Just because food’s expensive, labelled organic or gluten-free or whatever, or sold at Whole Foods does not mean it’s healthy. Unfortunately, plenty of “health” foods are anything but. Here’s the truth about 10 health foods that do little to nothing for your health.
1. Veggie Chips
Veggie’s in the title. They can’t be bad! Eh, they’re not that great. As it turns out, veggie chips are typically nothing more than potato starch or corn flour colored by a tiny bit of vegetable powders. Here’s an easy fix: just eat raw vegetables.
2. Rice Cakes
Yes, they’re massively low-calorie. But that’s about all they have going for them. Rice cakes provide about a gram of protein and fiber each and zero nutrients. Flavored rice cakes are even worse, as they’re chockfull of artificial ingredients you can hardly pronounce.
3. Gluten-Free Anything
The gluten fad is one of the most annoying fads on the entire planet. If you don’t have celiac disease, stop prancing around with your gluten-free diet. Most alternative flours used in gluten-free products have just as many carbs or more when compared with wheat flours. They’re also low on benefits like fiber and vitamins you get from the real thing.
4. Fat-Free Anything
Even if they’re technically fat-free, they’re not good for you. Check the amount of sugar in fat-free salad dressing versus normal salad dressing. Typically, that fat is simply replaced by a massive amount of sugars and artificial flavoring.
5. Bran Muffins
They generally taste like shit, so they have to be healthy, right? Bran is bland and while it’s pretty good for you, most “bran” muffins have a lot of other flours to balance out the boring flavor and even more added sugar and sodium. You might as well get a donut or Danish.
6. Fruit Juice
They’re packed with sugars, sugars which go straight to your liver and get stored as fat. Go for a piece of fruit instead, as much of the health benefits in fruit that come from the skin and flesh are lost when you make juice.
7. Protein Bars
Read: candy bars. Most protein bars are little more than glorified, less-tasty candy bars. Most are packed with added sugar and artificial flavoring. Still, they’re a good source of protein. Just read and compare labels to find out the legit ones from the truly unhealthy ones.
8. Sports Drinks
If protein bars are glorified, less-tasty candy bars, sports drinks are glorified, much less-tasty sodas. Yes, they have electrolytes. But most sports drinks are sugar and calorie-packed.
9. Dried Fruit
Less tasty, less fun candy. Sorry, but dried fruit isn’t good for you either. It’s sugar packed. It’s chemical packed for a higher shelf life. Now, imagine whole fruits shrunk to dried size. Then think about how many calories you’re getting when you shovel them in.
10. Low-Calorie or Vegan or Organic Junk Food
Just because it’s low calorie doesn’t mean it isn’t bad for you. Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s bad for you. And just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s bad for you. If it looks like junk food, smells like junk food, and tastes like junk food, it’s probably junk food. Check the label.
