It’s easy to assume some foods are healthy based on popular belief, but looks can be deceiving. From granola bars to fruit juices, many items marketed as "healthy" may not be as beneficial as you think. Here’s a list of 10 foods commonly mistaken for healthy choices that might surprise you.
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1. Veggie Straws
People act like veggie straws are much healthier than potato chips, but they’re usually just potatoes in another form. Veggie straw manufacturers typically use vegetable powder to dye their other colors.
2. Protein Bars
A few brands of protein bars are healthy and made with nutritious ingredients. However, many are filled with chemicals and are highly processed, making them more like expensive candy bars than nutritious snacks.
3. Fruit Juices
I was one of the many people who believed the lie that fruit juice was healthy. Although it’s not harmful in small amounts, even natural fruit juice has a lot of sugar. One forum member stated, “It might be worth mentioning that the fruit juices you buy in supermarkets and fresh fruit juices are very different.”
4. Fat-Free Foods
Many “fat-free” or “low-fat” alternative snacks and foods might have fewer calories or lower fat content, but they’re filled with other additives and chemicals. It would likely be better for most people to consume a smaller amount of a full-fat item than to focus on fat-free foods. You should speak with your doctor if you are concerned about your diet’s fat content.
5. Granola Bars
There are many granola bars, but most are a step away from being candy bars due to the sugar content. And don’t even get me started on the Nature Valley granola bars, where you’ll get more crumbs on the floor than in your mouth!
6. Instant Oatmeal
While I personally use instant oatmeal packets for convenience, I know they’re not a healthy choice compared to making oatmeal with fresh, plain oats. Instant oatmeal packets typically have some sugar or fake sugar, flavorings, and other additives.
7. Fake Meat
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you may feel like you don’t have a choice other than eating fake meat. You may even be okay with the ingredients in them. However, a common misconception is that meatless alternatives are automatically healthy because they don’t have meat.
8. Zero Sugar or Diet Soda
One person mentioned that their coworker “guzzles liters of Coke Zero daily because she says it has zero sugar.” This is a common occurrence, and many people become dependent on zero-sugar sodas without considering the amount of fake sugar, chemicals, or caffeine they’re consuming.
9. Salads
Although salads are a great way to get a few servings of vegetables, not all salads are equal. Simply attesting that a salad is healthy doesn’t work when covered in fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and heavy, creamy dressing, for example.
10. Vegetable Oils
An informative comment specified, “Their emergence on the market 100 years ago is the biggest change in the human diet since the introduction of agriculture. They are found in virtually all processed foods. They are obesogenic, inflammatory, associated with the cell death of neurons, raise blood pressure, etc.”
Source: Reddit.
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