Deceptive foods: what nutritional trends are being imposed on us and said to be healthy

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The fashion for proper nutrition creates its "heroes". The healthiest breakfast is muesli, the most convenient lunch is sushi, the healthiest afternoon snack is yogurt with dried fruits or smoothies. But not all superheroes are ready to save your body - some foods are only disguised.

As in the fashion industry, nutrition has its own trends that are customary to follow. But they are invented to sell as many goods as possible. You can even trace how the title "healthy product" passed: people pounced on tofu and muesli, switched to raw food and diet food and did everything to stay healthy and in shape. But as soon as the trends changed, we learned that all these superfoods are not so healthy. And some can lead to health problems. Therefore, we offer a list of 15 products that only pretend to be useful.

Banana chips

Banana chips are touted as a great substitute for sweets. Why eat a chocolate bar when you can snack on banana chips! Bananas are healthy, right? But the thing is, the banana chips are deep-fried. Even one serving contains 10 grams of saturated fat, which raises cholesterol levels. Better eat a fresh banana, then your health will be in order.

Sushi

Sushi is an example of how healthy food becomes unhealthy when consumed in large quantities. Sushi is little subject to heat treatment, so they are considered healthy food. But sushi in restaurants is often made with fish that is high in mercury. And if you eat too much mercury, you can get symptoms of poisoning. Which? Insomnia, nausea, hair loss, high blood pressure … and many more unpleasant consequences.

Muesli

Muesli has become synonymous with healthy breakfast. Many people have given up bacon and eggs to start their day with something healthy. But the packs of muesli on the shelves hide an unpleasant secret. Finished cereal with fruits contains approximately 500 calories and an immeasurable amount of sugar per serving. So if you want to consume truly healthy muesli, then buy a pack of oatmeal, dried fruits, sunflower seeds, mix and enjoy a healthy breakfast, and not a fake in a beautiful package.

Energy Bars

Energy bars are most commonly found in dedicated areas of health food and diet food stores. Nevertheless, they can not be called dietary in any way. It is difficult to find benefits in them, they can even be more harmful than sweets. The fact is that energy bars basically force your body to store fat and store kilocalories, which can be up to 500 in one bar - this is how much we should eat for lunch. When you decide to eat a bar again, remember these numbers.

Low fat yogurt

When people are looking to lose weight, they are looking for the lowest fat foods. They buy low fat yogurt and think they have helped their body, but they are wrong. When the fat content of a product is significantly reduced, many of the taste is lost. To compensate, manufacturers add sugar. And low-fat yogurt turns out to be oversweetened.

Gluten Free Products

If you are medically unable to consume gluten, you have no choice but to switch to a gluten-free diet. For everyone else, buying gluten-free foods will be a waste of money. These highly refined foods do not contain whole grains, which means they are low in fiber and antioxidants. So if giving up gluten isn't essential, don't waste your money!

Isotonic

Store-bought sports drinks are harmful. In general, there are no useful products of such shades on this planet. They are considered healthy foods because they are healthier than lemonades. Sweet soda is, of course, an absolute evil made from sugar and chemical ingredients. But that doesn't make sports drinks useful. They are full of sugar, dyes and preservatives, which is why many of them were banned in Europe and Japan. If you want to recuperate after training - prepare isotonic.

Whole Grain Products

Whole grains are healthy because they contain a lot of dietary fiber and B vitamins, but you need to be careful with such foods. The fact is that manufacturers often call whole grains products, which are only conditionally such. Whole grain is one that contains all parts of the seeds. Refined grains, which are more often found in foods, are stored longer and have a finer structure, but they are also less valuable for the body.

Ready-made smoothies

If you are making smoothies at home, you are on the right track. What could be healthier for the body than mixed natural juices, fruits and vegetables? At home, you are a chef, you can add to whatever you want. But some people forget or do not have time to prepare a cocktail on their own and buy ready-made products. Be careful! There may be more sugar in them than you think!

Popcorn

Heard of the popcorn diet? She was very popular. Who will give up popcorn? But microwave corn is not an idea. It contains diacetyl, which is added to all artificial oils. Delicious, but terribly harmful. Diacetyl is safe to eat, but cannot be inhaled. And when in front of you hot popcorn, it is very easy to breathe.

Frozen lunches

Frozen ready meals are a lifesaver for busy people who can't cook every day. But there is one nuance that makes semi-finished products harmful: they are very salty. Processed food loses its flavor, and manufacturers solve the problem by adding salt, sugar and fat to the food. Ready meals are high in salt but low in nutrients. Whole grains are very rare.

Muffins

Muffin lovers make the excuse that fresh muffins are healthier than candy and fried donuts. But the muffin also contains 400-800 kilocalories! If you can't live without a cupcake, choose one with fewer ingredients. The simpler the composition of the product, the more difficult it is to hide sugar, fat and calories in it.

Granola

Granola is a term often referred to as a healthy breakfast of baked cereals and nuts. The hype around the product was mainly generated by good advertising. As with muesli, which granola looks like, it is often high in sugar, which increases the calorie content of a single serving to an average of 600 kilocalories. When there is more sugar in a cereal mixture than grains and fibers, it becomes completely useless. Read the ingredients carefully if you want to eat a truly healthy meal.

Nut butter

Nuts contain many nutrients that improve our condition and help fight excess weight as part of the diet. But once the nuts are processed into a paste, all the benefits are completely lost. In the process of processing, natural fats break down, but artificial fats are added to the product. And also salt, sugar, preservatives and dyes. Better to use almond oil instead of pasta.

Dried fruits

Dried fruits are great. When you dry them at home, retaining all the vitamins, fibers and minerals. But if you buy candied fruit in a store, then you take a bag of sugar. Manufacturers add sucrose to dried fruits for a pleasant taste. And to preserve the color of the fruit, sulfur is added. These supplements can be dangerous and will certainly not help you lose weight.