Food marketers are exceptionally skilled at putting on healthy-looking packaging and slogans to deceive customers into believing a product is healthful when, in reality, it is full of extra calories, fat, salt, and sugars..
“Healthy” Label Lingo Listed Here Include: low calorie, low carb, gluten-free, all-natural whole grain
1. Flavored Yogurt
Many flavored yogurt brands frequently mix in too much sugar with their products to give it a “sweet” flavor. To limit the amount of excess sugars you consume from sweetened yogurts, opt for plain and add your own Fruits, flavors, oats, and sweeteners as per your taste
2. Breakfast Bars & Granola Bars
Some popular brands that sell granola bars could potentially be deceiving you as they mostly consist of brown rice syrup (sugar), evaporated cane juice (refined sugar), chocolate chips (sugar and cocoa butter), high fructose corn syrup (sugar) or dried fruit (more sugar). They might be made up of healthy-sounding ingredients like nuts, but you’ll find that they mostly contain sugars and simple carbs.
3. Premade smoothies
Many premade smoothies you’ll find at your local grocery store are full of added sugars from the fruits they use. They also use fruit concentrates and/or additives to prolong their shelf life. Making a smoothie at home usually takes several minutes and is really fun, not to mention that you would know what you put in the beverage you make 🙂
4. Fruit Juice
Boxed and bottled fruit juices have excess amounts of sugars in them for a sweet flavor, so they are not the best beverage options to choose from while you’re trying to limit your intake of added sugars.
Fruit juices can provide you with vitamins and minerals. But they are also high in sugar! To limit the quantity of excess sugars you consume from fruit juices, opt for whole fruits instead. On the other hand, if you really like juices – try squeezing fruits and veggies at home. There are plenty of centrifuges and preferably slow juicers, which could help you in the task. Although fruit juices contain vitamins and nutrients, they’re also loaded with natural sugar (fructose), which can spike your blood sugar levels if you’re not careful. When making the juice, we suggest you add more vegetables and fewer fruits that would help you with sugars. Instead of drinking fruit juices, try eating whole fruits or make your own pressed juice at home by adding vegetables to your favorite fruit juice combination for added nutrients!
5. Oatmeal
Almost all of the popular oatmeal brands add a lot of excess sugar into their products to appeal to the consumer’s taste buds which makes them less healthy because they contain too much-added sugars. What you could do is replace oatmeal and granola purchased in the boxes with oatmeal flakes, or even buy a home oatmeal press. Then add whatever you love to your bowl in the morning 🙂
6. Protein Bars
They are marketed as a great way to get in your daily intake of protein, but, in reality, they may not be the best choice if you’re watching your waistline or trying to cut down on sugar. To get more protein in your diet, opt for foods like fish, chicken breast, lean beef, low-fat dairy products, beans, legumes, soy food products, and tofu instead of protein bars.
7. Cereal Bars
Most cereal bars are high in sugar and calories – Get a veggie/Fruit if you need some fast energy. You could also get a small dark chocolate bar(>50% cocoa content) it will satisfy your sweet tooth; eat just several squares!
8. Bottled Iced Tea
Almost all bottled iced teas contain excess amounts of sugar in them for a sweet flavor. On the other hand, there are those with artificial sweeteners, which might be even worse than sugar. Tend to grab a bottle of water. If you really need some taste – add several drops of lemon, strawberry, or any type of berries. You could also add cucumber or other herbs. It would make for a delicious beverage. Try it and send your comments!
9. Granola and Muesli
It’s the same thing! According to Harvard School of Public Health: “Granola is nothing more than sugary cereal, often eaten as a breakfast cereal or as an ingredient in cookies or other sweets. Like muesli(from the shop!), it is high in calories (typically about 400 per half-cup), high in fat (20 grams mostly from nuts), and low in fiber (1 gram). Because it has such limited appeal, manufacturers are constantly trying to find ways to make it more palatable by adding dried fruit or chocolate. Even healthful-sounding granola-like products are usually made with lots of sugars, oil, and salt If you eat them, granola and muesli should be eaten as part of a balanced diet, that is, as a small component of meals or snacks that include protein foods such as meat, poultry, fish, legumes (beans), eggs and dairy products.” To limit the amount of excess sugars you consume from granola, and mueslis, try making your own using ingredients like rolled oats, sliced almonds, and dried fruits.
10. Low Fat/Fat-Free Dressings
The health halo surrounding low-fat and fat-free dressings is misleading. Usually, fat-free or reduced-fat dressings are made up of added sugars to improve the flavor, so it doesn’t taste too bland. Other common additives to watch out for are thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, colorants, preservatives, and artificial flavors. To avoid these unnecessary additives, try making your own healthy dressing with fresh ingredients like olive oil, balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice mixed with herbs! And… do not forgets – fats might not be as bad as often it is suggested from the packaged food boxes and media. After all, fat is the major transport mechanism for all the food to enter the cells and is used throughout your body.
11. Dried Fruit
Although dried fruit is a healthy option, it can be tricky to eat since they’re extremely high in natural sugars. Make sure to eat this healthy treat in moderation to avoid weight gain that occurs from excess sugar intake!
We hope this article was both informative and helpful; we certainly had fun writing it (it probably shows). 🙂 Please feel free to share it with people you care about and want to know more about health.
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