The craze of “healthy” food is everywhere. And in our quest to lose weight and remain healthy, we go to great lengths — from scrutinising labels of food items and eschewing processed foods before buying to picking up organic products.
All well and good, but it will come as a surprise to most that quite a few things we have been eating thinking that they are healthy, are actually not.
Multigrain and wheat breads
If you’re eating wheat bread that’s made with wheat flour, you might as well be eating white bread — both are made with enriched flour. Unless the ingredient list specifically says “100 per cent whole wheat,” that slice of wheat toast might not be as healthy as you think. Enriched flours are refined flours, and are stripped of their nutrients during processing.
Sports drinks
If you’re trying to eat well, don’t derail that healthy diet with sports drinks. Sports and energy drinks are popular among adults and teens, and in 2011, Americans spent roughly $9 billion on them. But what you’re getting is more sugar and more empty calories — for many people it’s more than what they’re burning (and that’s what leads to weight gain).
Energy bars
Most energy bars are intended for athletes or for those who are serious about their workouts — some are intended as meal replacements. But some energy bars are more like candy bars, sneaking saturated fats, sugar and hydrogenated oils into their ingredients — the calories can equal popular chocolate candy bars. Calorie to calorie, a PowerbarProtein Plus Chocolate Brownie energy bar, for example, has 360 calories while a Snickers bar, in comparison, has 250 calories. Unless you’re engaging in high-intensity training workouts, neither is a good snack option.
Going vegetarian
Eating a plant-based, even a mostly plant-based, diet can help keep you thin, keep your cholesterol levels low, and may even help you live longer. However, some vegetarians rely on processed foods, carbs (like white rice and pasta), cheese and junk foods. And regardless of whether you eat meat or not, if you eat processed foods you add unnecessary salt, sugar and fats to your diet — which also adds unwanted pounds and increases your risk of chronic illness.
Smoothies
Smoothies sound like a healthy snack or meal replacement, and they can be, if you go about it the right way. But because some smoothies contain more sugar than fresh and frozen fruits, yoghurt, and skim (or non-dairy) milk, they can easily turn from diet-friendly to diet-busting.
Fat-free products
Fat-free, low-fat and reduced fat foods may sound like a good idea. While less fat in your diet can be good, products with these labels usually come at a price: When the fat is removed from a product, its sodium and sugar content often increases, as does the thickener and chemical content.
Fat helps your body function properly, absorb important vitamins and minerals, and regulate your hormones; the fat in the food we eat also help us know when we’re full so we don’t overeat. Fat is also energy for the body. Your goal shouldn’t be to eliminate all fats from your diet; rather, it’s the type of fat you eat that matters.
Hand sanitizer
Nothing beats washing your hands with soap and water to get them clean, but when that’s not possible, using a hand sanitizer with a concentration of at least 60 per cent alcohol is a great way to reduce the spread of germs. But is there such a thing as too much hand sanitizer? As it turns out, maybe so.
It’s important to protect yourself against infection, but it’s also good to allow some germs and microbes in. Without exposure to germs, you’re actually not doing your immune system any favors – you won't build up a resistance to the germs in any sneeze or cough that comes your way.
