Health Foods that Aren’t: Grocery Store Addition

Usually it’s pretty easy to tell if something isn’t healthy: its fried, greasy, sugary or fatty.

However, sometimes foods get reputations for being healthy, when they really aren’t. What makes them so tricky is either the marketing of the product claims it’s healthy when it really isn’t, or they contain healthy ingredients along with unhealthy ingredients that basically cancel each other out.

Here are some foods you might be tempted to buy at the grocery store because of a healthy reputation that they don’t necessarily deserve.

Energy Bars: Unless you’re extremely active or an athlete, energy bars aren’t a smart choice: especially when you are trying to lose weight. Although energy bars are fortified with nutrients, they’re not much better than candy bars — a typical protein bar has about 200 to 300 calories just like a candy bar and just as much sugar. Being heavy in both calories and sugar is a dangerous combo: the bar will eat up quite a bit of your calorie allowance but leave you hungry a few hours later. Save these for a treat, or eat half: then fill up on real foods like fruits and veggies.

Granola: Although granola often has the words “all natural” in front of it, that doesn’t make it a good choice for dieters. While the individual components of granola are in fact healthful — oats, raisins, almonds — the pieces are held together with oil and flavored with sugar, which markedly increases the calorie count. Some varieties have as many as 200 to 400 calories in a single serving, which is usually ¼-2/3 a cup. Stick with low fat versions, or make your own using natural honey and no oil.

Margarine: It surprises me how many people think margarine is a better choice than butter. Occasionally it’s lower in calories, but it’s also completely made of chemicals and full of trans fat. Trans fat is the single worst thing you can put in your body. If you want to splurge on the calories, go for butter, which has an ingredient list you can understand. Butter is full of fat, but it’s saturated fat which has room in your every day diet – for trans fat, on the other hand, there is no room. Just make sure you watch your portions.

Muffins: Muffins generally have over 500 calories and are loaded with sugar and fat. The difference between muffins and cupcakes is basically the frosting and the fact muffins are about twice the size. Even healthy sounding options like flax and bran are fat and calorie bombs. Stick with whole grain bagels and bread to feed your morning carb fix. They are lower in calories and whole grains will keep you full all morning.

Knowledge is key: Don’t choose foods just because they sound healthy or they are marketed that way. Look at the ingredients and make educated decisions for yourself.
(Pic courtesy of www.dailygreen.com)