8 Healthy Foods That Are Unhealthy
With all those healthy foods out there, did you know that some may actually be rather unhealthy? Here are eight foods people suppose to be healthy, but can be the exact opposite.
8. Fat-free foods
Nice to read “fat free” (exclamation mark!) on a bag of gummi bears – which never contained fat in the first place. They are made of sugar and glucose syrup. Could companies think we may be stupid enough to translate “fat free” as “calorie free”? Surely not, with all of us being totally educated consumers.
7. “No added sugar” foods
Yeah, no added sugar in those because they naturally already have enough to fill a truck with. See fruit juices below. Or to get the taste kick in, they did add fat. A bit the opposite of the last one then.
6. Fruit juices and smoothies
Fruits can contain quite a number of calories from their (natural) sugar, but that usually isn’t a problem, because they make up for it by volume and fiber. Take away the volume and fiber, concentrate the calories of several fruit into one and you have fruit juice and smoothies. A cup of grape juice has 152 kcal – a cup of coke only 97. Own up and simply eat some real fruit. Trust me, they don’t bite back!
5. Cereal bars
These little bricks deserve a healthy food image as much as a bag of Cheetos. Ever wondered what keeps them in shape? The little grains are glued together with sugar, sometimes turning up to 30% of the total bar into it. To hide the fact about so much sugar being in there, manufacturers use different kinds (glucose syrup, raw cane syrup, inverted sugar syrup, molasses, dried glucose syrup, partially inverted sugar syrup etc. etc. etc.) . Because then they will neatly appear further toward the end of the ingredient list.
4. Granola
Back in the 60s, when granola was introduced, it was a supergood alternative to all them sugar-coated cereals that then dominated the market. Oats! Fiber! Honey! Yeah, and being able to easily reach the 500 kcal mark per bowl. Before adding the milk.
3. Dried fruits
They have all the calories from their non-dried brothers and sisters, but much less volume than those. That results in you eating hundreds of calories because they leave so much room. Worst culprit are banana chips, which often get fried in oil. Compared gram by gram that puts them up there with a Big Mac.
2. Light olive oil
I swear I have a friend who thought this. Folks, the “light” is not about the calories, it’s about the color of the oil! That doesn’t turn olive oil in an unhealthy food, but checking the nutritional information goes a long way.
1. Organic foods
My favorite! Because I have seen this so often, I want to cry out in frustration! “I eat all organic, why don’t I lose weight?” Because your body doesn’t care in any form whatsoever if a calorie is organic or not. News flash: organic peanut butter and potato chips contain as many calories as conventional peanut butter and potato chips!
“Unhealthy” Foods?
I probably took the prize for sensationalist title with this article. Because, granted, not all of these foods are unhealthy per se – if you treat them right. Thinking a food is healthy is simply no free pass to turn off your brain and eat mindlessly. Learning to read labels and checking how much you eat does pay off!
Picture courtesy of “Vegan Feast Catering“.
24 Comments
I don’t think that admitting the article is sensationalist at the end takes much away from much of it being actually incorrect.
Almost every single item is perfectly healthy if eaten in moderation and many are more healthy than common alternatives likely to be eaten. E.g. dried fruit is more healthy than sweets but may be acceptable to a child looking for something sweet. Cereal bars can contain substantially more nutrition than cheetos. Did anyone, ever, believe that light olive oil was less calories. I’ve always assumed it referred to the colour or taste.
I expect more from evilcyber articles.
Sorry, but “every single item is perfectly healthy if eaten in moderation” is just a cop out and a convenient excuse to get overweight.
Of course if I only have one of something every year it’s not going to be particularly traumatic to my body. But that sidesteps the point.
The point is, these foods listed are often presented as healthy alternatives to junk food. Whereas in reality they aren’t all that much better of a choice.
That’s the point.
Everything in moderation does not help people diet, it just gives them an excuse to overeat on their favorite foods.
When people are working with a caloric deficit in order to lose excess fat, the last thing they need to hear is that they can still eat ice cream, potato chips, and chocolate bars “in moderation.”
What people need to learn when dieting is to restrict themselves from high calorie foods that offer little nutritional value and don’t even fill you up when you are done eating them. What is identified above is a good empty calorie black list. A list dieters can use to warn them that these foods above are going to hinder rather than help them meet their goals.
“Everything in moderation” is probably the most unhealthiest dieting advice I ever heard when I was trying to diet. I just made me want to eat everything I wanted to eat and abandon any hope of fitness in the process.
I eat pretty much everything and in moderation. I’m not overweight. Just because you don’t have the self control to eat normally doesn’t make it unhealthy. I’m not commenting on the psychology of dieting but the health claims made in the article.
I’ve no idea what makes you think that olive oil, dried fruit, low-fat and organic foods have no nutitional value or are empty calories. They can all contain a lot of valuable nutrients. You just need to limit items like oil and dried fruit.
The foods you mention like ice-cream, chips and chocolate are far more deserving to be on a black list than dried fruit, olive oil and organic foods.
If a recipe requires oil, just what would you suggest? if you’re going to eat a desert then what is wrong with a low-fat yogurt if it fits with your calories requirements?
OK Neil, you have lost all credibility now that you are just attacking people.
But let me set the record straight :
I do have the self control to eat normally. I am not overweight. I was overweight a long time ago and lost over 40 pounds to get lean and healthy.
My weight problem wasn’t due to self control, but due to ignorance about what I was eating and it’s impact on my weight.
It had nothing to do with self control, I just got educated and I was fine after that.
And the psychology of dieting is a large part of dieting my friend. What ridiculous advice would OMIT that when offering dieting advice?
YOU want to exclude it to make your argument more inviting. The fact is people all have pathologies of their own and you MUST include that when offering dieting advice.
“Everything in moderation” is crap advice. Dieters will eat that up and get fat from crap advice like that.
YOU may NOT, but as you said, YOU do not have a weight problem, so the advice really isn’t FOR people like you. Why on EARTH would you offer advice to dieters that only applies to a person (YOU) who doesn’t need to lose weight in the first place? lol
The advice Nina and I are advocating is FOR people who WANT and NEED to lose weight.
Everything in moderation is crap advice to anyone trying to and wanting to lose weight, yourself excluded.
Done deal.
Right there with you, Will!
I’ve not “attacked people”. I’ve not even attacked you. You wrote that moderation didn’t work for you. It works just fine if you apply it. That is a matter of self-control. If you wish to take that personally then that’s a shame.
You’re not actually addressing my point, which is that these foods and groups of foods are not “unhealthy” as such which is what the article is about.
The term “organic” does not tell you anything about the healthfulness. Neither does “low fat”. I won’t reiterate my entire case on all the foods mentioned.
You are personally interested in the fat-loss aspect. I’m not limiting my argument to that. I’m commenting on the article (this is the comments section of the article afterall) which is talking about their health value. Something can be healthy AND calorie dense at the same time. It then only comes unhealthy when you eat too much of it. That goes for almost any food.
I’m not offering advice. I’m criticizing the article.
Just to clarify. I think we’re talking about two different things. Healthfulness and calorific value are related but not identical.
Let’s take one of these items: fruit juice. Is it “healthy” or not? How do we define healthy? It’s not actually simple to say.
Let’s say you’re a healthy weight and your meals that day haven’t met your requirements for vitamin C. You’ve not eaten for a few hours and are about to play sport for an hour. In that case orange juice is almost perfect for your needs. It it healthy for you as it gives you the energy and nutrients you need at that point. A glass of OJ fits the bill.
Compare this with someone who is overweight. They’ve already got their Vit C for the day and they’ve already gone over the calorie requirements. In this case drinking a pint of OJ in front of the TV is unhealthy for them.
Therefore you cannot say fruit juice is unhealthy. Similar arguments are valid for other items in the article.
What is true is that fruit juice is surprisingly (to some people) calorie dense. Just because it’s from fresh fruit doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain calories. If you need to watch your calories then you need to watch how much juice you drink. Same with dried fruit and so on.
I agree that there are some uneducated people who believe that just because something is a fruit, organic, says “light”, contains oats or is fat-free then it’s perfectly OK to eat lots of them whilst on a diet. They need educating. However I don’t think confusing people with ill-defined “healthy” or “unhealthy” labels actually helps in the long-run. Weight loss is ultimately a calorie balance issue. Healthly eating is far more complex.
Yeah just because something is organic doesn’t mean it is healthy but it certainly doesn’t mean it is unhealthy.
“Every single item is perfectly healthy if eaten in moderation”? You cannot be serious…
William, I so agree with you. And so do I with the article :))) I don’t eat grains, dairy and I stay away from sugar as much as I can, even too much fruit (so much sugar!!) Our brain doesn’t really care if the sugar came from Snickers bar or an apple, it is still SUGAR (in psychological way, of course it is different for our gut). And I am also not a fan of “liquid foods” as cocktails, protein shakes and mentioned fruit smoothies.
I agree with you completely, Nicole :))
Thanks Nicole. I honestly don’t know where the argument comes from, but it’s not just Neil. I have heard this “everything in moderation” nonsense many many times, including from my own wife of all places.
It’s terrible advice. People seem to be more than happy to pass it around all the time. It’s just shameless given how much damage that does to people trying so hard to lose weight.
“Everything in moderation” is the last thing I dieter needs to hear.
Exactly, it is like “cocaine in moderation is not gonna hurt me” or “two cigarettes a day will not get me cancer.” I know these are a bit too extreme, but the point is similar. Poisons are poisons, no matter how little or how much you consume. If one is a celiac, he has to stay away from gluten, because even a small amout hurts him, so why would he wanna keep eating it.
I think everyone should try what’s best for him, but I firmly believe that “everything in moderation” approach does not work for anyone :))
Really?
I’d say that more damage is done by the nonsense of demonising foods. We wouldn’t have obesity problems if people just ate in moderation.
Are you really saying that moderate amounts of light olive oil, fruit juice, dried-fruit, organic food and so on are “unhealthy”? In what way exactly?
A cereal bar contains sugar yes. But then it also contains nutrients. A hungry child getting home from school needs calories and a cereal bar, eaten with other foods is perfectly healthy for them as long as they’re not eating too many. Also if it’s given as an alternative to some sweets then it’s a better, more healthy choice.
A cereal bar contains nutrients, I agree on that, but it also contains crappy stuff. And since we have a choice of getting our nutrients in without that crappy stuff, why not opt for that choice instead? I am not saying that fruit juice is unhealthy, it is just that there are more healthy options. I personally try to stay away from too much fruit, because it helps me to lose fat which is right now my personal goal, but if I have to choose between fruit juice and a real piece of fruit, I would grab the whole fruit. Dried fruit is full of sugar and because it is dried and therefore having a lot of sugar in small amount of it, you tend to consume more dried fruit than you would with “undried” fruit, so you consume much more sugar this way. And you can argue that fruit sugar is not the same as sugar from cookies and you ARE right on that, but for our brain it doesn’t matter – sugar is sugar and if you are on a quest for getting rid of sweet cravings, you have to banish ALL excess sugar from your diet. If you crave cookies and you say to yourself: “Okay, I crave sweet stuff, I am gonna get a banana,” you are not doing a very good thing, because your brain wanted SUGAR and you gave it SUGAR, doesn’t matter what source does it come from.
No, it’s nothing like cocaine or tobacco. Those are drugs and have no nutritional value at all. The foods above do.
Everything is a poison including air and water. You cannot exclude poisons from your diet. it’s impossible. All you can do is balance it and eat in moderation. The reason that doesn’t work for some people is that they have no self control and cannot do things in moderation.
I know it is not the same, and I said that opinion is a bit too extreme. I just thought it is similar because of poisoning your body intentionally. I know that cigarettes can kill me, so I do not smoke (but I did though, I only stopped when I was 25) and for the same reasons I do not drink milk or eat too much sugar or eat grains, because I know is does hurt me.
There isn’t much wrong with some sugar if you need the energy (doing lots of exercise) and it comes with other nutrients. Athletes intentionally consume pure sugars and appear to be quite healthy because they’re balancing their needs with their intake.
Kids doing a lot of running about and sport need energy and they can’t get all of it from one source. If one of the sources includes limited amounts of fruit and even some cookies then that is OK as far as we know.
I agree that it’s easy to over consume calories with dried fruit and fruit juices. But that is where MODERATION comes in. They are not unhealthy per se but just need to be controlled.
Your body cannot tell the difference between the sugar it creates by breaking down starches in a banana or a potato from the sugar in an energy drink. The only difference is that the banana and potato come with other nutrients.
You believe milk and grains are harmful and poisoning you. Current scientific consensus does not agree.
Well, scientists that I BELIEVE, they agree. Different people trust different scientists and you cannot tell mine are wrong. I use my own experience with and without grains and dairy to see that I AM RIGHT for MYSELF. Of course it doesn’t have to work for everyone. There was a time back then when people thought that the earth is flat and there still is unbelievable amount of people who believe that there is “someone up there to protect us,” so I wouldn’t take all this “scientists” that seriously and better try experimenting with my own body 🙂
That’s why I refer to the scientific consensus – what the majority view of science is. This very same website has articles on why the beliefs that grains and milk are unhealthy are not true. If you have specific, personal reasons for avoiding them then that’s your business but it is by no means established as healthy eating for the most people.
Science has never shown that the earth is flat. That is an anti-scientific belief. Even the ancient greeks knew the earth was a sphere. Just because some people at some point in history held a belief based on unscientific reasons does not help us today decide on evidence based nutrition.
Same with the “up there” argument. It’s non-sequiteur. Yes some people believe in a god. That’s not science. Beliefs (including your own) are not science. Science deals in testable facts.
Wow – little debate going!!
All I know is there have been times when I’ve eaten the whole box (movie size) of Hot Tamales and justified it by saying “they are fat free.” I know it doesn’t make them good for me (I’m not stupid, just entertain myself!). Just like my college days – supersize the fries with a diet coke to balance it all out! (again, not stupid, just easily entertained!)
Great points on the healthy/unhealthy stuff!
My biggest problem is with those prepackaged fruit and nuts. Once I start eating, it is very difficult to stop. And some of those packages have well over 1,000 calories.
Yep, and they look just like “servings per bag = 1”, don’t they? 🙂
Nicole, you make some sound arguments. Another example would be low fat dairy products. We need the fat to allow us to absorb fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D, without which it is difficult to absorb calcium. And, again, due to the absence of vitamin D, which has a thyroid regulating function, low fat dairy products, ironically, actually contribute to weight gain rather than promoting weight loss.
”Organic foods” first thing come to my mind , that there is a diet of inorganic food or some people eat inorganic food , like that it possible , eating stuff ”food” that doesn’t contain Carbon
True! 🙂