Have you ever been to the grocery store and picked up a granola bar that is labeled healthy but then you see that the first ingredient is sugar? Today, I want to talk about 5 healthy foods that mainstream nutrition wants you to believe is healthy for you, when in fact they’re actually not that good for you! Some of these food items might surprise you and you’ll never be able to look at them the same again (okay, a bit dramatic, but you get the point!).
Cold-Pressed Juices
This might make some of you juice-lovers upset, but cold-pressed juices aren’t as healthy as they seem. They are stripped of the fiber and nutrition that comes from eating whole fruits and vegetables. When you juice fruit, you are drinking the sugar that the juices left behind. You’re better off making a smoothie or eating your fruit/vegetables whole so that you don’t miss out on the nutritional value and spike your blood sugar levels.
Gluten-Free Packaged Food
Just because something is labeled “gluten-free” does not mean that it’s healthy. A lot of packaged gluten-free products like granola bars, cookies or mixes tend to have a lot of refined sugar in them to make up for the sometimes “blah” taste that gluten-free foods can have.
Granola Bars
A lot of granola bars boast being “high in fiber” but in reality many are not made with oats or healthy grains but instead chicory root which does not have a lot of flavor and so hence the loads of refined sugar, fat, artificial flavors and preservatives. If you want to still eat granola bars, find ones with a short ingredient list that actually contain naturally high-in fiber ingredients like whole grains and only a handful of grams of sugar.
Veggie Chips
I see a lot of moms serving these veggie chips to their kids as an alternative to potato chips. While veggie chips are certainly healthier than a greasy, saturated fat potato chip, these chips aren’t much better. Most of these are made with actually very little vegetables at all and mostly just get their color from a little vegetable powder. Instead of veggies, most vegetable chips are made of flour, potato starch, soy flour and additives. You’re better off making your own or sticking to good ‘ole carrot and celery sticks.
Spinach Pasta
How many of you have ever bought spinach pasta thinking that it HAS to be healthier than regular pasta? And that you can finally indulge a little? Well I hate to break it to you, but spinach pasta actually contains such minimal amounts of spinach that it really offers no added health benefits. So before you eat a lot of spinach pasta and think you can splurge, don’t be too hasty! Instead, you can use a spiralizer to make zucchini pasta which you know is made out of real vegetables.