plenty of “health” foods also contain harmful ingredients, like high fructose corn syrup and other forms of added sugar. Low-calorie yogurts and yogurt substitutes are packed with chemical additives. Even if a tub of Cool Whip is labeled “fat free”, it’s still not a better option than frozen yogurt. While both are rather high in sugar, the fro-yo isn’t comprised completely of chemicals like the Cool Whip is.
CarbMaster cups found in the yogurt section at Kroger seem great for anyone on a diet because of their super-low calorie count, but a glance at the ingredient list will send you on your way. The first ingredient listed is water and the second is whey powder, proving the “yogurt” doesn’t even contain enough calcium to count as a serving of dairy. Similar low-calorie yogurts from brands like Dannon and Yoplait hardly count as dairy and have ingredient lists a mile long.
Anything found in a grocery store’s freezer aisles should be avoided at all costs. Aside from not knowing how long it’s been there, things like frozen meals, pizzas, and chicken nuggets are packed with sodium and saturated fat. Even a Healthy Choice brand prepackaged dinner isn’t exactly a healthy choice. For the amount of food you get, the calorie and fat levels per serving are ridiculous and the oh-so-advertised vegetable component is extremely miniscule.
The lines can be blurry when it comes to foods that just seem healthy and ones that actually are. Comparing nutrition facts and watching out for unpronounceable ingredients is key to making good choices. It’s important to remember that natural foods are better for you than anything processed and in a package.
Things like fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains don’t have labels on them advertising how great they are for you. Products that need gimmicks to sell them off as “healthy” are more than likely not the best of choices. Eating healthily means eating simply, so the fewer ingredients you consume, the better your health will be.