There are numerous healthy superfoods, however there are also foods that sound healthy despite the fact that they are not. Its important to keep an eye out for these “imposters” that can be packed with additional sugar, calories, or other nasty surprises.
The reality is that many of the “healthy” foods we eat are really unhealthy, even a few of the so-called “superfoods.” These foods get a grip due to the fact that of creative marketing campaigns, but if you look at the active ingredients on the label, its simple to see they arent as healthy as you may picture. The health advantages of these foods are overstated. Lets take a look at a few of the most significant transgressors.
Numerous energy bars are filled with sugar and calories.
Energy Bars
Energy bars are essentially just candy bars with extra protein and fiber added. They are made from synthetic ingredients that you can not pronounce, and numerous include heaps of sugar and fat.
Beyond the concern of whether energy bars are good for you (they arent), they dont taste great either. Energy bars are a fantastic way to get a carbohydrate increase, but do not taste as excellent as the product packaging would lead you to think.
Pick carefully if you cant break up with energy bars. Search for ones with a short ingredient list. The more additives you see, particularly excess sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltitol), which can cause stomach distress, the less most likely the bar should have the healthy moniker. Palm oils, soy protein isolate, and fillers are also red flags. Look for components you acknowledge, such as dark chocolate, nuts, seeds, and sea salt.
Veggie chips may sound nutritious, but they frequently arent better than potato chips.
Veggie Chips
Veggie chips seem like a sweet deal. You are getting veggies in a pleasantly crunchy type not that various from your preferred potato chip. However, veggie chips may contain little vegetable matter. The majority of veggie chips consist of more potato starch or potato flour than veggies. They get their color from veggie powder rather than sliced up veggies. Plus, the way theyre cooked and processed damages a number of the vitamins and anti-oxidants in the veggies they consist of. Make your own kale chips at home in the oven if you like veggie chips.
Vitamin-Fortified Cereals
Some breakfast cereals happily proclaim on their labels they contain added minerals and vitamins. It does not compensate for the lack of fiber and the abundance of sugar in these cereals. And breakfast cereals are only one example of a pervasive issue: The food industry is methodically changing the actual components in food with cheap replacements and utilizing advertising to encourage individuals that they taste just as excellent.
When buying yogurt, select unsweetened plain, otherwise, you can be getting a lot of sugar.
Flavored Yogurt
Decide for plain yogurt instead of flavored varieties if youre consuming yogurt for its health benefits. If you can endure dairy, yogurt is still a good source of protein, B-vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. However, the majority of the yogurt in grocery stores is flavored and sweetened. Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt has about as much sugar per ounce as a candy bar. Purchase plain yogurt and sweeten it yourself with real fruit if you are going to eat it.
Brown Rice
Wild rice is frequently promoted as much healthier than white rice. This is due to the fact that wild rice has more fiber and nutrients than white rice, which has actually had its bran and bacterium removed.
However, an obscure truth is that brown rice includes arsenic, a hazardous heavy metal. According to Consumer Reports, wild rice has 80% more inorganic arsenic than white rice. The rice plant serves as a sponge, drawing arsenic from the soil and water. In reality, brown rice consists of more arsenic than white rice because the arsenic collects in the hull of the grain.
You d have to consume a lot of wild rice to experience ill effects from arsenic, but why present unneeded arsenic into your body? Its the long-term results you should fret about. Change wild rice for quinoa, a low-arsenic seed that has some residential or commercial properties of wild rice and is even denser in nutrients.
If you wont give up wild rice, minimize your exposure to the arsenic in rice by rinsing it well, cooking it utilizing additional water, and draining the water before serving.
Scientists Find New Way of Cooking Rice That Removes Arsenic and Retains Nutrients
Agave Syrup
Regardless of its image as a natural sweetener, agave syrup is not healthy at all. Its even worse than sugar due to the fact that it includes more fructose than high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has actually been connected to obesity and various chronic diseases.
Regardless of creative marketing, agave syrup consists of more fructose than any other product on the marketplace, anywhere from 70-90%. Many table sugar is 50% fructose. Honey is normally 40%. High-fructose corn syrup varies in between 55% and 90%. Agave syrup is between 70% and 90% fructose, depending upon who you ask.
And even worse, agave syrup may consist of more pesticides, because agave plants absorb anything in the soil around them. So, unless you buy organic agave syrup, it will likely include pesticides too.
Consuming entire fruit is a much healthier alternative compared to drink fruit juice.
Fruit Juice
As with nearly everything in nutrition, the problem with fruit juice is that there can be too much of a great thing. Oranges contain lots of sugar, but also fiber. Fiber slows the absorption of sugar into your blood stream, which indicates that drinking a glass of orange juice increases blood sugar more than consuming a whole orange.
The advantages of juice are short-lived. A glass of orange juice at breakfast will give you a quick rush of energy followed by a similarly quick crash that leaves you starving once again soon later, since there is no fiber to keep your blood sugar level stable.
This holds true for all fruit juices. Entire fruit is healthier than any fruit in juice type, because entire fruit maintains the fiber. Do not provide up fruit, however stop drinking it and consume it entire instead.
The Bottom Line
Now you know what a few of the most overrated health foods are and why you should stay away from them. With so many other healthy foods worldwide, you do not need them.
Referrals:
ConsumerReports.org. “How much arsenic is in your rice? Consumer Reports brand-new data and standards are essential for everyone however specifically for gluten avoiders”
“Veggie Chips: Are They Healthy?|Food Network Healthy …” foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/healthy-tips/2011/10/veggie-chips-are-they-healthy.
“What is Agave Syrup?– Food Insight.” 22 January 2021, https://foodinsight.org/what-is-agave-syrup/.
“Agave Nectar: A Sweetener Thats Even Worse Than Sugar?.” 25 June 2020, healthline.com/nutrition/agave-nectar-is-even-worse-than-sugar.
A little-known truth is that brown rice consists of arsenic, a harmful heavy metal. According to Consumer Reports, brown rice has 80% more inorganic arsenic than white rice. Brown rice includes more arsenic than white rice since the arsenic accumulates in the hull of the grain.
You d have to consume a lot of brown rice to experience ill impacts from arsenic, but why introduce unnecessary arsenic into your body? Switch brown rice for quinoa, a low-arsenic seed that has some homes of brown rice and is even denser in nutrients.