Most people know that French fries are not going to help you meet your health goals, but there are TONS of food products out there that may look or claim to be healthy. If you carefully examine the nutrition label, you’ll find it is really just junk food in disguise. Here are some examples and how you can shop wiser and get healthier.
Granola: Sure, oatmeal is a whole grain, loaded with fiber which helps you stay full and lowers cholesterol but what most people fail to see is how calorie dense granola is, meaning it contains a lot of calories in a small amount. Take a look at a serving size and you will find that a measly ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) contains 120 calories and 3 grams of fat (for Bear Naked Fit granola). Doesn't sound so bad until you take into consideration that people typically eat about 1 cup of cereal, which would be 480 calories and 12 grams of fat.
Try this instead: 1 cup of plain, cooked oatmeal which is 120 calories and 2 grams of fat. Add some fruit or a drizzle of honey to sweeten it up and pair it with high protein eggs or yogurt to round off the meal.
Diet Juices: While fruit juice contains more vitamins than soda, the sugar content is nearly identical. Anyone that has made fresh-squeezed orange juice knows how many oranges it takes to make just 1 glass. Like granola, a small serving size packs a big calorie punch. So what do food manufacturers do? They make lower sugar versions, which means they take juice and dilute it with water and usually add an artificial sweetener to make up for taste.
Try this instead: Buy 100% juice and dilute it yourself with water at home, but 1 cup (8 oz) is about as much as the width of 4 fingers. Standard glasses are at least twice the size. Measure it out in a measuring cup to really see how little a serving is. Better yet, at fresh fruit to regular or sparkling water. You will get a different flavor without any additional calories.
Dried fruit: Hear me when I say that fruit is good for you. It provides necessary vitamins and minerals as well as disease-fighting antioxidants. BUT sugar and extra oils is almost always added to dried fruit. And the rare cases when it is not, the serving size is much smaller than fresh fruit (1/4 cup of raisins = 1 cup of grapes). Sounds like a duh moment, but volume plays a big part in making you feel full.
Try this instead: Choose fresh fruit over dried and you will feel fuller on fewer calories.
Frozen fruit: Some frozen fruit, particularly berries, have sugar added to them. Check the ingredients to make sure that all you see listed is just fruit. Sucrose or fructose are different names for sugar, don’t be fooled!
Try this instead: unsweetened, frozen fruit. Or buy fresh fruit when on sale, wash, dry and freeze yourself.
Wheat bread: Before you gasp and refuse to read anything else, let me clarify: wheat bread is NOT the same as WHOLE WHEAT BREAD. Tricky, little food manufacturing devils cause this confusion. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot tell if your favorite sandwich companion is wheat by its color. White whole wheat bread has similar benefits to whole wheat bread, it is just made from a different type of wheat. However, many companies use enriched flour, made with some wheat and some refined flour to make bread. It has less fiber and vitamins and minerals than whole wheat bread. Before fiber was added to every food under the sun, you could look at the fiber content to recognize which bread was whole wheat and which was enriched/refined, but now fiber is added to enriched products. The only way to be sure what you are getting is whole wheat is to look at the ingredients. The first one item listed should have the word ‘whole’ in it; whole wheat flour or whole grain flour. If it lists enriched flour then put it back on the shelf.
Try this instead: Check out your local farmer's market or natural food store for freshly whole grain bread. It does not last as long as enriched breads, so you may want to refrigerate or freeze part of the loaf depending on how much bread you and your family eat.
Protein bars: If you haven’t noticed a running theme yet, many processed foods are the culprit in junk food's disguise. Any level of processing has the potential to remove beneficial nutrients and add calories or preservatives. Protein bars are no exception and fall into one of two catagories: nasty tasting cardboard, covered in what appears to be chocolate but tastes like wax; or a candy bar. The former may have a more appealing nutrition facts label, lower in calories, but it tastes horrible. And the latter, well is self-explanatory. Candy and weight loss go together like oil and water. What the two catagories have in common is a host of ingredients you and I can’t pronounce, which equates to heavy food processing and little nutritional benefit.
Try this instead: Choose a small handful of raw nuts instead when you are pressed for time.
Peanut butter: I love nut butters, almond is my personal favorite, but many traditional peanut butters are loaded with hydrogenated oils (increases bad cholesterol) and sugar, which take away from what would otherwise be a healthy addition to a meal or snack. You may have tried the ‘natural’ versions, but be sure to read the label and avoid any with hydrogenated oils and lots of extra sugar.
Try this instead: Natural nut butter without hydrogenated oils or significant amounts of sugar. Store nut butters upside down in your fridge to prevent the oil from separating out.
If you see an item with claims that it is low-fat, low-sugar, low-carb, gluten-free or that something healthy is added to it, like whole grains, fiber, calcium, magic pixie dust… whatever it may be, BE SKEPTICAL. Remember the low-fat craze, when Snack Wells cookies made low-fat cookies? They were loaded with extra sugar. If you are going to take something out of a product, then to make it palatable, something else has to be added. The substitution may impact the nutrition content negatively as can adding something healthy to a product. For instance, when calcium is added to orange juice. Orange juice is thought of as a drink high in vitamin C. SIDENOTE: It’s actually not, because vitamin C is easily oxidized, meaning that as it is exposed to oxygen, the amount of vitamin C decreases. Depending on how it is made, stored and how long the container is open all impacts how much vitamin C is actually available. But that aside, vitamin C and calcium COMPETE for absorption in the body. So, by adding calcium, you are decreasing your ability to absorb either nutrient effectively; making it relatively pointless to consume it at all.
Bottom line: Stick with whole, minimally processed foods as much as possible. Read labels carefully and keep your eye out for health claims that may be too good to be true!
