Food packaging, branding and marketing companies are very clever. Their main goal is to get us to believe what they are telling us and buy the foods they are promoting. We, as normal human beings will often fall for the hype. This is true particularly when it comes to so called “healthy” food items. However, in many cases those foods that claim to be good for you and have great health benefits can in fact have a detrimental effect. Here are some common foods marketed to be healthy… 1 – Prepared salads If you buy your lunch everyday from a deli or a lunch bar or one of the salad chains, the chances are you don’t give very much thought to what you are ordering simply because you are eating “salad”. Well not all salad is good, I fact some are no better for you that a plate of fish & Chips for instance. Mayonnaise, oils, salad dressings, croutons, cheese, dried fruits, nuts and crispy bacon bits all add unnecessary kilojoules to your meal. Load up your takeout box with salad leaves, greens, raw veggies ad lean proteins, but go easy on all of the extras. 2 – Energy bars / cereal bars / muesli bars Energy and cereal bars are quick, easy and tasty and most of us think that they are good for us. In fact many commercially bought health food bars are loaded with as much sugar as cakes and biscuits. Try making a big batch of homemade bars on the weekend where you can control what ingredients go in them, portion them up and freeze so you have a constant supply. There are thousands of recipes on the internet. 3 – Smoothies (store bought or from chain juice bars) Smoothies are always good for us…right? Wrong! Not always. Store bought smoothies are loaded with sugars and preservatives and there is very little goodness in them. The smoothies you have made to order at some of the famous chain juice bars are also full of sugar as they often use fruit sorbets to make them. Plus other additions such as ice cream and excess fruit makes then sugar laden. However your own homemade smoothie is a good thing if made right. For a basic smoothie use 100g frozen berries, 180ml milk of choice and 30g of your favorite protein powder, blend until smooth and enjoy. Try experimenting with different fruits and combinations. 4 – Pre packed Turkey Turkey is an excellent lean protein source. However pre packaged turkey will be loaded with sodium and preservatives. Try buying fresh turkey and roasting it before slicing up ad storing in the fridge. 5 – FAT-FREE and DIET labeled foods What the manufacturer takes out in fat, he replaces with sugar, flour, thickener and salt. This is because fat is flavor so they need to make these foods still taste good. The result is basically a food that is full of everything you don’t really want to be eating. And its not always less kilojoules either. You are far better off eating a smaller portion of a normal meal along with some vegetables and good carbs. It is far more nutritious and satisfying. 6 – Sports drinks Unless you are an athlete or doing a serious amount of exercise in one go (60 minutes or longer) then you shouldn’t need sports drinks. Most sports drinks are high in kilojoules, sodium and sugar so if you are drinking several of these each day you are adding unnecessary calories into your body. Stick to plain old water and plenty of it. 7 – Diet drinks Diet drinks are loaded with artificial sweeteners which do all sorts of nasty things to your body. There is too much info to put here but do yourself a favor and Google it. You probably wont want to drink them again. Oh, and diet drinks are a big contributing factor to tooth decay! So next time you go food shopping, have a think about what products you are putting in the basket! pulsefitness.au/?p=574&preview=true
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 07:31:05 +0000
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