What Is The Food That Is Advertised As Healthy, But In Reality Is Really Unhealthy?
If you want to live a long & healthy life, especially when it comes to Nutrition, the thumb rule is:
‘Avoid anything that comes in a wrapper or a box.’
That’s it; you don’t need to read this answer if you follow this simple principle. However, if you have 2 min to spare, go through these seven foods that are advertised as healthy but are actually unhealthy:
Their main ingredients are processed grains, sugar, and high corn fructose sugar.
Related Article: Cornflakes: Healthy Or Not?
2) Vegetable Oils
They are the worst type of oil you can use for cooking. They go rancid when heated at high temperatures. Also, just because these oils have the word ‘Vegetable’ in them, they are not healthy!
Authority Nutrition has written a good article, listing all the studies and research on the main reasons why vegetable oils can be harmful to you. 1https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/are-vegetable-and-seed-oils-bad
I advise switching your cooking oil to cold-pressed coconut oil or ghee.
3) Any Soy Products
Soy-based products were touted as Superfoods at the beginning of the 21st Century. I still remember clearly, how, when I started going to the gym, and requested my mom to cook soy chunks for me as they were high in protein. I didn’t like the taste at all, although my mom tried her best to make it tasty, somehow I ate them for a few years.
Anyways, most people who eat Soy point towards the fact that most ‘Asians’ eat soy, and they seem to be healthy! Well, for starters, there are a lot of determinants of health. And secondly, they eat ‘fermented’ soy in small amounts as condiments (usually added to miso or tempeh).
More than 90% of soy is genetically modified. The largest producer is the United States. Unfortunately, soy crops are also supposedly destroying the planet (along with corn), as they deplete the soil of nutrients, and there is no crop rotation.
Some studies point towards the benefit of soy, and some point out that it does increase estrogen levels in men. 2https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/23/11/2584/2913898?login=false
I think GM Soy is more harmful than not, and I recommend you avoid it.
4) Sports Drinks
Sports drinks claim that when you exercise for more than 90 minutes, you start to lose a lot of electrolytes (sodium and potassium) which need to be replaced. You also need some fast-acting carbohydrates to replenish your stores. It may be the choice for athletes, but what about average folks like you and me? What about school kids?
Firstly, people are not that active in the first place. 99% of them are not athletes and drink sports drinks because they are tasty and give me that ‘hit’ as a medium size bottle of, say, Gatorade contains about 20-25g of sugar!
Water, I feel, is the best nutrient when working out. Drink lemon mixed with unprocessed honey for energy:)
5) Sugar-Free Sweeteners
Ascuflame-K, Aspartame, Sucralose, and Agave Nectar are some of the artificial sweeteners one must avoid.
Instead, stick with stevia or local honey.
6) Diet Coke
So what? Does Diet Coke have almost Zero Calories? Well, it contains all the sugar-free alternatives I mentioned in the previous point.
7) Fruit Juice
Mostly sugar, stripped of fiber. Causes a rapid increase in blood sugar and there more insulin.
Instead, why don’t you try the whole fruit?
If you notice, the most common ingredient added to the list of above ‘so-called healthy foods’ is sugar. However, sugar can take various forms, and it’s important to educate yourself by reading Nutrition Labels.
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About Akash Sehrawat
Akash is a creator of 25+ programs and certificate courses in which more than 200,000 students have enrolled both on Udemy and Fabulous Body's native platform. Akash is also an author of three books that can be found on Amazon. His answers on Quora have gathered more than 12 million views in less than a year.