Weight Loss Blog

3 Healthy Choices That Aren't So Healthy

A mens health article begins with the premise that if a product is labeled healthy, that it must be good for you.

They begin with this logic:

1. Fat-free foods are healthy. 2. Skittles are fat-free. 3. Therefore, Skittles are healthy. Make sense? Of course not. But it's exactly the type of reasoning that food manufacturers want you to use.

My girlfriend and I long stated that just because a product is for sale in an organic grocery, that it is not necessarily good for you. We shopped at a local organic grocery that was eventually bought out by a chain. The original store, "The Big Fresh" had a policy that it would not carry any genetically modified foods or anything with artificial sweeteners in it. The new chain, Planet Organic does not carry the same policy. I'm not saying that it's all bad, because it isn't. I still shop there, however, I'm reading labels much more carefully.

We have been bombarded with "fat free" marketing for a couple of decades now and as most of us have learned, "fat free" simply means "higher sugar" and is designed (my opinion), to keep you fat. There's a lot of money in the weight loss industry, and any product that calls itself a "weight loss food" while secretly keeping you fat, keeps you on the treadmill of dieting.

The Mens Health article has you consider other "Healthy Foods" that aren't healthy.

1. Baked Beans

The upside: Beans are packed with fiber, which helps keep you full and slows the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.

The downside: The baked kind are typically covered in a sauce made with brown and white sugars. And because the fiber is located inside the bean, it doesn't have a chance to interfere with the speed at which the sugary glaze is digested. Consider that 1 cup of baked beans contains 24 g sugar: That's about the same amount in 8 ounces of regular soda.

The healthy alternative: Red kidney beans, packed in water. You get the nutritional benefits of legumes, but without the extra sugar. They don't even need to be heated: Just open the can, rinse thoroughly, and serve. Try splashing some hot sauce on top for a spicy variation.

I've eaten baked beans from the can in the past, but I always drained the sauce from them. Yes, a lot of people enjoy baked beans and consider them healthy and tasty. Well, try them without the sauce and see how you feel about continueing with your "healthy choice".

2. Granola Bars

The upside: Granola is made with whole oats, a nutritious food that's high in fiber.

The downside: The oats are basically glued together with ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and barley malt -- all of which quickly raise blood sugar.

The healthy alternative: Consider Sunrider NuPlus or Sunbars, both made from whole foods, contain complex carbohydrates and real fruit, and the Sunbar containing only 3 grams of fat with soluble and insoluble fibers. Having Sunrider Nuplus or Sunbars fills the nutritional gaps in your diet and reduces hunger almost immediately because it provides your body with vitamins, minerals and enzymes from a real food source.

3. Pasta Salad

The upside: Most pasta-salad recipes include a variety of fresh vegetables.

The downside: The main ingredient is white-flour pasta, a close relative of white bread.

The healthy alternative: Egg salad has no impact on blood sugar, and a University of Connecticut review reports that there is no connection between egg consumption and heart disease.

Excuse me, but when did Pasta Salad become a "healthy choice"? Did I miss something? It's always been white flower and has always left the eater feeling burnt out a few minutes after eating due to insulin response. How can someone not recognize how a food makes them feel?

Stay away from pasta salad.

I cant begin to enforce the importance of reading labels and recognizing the sugar and fiber content and knowing how it affects your health.

For more information about Sugar, Diabetes, Hyperglycemia and Syndrome X, I invite you to read the first in a series of articles about Diabetes and Syndrome X and how to rebuild pancreatic function.

for more on the article about Healthy Choices, go to Mens Health

3 Healthy Choices That Aren't So Healthy
was posted by Rob @ 11/23/2007 01:07:00 PM | Discuss this post or any other in my Weight Loss Forum

Receive my Blog updates via email as soon as I post!