6 not-so-healthy Healthy Foods

If you look out for healthy snacks in the grocery store, you need to read this to know which healthy snacks are really healthy, and which are not.

Photo- Low Calorie Healthy Granola Bars Recipe (stefnoble@flickr) 

Unfortunately some of the not so healthy products are being commercially sold to people  as “Healthy/Diet Foods”. Here are a few examples that will tell you how and why they are not so healthy:

Diet Snacks (Namkeens): The original snacks foods (namkeens) have been forced to share the shelf space with the “diet namkeens” that are baked or roasted as opposed to being fried. Now, is the cooking method sufficient enough to transform them from being unhealthy to being healthy? Not exactly! Let’s show you how – what has been conveniently overlooked is the ingredients that make these healthy namkeens that still remain unchanged. These namkeens might still be high in sodium, sugar, oil & other ingredients like unhealthy flour, and are only relatively healthier than the original namkeens.

Granola Bar: Granola bars are being promoted as a quick energy snack. Most of the granola bar varieties being sold commercially are full of sugar, corn syrup, and saturated fat. In reality these bars are almost equivalent to the cookies in their health content. See this recipe for healthy granola bar.

Energy Drinks: Popularity of energy drinks has been mostly contributed by sportsmen/women and athletes endorsing it as an instant energy source. However keep in mind that the people endorsing these need quick resources of energy to keep them going. This is not always applicable source is not applicable to the average person with a sedentary or a mildly active lifestyle, which in comparison are not as physically demanding as playing a sport! These energy drinks are high on sugar content, which as you know .. excess sugar in the body promotes fat storage.

Low Fat Salad Dressing: Summers are approaching and salads will be the most popular meal option once again.  With the increasing health awareness “low-fat” has found its way to the salad dressings arranged on the shelves of the grocery stores. While these new low fat salad dressings offer a reduced amount of fat, the taste is often salvaged by adding sugar. If you want low-fat salad dressing you can create them at home with simple ingredients like lime juice, olive oil, vinegar & home-made yogurt.

Fruit juices: Most packaged fruit juice is not 100% fruit juice. Packaged fruit juices use added sugar and sweeteners to enhance the taste. Besides this, the main fiber of the natural fruit pulp is missing from the packaged fruit juices. If you are feeling thirsty hydrate yourself with plain water. As for nutrition there is no substitute for fruits in their natural form.

Diet Sodas: There are multiple studies around this, to know if diet soda is bad for your health.

Also studies have shown, people consume higher portions of ‘healthy snacks’. While the calorie density might not be much lower, people might actually land up consuming more calories than when snacking on the ‘original snacks’.

Along with these health foods, see these 10 eating habits that can make you gain weight.

Visit http://www.fitho.in/6-not-so-healthy-healthy-foods/ to see this post in its entirety. Also on 28 Days to Health Facebook page posting.