What foods did you think were healthy but actually aren't??

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  • zgochenour
    zgochenour Posts: 67 Member
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    Diet soda is comprised mostly of water. Water doesn't have any nutritional value (it can't be metabolized) and doesn't contain any vitamins yet water is universally considered a "healthy" drink. So why is diet soda unhealthy if water isn't?

    I do think there may be something to the idea that drinking lots of diet sodas dulls your sense of sweetness and makes you crave sweeter foods. I just don't like misinformation -- as far as we know, diet soda is perfectly healthy and hydrating beverage and has no effect on weight loss and no negative health consequences whatsoever. For me, it definitely helps satisfy cravings for sweetness without taking in any calories, so it does wonders for my mental health.
  • tvanhooser
    tvanhooser Posts: 326 Member
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    Just discovered that all the fresh sliced deli meat (not the processed kind) that I've been using in my low-calorie lunch wraps (using low carb, high fiber whole wheat wraps), are super high in sodium....which kind of might explain this plateau I've hit the last two weeks according to what I've read. I went through my diary and identified all the ingredients that are high in sodium and am embarking on an experiment (after the 1st of month when I can do a big shopping trip again....right now, we are down to dregs of the end of the month and just trying to use up what we have to make room for the next load of groceries! :o) ) and have determined to speak with the deli about whether any of the meat is low-sodium and get that instead. Also, unsalted butter and anything else I can find that has a low or no salt option in addition to low fat and whole wheat options on any products I can find them in. We'll just see if this whole sodium/water intake really works on my body. According to the Mayo Clinic I should have about 1000 less mg of sodium per day than MFP allows me cause of high blood pressure. Changed my settings to show sodium instead of cholesterol since that is way under most days anyway. So we'll see how this goes -- there's alot of stuff on my "RED LIST for sodium" but the deli meat was the most surprising to me. Well that and mozzarella cheese of all things -- very weird that things you never associate with salt can be so packed with sodium!
  • WillUAre
    WillUAre Posts: 81 Member
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    Cranberry chips. Loads of sugar.
  • Kimminer77
    Kimminer77 Posts: 39 Member
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    Agave nectar
  • tvanhooser
    tvanhooser Posts: 326 Member
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    Yeah--we took a nutrition class when my husband was diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago and learned alot about portion control, counting carbs, balancing carbs/protein/fat and all that so that's not new. But after we took the class, I started looking up menu nutrition for a bunch of the restaurants we go to when we go out (which isn't often). My husband likes Subway sandwiches and this was about the time we were first subjected to their "Jared" advertising campaign. Of course, that was all about weight loss and how healthy it was to eat Subway sandwiches -- just look at his supposed results, we take all the credit and all that. When I looked at their menu nutrition sheets though, I was like NO WAY. Even something like a plain tomato sandwich with a bunch of veggies on it....basically salad on bread...I remember thinking how the HECK do you cram that many calories into the little bit of veg they put on a sandwich....after all we had just learned how vegetable carbs are only 1/3 as many calories as other carbs for one ADA serving so you can have a whole boatload of veg before it adds up to anything significant (except for starchy veg like peas and corn). I had to ask myself if they just went around injecting all the vegetables with pure fat or something. It's crazy!!
  • soygurl
    soygurl Posts: 44 Member
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    Agave nectar

    YES! Everyone seems to think it's soooo wonderful... what they don't realize is that it's all fake marketing buzz! It's not "natural" or "used for hundreds of years" and words like "raw" and "organic" don't actually indicated that it's healthy. Agave "nectar" is a highly processed, high fructose agave syrup (yes, just like HFCS, but made with a different plant!), that was developed in the 90's. :mad: :grumble:
  • painauxraisin
    painauxraisin Posts: 299 Member
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    White rice, cheerios, deli luncheon meat (ugh, the sodium!), skim milk.

    Foods that I thought were bad, but are actually ok or good:

    Nuts and nut butters, eggs (especially the yolks), coffee, butter and bacon.

    What's wrong with skimmed milk and coffee?
  • brendaschmitt1
    brendaschmitt1 Posts: 218
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    2% Milk

    It has lot of chemicals and not as much calcium as I thought.
  • shannonjamie
    shannonjamie Posts: 8
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    Smoked chicken.
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
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    For most of mine, I'd have to go back 10-15 years to when I still thought that muffins and granola bars were healthier than cookies and chocolate bars. They really aren't. Same with any "diet food" that purported to be low-fat, and therefore healthy (does anyone remember Snackwell's?)

    My most recent one is the diet pop. I've known about the concerns over it triggering cravings for real sugar, as well as health concerns associated with artificial sweeteners for a while now, but it's one of my last vices and I'm not ready to give it up, just yet. I'm more concerned with the associated caffeine addiction that I'm contending with.
  • droogievesch
    droogievesch Posts: 202
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    Diet soda is comprised mostly of water. Water doesn't have any nutritional value (it can't be metabolized) and doesn't contain any vitamins yet water is universally considered a "healthy" drink. So why is diet soda unhealthy if water isn't?

    I do think there may be something to the idea that drinking lots of diet sodas dulls your sense of sweetness and makes you crave sweeter foods. I just don't like misinformation -- as far as we know, diet soda is perfectly healthy and hydrating beverage and has no effect on weight loss and no negative health consequences whatsoever. For me, it definitely helps satisfy cravings for sweetness without taking in any calories, so it does wonders for my mental health.

    Diet soda is sweetened with aspartame which has been linked to metabolic disease. Here's a link to an abstract for a scholarly article regarding this: http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articles/PMC2963518/reload=0;jsessionid=VDdCdfA0Rp9LwQB1T9j8.4
  • DeckerDoll
    DeckerDoll Posts: 201
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    Turkey bacon
  • Mdin1029
    Mdin1029 Posts: 456 Member
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    Great post!
    Cereal and Orange juice were the biggest changes for me since childhood assumptions.
  • Snotori
    Snotori Posts: 156
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    Most fruit drinks, yogurts, fat free anything, and eating two small things vs. one large thing at a fast food place... lol! Oh fruit too like apples I couldn't believe I couldn't eat 2 or 3 a day rofl use to do that all the time. And poptarts made up of almost nothing a little bread, sugar, and flour I'm sure but omg so not good for you!!!
  • jk262
    jk262 Posts: 1,598 Member
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    smoothies. too many of the chain stores add frozen yogurt and sherbert. its better if you get the all fruit smoothies but ugh. you just drink the calories way too fast and hundreds and hundreds of calories that you would enjoy more and eat less of it you just had the fresh fruit. that being said, i live in a huge agricultural area in so cal with road side stands everywhere--but still! i do get the wheatgrass shots at smoothie stores though

    Oh man, I cannot handle wheatgrass shots. I tried one before mixed with apple juice and soda water. I felt like I was hallucinating, it was terrible! ever hear of that? like I could feel all the blood rushing to my stomach, light headed, saw spots. got REALLY hot. It was wild. too scared to ever try it again.
  • ohnogogo
    ohnogogo Posts: 110 Member
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    Does the person who said "diet soda" want to back that up with even one medical study showing that diet soda is bad for you?

    Heart risks:
    http://news.yahoo.com/study-diet-soda-linked-increased-risk-heart-attack-172600831.html

    Diet soda can lead to weight gain:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57359222/study-diet-soda-can-lead-to-weight-gain/
  • Vic_of_Steel
    Vic_of_Steel Posts: 570 Member
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    Subway! I use to be horrible about eating out and I would eat subway here and there thinking I was doing myself a favor. Negative my subs racked up the calories quick....
  • cbevan1229
    cbevan1229 Posts: 326 Member
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    Haven't Been thrilled with the new studies and findings of soy.

    This. And it's in EVERYTHING. I found it on the nutrition label for my herbal tea the other day. Plus, I always liked Luna Bars as a quick fix when I was hungry, and now I worry about eating them.
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    For most of mine, I'd have to go back 10-15 years to when I still thought that muffins and granola bars were healthier than cookies and chocolate bars. They really aren't. Same with any "diet food" that purported to be low-fat, and therefore healthy (does anyone remember Snackwell's?)

    Definitely agree with those. A muffin is literally just a cupcake without frosting and a few healthy things like fruit or nuts thrown in.
  • DaveneGfit
    DaveneGfit Posts: 338 Member
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    Pretty much anything that is labeled diet or low fat. It can be so deceiving. Often a lot of those items are loaded with extra additives.

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