Not all health foods are healthy - A good read.

tim_fitbuilt4life

I'll bet like me, you thought that "Health Food" was
healthy for you. Think again, it may not be. Just because
the word "health" is on the label or you bought it in a
Health Food Store, doesn't mean that it's good for you.

Read the labels on supposed health foods and you will
see that many of them contain the ingredients we are being
told to avoid; sugar, high-fructose-corn-syrup, sodium,
preservatives and other chemicals that have been poisoning
the diets of the developed countries for a generation or
so.

Also, many of the foods we have always thought of as
being "healthy" are proving to be almost as harmful as the
foods they replace. A good rule-of-thumb is that the fewer
the ingredients on the label, the better the product will
be.

An example is soy products, on which the laudatory
research is funded by soy producing companies. Unfermented
soy that is used in soy burgers, soymilk and soy snacks
may be the cause of a lower sperm count in men who ate it
regularly.

The Mayo Clinic ranks soy as a leading food allergen.
The phytoestrogens that give soy its good reputation may
also cause hormonal imbalances in both men and women.

In Asia, where fermented soy is eaten daily or whole
soy is eaten as a condiment, there are no health problems
associated with the consumption. In the USA, however, we
eat highly processed, unfermented soy in a variety of
common foods.

Even the American Heart Association has rescinded their
endorsement of soy as a heart- healthy alternative.

Read the labels before purchasing any health food or
supposedly healthy food. There is no regulatory body
governing what is "health food."

Instead, consumers must rely upon the integrity of the
manufacturers and the stores who sell these products, to
tell the buyer what is healthy. Ask yourself this, are
they motivated by altruism or profits?

An internet search for health foods also produces
numerous links to sites that warn of
unhealthy-health-foods.

Here are some of those un-health foods:

Cereals - These breakfast foods are highly processed
and have added sugar in most off-the-shelf products. The
manufacturing process often results in the production of
cancer-causing acrylamide.

The more processed the cereal, the higher the levels of
this toxic chemical. An alternative is to buy those found
in the natural foods section of the market, but read the
label.

Orange Juice drinks - The "bottled sunshine" variety of
drinks have only small amounts of real fruit juice but are
loaded with high-fructose-corn-syrup, sodium benzoate and
sodium hexametaphosphate (also found in washing
detergents).

Luncheon meats - loaded with preservatives and bad
fats.

Performance nutrition protein shakes and bars -
Scientifically engineered protein powder full of
artificial sweeteners and that all-around-devil,
high-fructose-corn-syrup.

Sports drinks - That devil, HFCS, appears yet again,
also brominated vegetable oil and oil of wood rosin. HFCS
is a highly-refined simple carbohydrate that the body
doesn't need.

The marketers of health food products often use
misleading words on their product labels. These words are
interpreted by the lay public to mean "healthy food" when
in fact they are only concealing the truth.

* Fat Free - may actually mean "without fat, but full
of sugar and chemicals.

* Reduced fat - less fats, but higher in carbohydrates.

* Low Fat - but what about their GI (Glycemic Index) or
GL (Glycemic Load)?

* Sugar Free - What sweetener is in there to replace
sugar?

* No Added Sugar - because the other ingredients
already contain

sugar. * Diet - But why did the lab rats get cancer?

If "fat-free" or "low-fat" are descriptions of foods we
should be eating, how come our ancestors who never had
these products were not confronted with an obesity
epidemic like that we see in the world today.

If fat-free is good for you, then jellybeans (that are
fat-free) are good for you, right?

Here is a list of some of the so-called healthy foods
that are not always good for you to consume.

* Diet Soda - This sugar-free version of a carbonated
beverage is loaded with artificial sweeteners, flavors
and coloring that is carcinogenic, according to research.

* Peanuts - Their name is misleading because they are
a legume, not a nut.High in omega-6 fats and not enough
omega-3, may contribute to the imbalance of omegas (1:1 is
ideal) rampant in the modern diet.

* Reduced Fat Peanut Butter - The fats in the peanut
butter aren't the real problem with this spread, it's the
sugars.

* Corn Oil - The omega oils are 60:1 in favor of
omega-6.

* Fat Free or Reduced Fat Salad Dressings - Out with
the fat, in with the sugar or artificial sweeteners and
flavors. Also, salad ingredients are oil soluble, so
fewer of their nutrients are absorbed with low-fat
dressings.

* Soy Products - This was outlined in earlier
paragraphs.

* Yogurt cups (fruit at bottom) - Loaded up with HFCS
that doubles the amount of sugar. Inactive cultures in
processed yogurt.

* Fruit Juices - These are generally sweetened (HFCS
again). You get no fiber in juice like you do in raw
fruit.

* Dried Fruit - The same volume of calories and sugar
with a fraction of the size of the fruit that was dried,
so we tend to overeat. Sugar Overload.

* Beans, Canned - Those packed in sugary syrups will
spike your blood sugar and insulin levels.

* Granola - High in carbohydrates, often from HFCS.
Very little nutrition.

* Pasta - White flour pasta is a no-no, whole wheat or
vegetable pasta is okay.

Some Fats are Good For You

Too often, we associate the word "Fat" with unhealthy,
but nothing could be further from the truth. Saturated
fats are loaded with anti-oxidants that help prevent and
control some serious illnesses.

The University of Michigan Health System lists these as
a source of healthy fats:

* Olive, canola or flaxseed oil salad dressings.

* Avocados, olives and nuts.

* Snack on seeds and nuts.

* Cook with olive or canola oils

* Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids (oils)
like tuna and salmon.

Okay, lets' summarize what we've learned today.

Not all Health Foods are healthy - There are few, if
any, standards in the industry that define "health foods."
You must rely upon an analysis of the ingredients on the
labels (less is better) and the integrity of the merchant
where you buy these foods.

Many processed foods, including health foods, contain
harmful ingredients - High fructose corn syrup is commonly
used as a sweetener and preservative. Many of the
flavoring and coloring agents are potentially harmful.

Many "Diet" products are not healthy - Diet sodas are
high in artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn
syrup, coloring and flavoring agents that may be harmful.
They are metabolized just like sugar with similar harmful
effects.

Low Fat and Fat Free Diets are part of the problem, not
part of the solution - Fat is a necessary part of our
diet, particularly healthy, saturated fats found in olive
and canola oils; and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish
like tuna, albacore and salmon.

Soy Products may not be as healthy as generally thought
- The unfermented soy used in processed food products in
the USA and other non-Asian countries is rich in
phytoestrogens that can cause health problems in both men
and women.

Fermented soy products, as used in Asian cooking, are
healthy.