'Healthy' foods that arent

yustick

I was surprised by high fructose corn syrup in a lot of yogurts.

cspong

Even though its pretty commonly known, every time I'm walking down the freezer aisle, it KILLS me the sodium in those little Lean Cuisine type meals!

I'm not watching my sodium, but damn!

Shocked how low-cal it was: Air popped popcorn! Yay for a new favourite snack!

Jessicaruby

alot of things surprise me now that i pay so close attention to my macros. i spend so much more time in the grocery store because i compare labels on everything!!!
-subway is a KILLER in sodium :noway: I used to go there every wed. and get a chicken breast sandwich, no cheese, with veggies and it was giving me around 1500mg in sodium!!!
-protein bars are PACKED full of sugar so i make my own.
-Granola is crazy! i love the stuff but it is full of calories and sugar!
-and cereal- even most of the "healthy" ones are full of sugar and millions of carbs.

Caiii

Everything can be healthy in moderation. A huge plate of nothing but bacon and lard isn't going to be healthy, but one slice of bacon along with a balanced meal certainly can be.

AMEN. You are SO SO SO right.
Like, granola for example. It's all about moderation because while it does have a lot of calorie dense foods (oats, nuts, dried fruit), it can be very nutritious. (Maybe just try to find ones with lower sugar/ more natural granolas.)

And again, salad.
Just watch it on the dressing and toppings; make sure it's filled with lots of colorful veggies and you're good to go!

cspong

I still eat Subway pretty regularly... My 6 inch cold cut ends up being about 370 cals and fills me for a loooong time. Its my go to convenience meal/treat. For a former McD's addict, I think thats pretty good! lol

Though, I'm not watching my sodium. If I was, there'd be no way, lol.

rock_kowgurl

As a chef, I refuse to eat "fake" or diet food. Things that are labelled low this and lite that are generally fluffed out with chemicals and who knows what to make them taste acceptable - that's not to say that they even taste good! One real chocolate chip cookie leaves a better aftertaste and feeling than 5 diet cookies any day!
I'm not one of those extremist "5 ingredients or less" people, but I try to make sure that at least 90% of what I'm using is real - no margarine, no lite/low/reduced/etc, nothing with added this or that, only olive oil or butter, etc. I'd rather use 1T of butter than 5T of margarine!
I hadn't had any kind of Helper (Hamburger, Tuna, etc) in over a year, and then one day it was on sale for $0.50/box, so I bought it, cuz my man loves it. I ate my share and the next day it was, well, let's just say I'll never do that again! So much sodium, preservatives, etc etc etc.

The Healthiest Food is REAL Food.

W0zzie

I feel some of the posts are confusing healthy and low cal ? Not that I'm a guru.

daves160

Well, I have read just about every post here. What I see is that it is not the kinds of foods that are unhealthy but more precisely the brands. A salad is a salad is a salad. It is the dressing that kills you.
Fat and sugars are not necessarily unhealthy, in fact some fats are good for you such as those in nuts and certain veggies. Most yogurts such as dannon and yoplait are very high in sugar and have little nutritional value compared to good yogurt such as plain chobani. Again- Brand.

A simple rule is this; If it is processed it probably is not health food.

kiminikimkim

Ramen packets. High in sodium, lots of processed powders.

Granola bars. Really high in calories. Plus Monsanto grains are evil.

Cold_Steel

I think my true shock initially when I started this 335 days ago was how high calorie certain fruits and veggies were.

80-100 calories for a red delicious apple for example with half of your daily sugar intake

80ish for most other apples

100-110 for bananas

Strawberrys are relatively low Citrus is difficult to ascertain really.

I think in this X Large UPGRADE TO XXXL GUT BUSTER society I was shocked at most serving sizes. 1 ounce of cheese is not that much cheese, 4 ounces of beef is not that much etc...

cspong

As a chef, I refuse to eat "fake" or diet food. Things that are labelled low this and lite that are generally fluffed out with chemicals and who knows what to make them taste acceptable - that's not to say that they even taste good! One real chocolate chip cookie leaves a better aftertaste and feeling than 5 diet cookies any day!
I'm not one of those extremist "5 ingredients or less" people, but I try to make sure that at least 90% of what I'm using is real - no margarine, no lite/low/reduced/etc, nothing with added this or that, only olive oil or butter, etc. I'd rather use 1T of butter than 5T of margarine!
I hadn't had any kind of Helper (Hamburger, Tuna, etc) in over a year, and then one day it was on sale for $0.50/box, so I bought it, cuz my man loves it. I ate my share and the next day it was, well, let's just say I'll never do that again! So much sodium, preservatives, etc etc etc.

The Healthiest Food is REAL Food.

Amen sister!!

"We've discovered the secret to life... Butter."

It's the same with those 100 cal bags of little oreo imitators... When 1 oreo only has 55 cals! If you're gonna have it, go real!

Plus, real tastes better, fills you longer, and is much better by way of chemicals.

*Not to say Oreos are real food... Just as example of the way we get sucked in to "healthy alternatives"*

Umeboshi

Everything can be healthy in moderation. A huge plate of nothing but bacon and lard isn't going to be healthy, but one slice of bacon along with a balanced meal certainly can be.

AMEN. You are SO SO SO right.
Like, granola for example. It's all about moderation because while it does have a lot of calorie dense foods (oats, nuts, dried fruit), it can be very nutritious. (Maybe just try to find ones with lower sugar/ more natural granolas.)

And again, salad.
Just watch it on the dressing and toppings; make sure it's filled with lots of colorful veggies and you're good to go!

YES. Avocados are fatty and calorie-dense but they're great for ya.

I agree! Salads are soooo deceptive, especially when eating at a restaurant or fast food. Salads can end up with like 700-1000 calories. I think it tricks a lot of people who think they're eating a 'healthy' salad when it's covered in a high-cal dressing and all sorts of cheese and fried stuff. xD

PJ64

I know! I thought they were just wholesome goodness too

AzhureSnow

I had so many of these revelations that totally changed the way I order food and shop for groceries! I avoid anything that markets itself as "weight control" or "healthy", in general, because it's usually filled with crap that isn't healthy.
I always thought, "I'll be healthy and get a salad" until I saw that some restaurant salads can cost as much as 1,000 calories!!! Now, I just pile together lots of fresh, raw veggies and use a teeny bit of olive oil and vinegar dressing... it's around 250 calories and so nutritious!
"Whole grain" in those general mills cereals... there's so much sugar in them that the whole grain doesn't mean anything.

I never thought mayo was healthy, but I didn't realize how bad it was either. I'm mayo-phobic now. Same with cheese a lot of the time.

I have been so shocked at the sodium in ... everything. No wonder non-salted food tastes bland... we've become conditioned to eat salt in EVERYTHING!

jallen1955

bran muffins

callmecaptain

I just thought i'd start a thread about foods that you thought were healthy - but arent and foods that are better than you first thought.

I dont really have any specific examples but Subway surprised me - if you look at the nutritional content within their menus it is not particually comforting to know that this 'health' food bar is feeding up fat, salt and high calorie subs passing them off as healthy.

(Note - It does depend what you have on your sub but generally theyre not as good as you first think).

Well, considering 70% of the sandwhich is bread, lol, I wouldn't count it as healthy

mollydubs

"low fat" lots of things that shouldn't be low fat...

Seriously, the crap manufacturers have to put in to make it non-fat is disturbing. Mostly the sugar they add to it. Egads. Plus fats can be so good for you!

callmecaptain

Everything can be healthy in moderation. A huge plate of nothing but bacon and lard isn't going to be healthy, but one slice of bacon along with a balanced meal certainly can be.

AMEN. You are SO SO SO right.
Like, granola for example. It's all about moderation because while it does have a lot of calorie dense foods (oats, nuts, dried fruit), it can be very nutritious. (Maybe just try to find ones with lower sugar/ more natural granolas.)

And again, salad.
Just watch it on the dressing and toppings; make sure it's filled with lots of colorful veggies and you're good to go!

YES. Avocados are fatty and calorie-dense but they're great for ya.

I agree! Salads are soooo deceptive, especially when eating at a restaurant or fast food. Salads can end up with like 700-1000 calories. I think it tricks a lot of people who think they're eating a 'healthy' salad when it's covered in a high-cal dressing and all sorts of cheese and fried stuff. xD

You know what I hate about Avocados??? I like the taste and they are good for you but... I can't eat them, I am allergic!!

EvilPink

I think the granola purely depends on the brand; many people wouldn't know real granola because every thing you find in the stores is loaded with crap or it's mixed with dried fruits or has added sweeteners. But a good granola can actually be healthy. The one I have in my cabinet now is only 120 cals per half cup (that's actually a lot of granola) and low in sugar with no chemical sweeteners or fructoses in substitution. It's basically whole grain oats, almonds, and dry milk. I can make a killer desert out of half a cup of Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of granola, and 1/4 fresh raspberries with a touch of Stevia and all for about 130 calories.

Yogurts would be my "healthy" food that isn't. Yoplaits and Dannons. They're loaded with chemical sweeteners and carbs and some flavors have a ton of calories for that little 6 oz cup. Funny how you always see it promoted as a healthy food though.

10acity

You know what I hate about Avocados??? I like the taste and they are good for you but... I can't eat them, I am allergic!!

I'm so sorry! That is so sad! I buy at least one avocado every grocery trip.