Health foods that are actually no good

Cereal
You should always turn a discerning eye towards processed foods, and cereal is one of the worst offenders when it comes to misleading labels. The trouble here is sugar. Cereals that are marketed as healthy often contain a lot of sugar, and a single bowl can account for your entire recommended daily intake of the sweet stuff.

Fruit Juice
Store-bought fruit juice can be troublesome because it contains high fructose corn syrup. But it’s okay if you sip all-natural, 100 per cent juice, right? Not so much. While a glass of orange juice might be better than a can of soda, it still contains a lot of sugar without many of the benefits of a piece of fruit, like nutrients and fibre.

Low or reduced fat foods
Low fat foods were all the rage years ago until people realised that in order to get rid of one bad thing, you had to replace it with another. When they took the good, healthy fats out of peanut butter, for example, manufacturers found they needed to add more sugar and sodium in order to keep the taste the same. As such, the new, low-fat product usually has the same amount of calories as the original, but less fat and more sugar.

Egg Substitutes
People opt for egg white-only products because they contain all the protein of whole eggs and none of the fat or cholesterol. The truth is, the yolks in whole eggs can help increase healthy cholesterol when eaten in moderation. Generally they aren’t unhealthy.

Avocados
While we’re on the subject of healthy fats, let’s turn our attention to everyone’s favorite health food: Snacking on too many avocados can lead to weight gain when people don’t adjust their diets accordingly, as one avocado has almost a third of your recommended daily fat intake.

Sports drinks
If you’re not a athlete, you probably don’t need a sports drink. These concoctions are full of electrolytes that help athletes refuel after intense workouts, but they also have a lot of sugar and calories.

Bars (Protien, Granola, Energy, Cereal)
Generally speaking, these snackable bars contain a lot of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and a whole lot of calories among other things. The soy protein found in protein bars is heavily processed and stripped of most of its nutritional value, and energy bars are usually meant for people like athletes who use them for instance to compensate for the large amount of calories they burn. Many energy and protein bars have more calories than a candy bar.

“Whole grain/whole wheat” breads
Look at the nutrition label of breads to make sure your breadbasket is stocked with the healthiest goods. The imposters are often made with enriched, refined grains that have fewer nutritional benefits, so flip that loaf over and check to make sure the first ingredient is “whole wheat flour” and not “wheat flour” or “enriched wheat flour.”

Salad
In pure concept, salad is a great choice if you want to eat right and stay healthy. The problem comes when we add things like glazed nuts, fried chicken, cheese, bread, and worst of all, salad dressing to our salads. They are loaded with fat, sugar, and calories, with almost no nutritional value.

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