6 Supposedly “˜Healthy’ Foods That Nutritionists WON’T Eat

We don’t know if it has ever been more difficult to go shopping and provide healthy and wholesome food for your family than it is today. 

In the shopping centre the shelves are literally packed with options, each one tantalisingly packaged and boasting of its superiority to the products around them. The cacophony of low-fat, sugar-free, vitamin-enriched nonsense is very nearly too much to bear.

And to be honest most of it is utter bull.

Despite being touted by healthy food bloggers and celebrity chefs, much of the food that masquerades as being good for us as actually anything but healthy. In many cases, these foods deceive us of their benefits, leaving us far from the healthy people the packaging suggests we should be.

So, here is a list of ‘healthy’ foods that nutritionists wouldn’t eat.

Granola Bars

Granola bars, or muesli bars, are seen by many as a perfectly appropriate snack, and are often marketed as being quite a healthy option by their manufacturers. However, the only food they’re really healthier than is chocolate bars, and even then it isn’t by much. The sugar content of these bars alone is very high, and regardless of the kind of sugar used (honey, maple syrup, sucrose etc) it’s enough to make you positively starving hungry. You’re also getting glucose sugars from carbs, and dried fruit on top. Basically it’s a massive sugar fest with little substance.

Cereal

Although some leeway might be given for oat-based cereals, by and large this breakfast food is definitely not nutritionalist recommended. Some of the worst on the market are, ironically, those marketed as helping with weight loss or for kids. Most of these lack protein, and have added sugar, added chemicals, or both. They are heavy in refined carbs, and when paired with milk in the morning are an all around bad idea. Even if they look ok on the box, particularly when it comes to nutritional information, play close attention to serving size, because it is much smaller than you think.

Non-Fat Yoghurt

Both non-fat and low-fat yoghurt are frequently marketed as being the healthier options, but in almost all cases these kinds of yoghurts contain an unusually large amount of sugar. The fact is, fat makes yoghurt taste good and to replace that manufacturers add sugar to the mix. Many types of low-fat and non-fat actually contain as much sugar as desserts, and are therefore not healthy at all. Instead of these kinds of varieties, opt for Greek yoghurt with fruit added for flavour.

Fruit Juice

All fruit juice, but particularly concentrated fruit juice, are rarely seen as healthy choices by nutritionists. In many cases, fruit juices are little more than fruit-flavoured and sugar-packed water. While they may indeed contain some antioxidants and vitamin C, those benefits need to be considered against the sheer volume of sugar. Eating actual fruit is much healthier as it provides not only antioxidants, but also fibre, which helps to process the natural sugars.

Protein Bars

As it becomes more popular than ever to be a super fit gym goer, the uptake of foods like protein bars has also increased. However, most nutritionalists treat these foods with caution, particularly those that contain artificial sugars. Often labelled as healthy, low-sugar or low-carb, studies have suggested that sucralose, the main sugar ingredient in many, actually raises blood sugar levels. This means that bars that are supposed to satiate us, actually make us hungrier when that sugar is all used up, contributing to weight gain.

Breakfast Biscuit

Breakfast biscuits started hitting shelves in earnest a few years ago, advertised by the companies that make them as being a ‘healthy’ biscuit option for breakfast. They’re often marketed as an alternative to energy bars, but biscuits for breakfast is just too good to be true. The biscuits are actually packed with sugar, and the calorie count is pretty high, comparative to other breakfast substitutes, so they’re definitely not something you should be eating every day. Think of it as an occasional treat, or basically treat it how you would treat any other biscuit.

Do you eat any of these ‘healthy’ foods? Will you continue to do so?

If you become concerned about any symptoms, please seek immediate medical attention we have some hotlines and suggested websites for further information and advice https://www.stayathomemum.com.au/my-kids/babies/important-hotlines-websites/

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