'Healthy' foods that arent

SuperVegan8
SuperVegan8 Posts: 78 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
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).
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Replies

  • newking
    newking Posts: 70 Member
    Oh man Subway is a big one for me! It drives me insane when people say they are eating healthy and get a huge sloppy sandwich.
    Anything low fat, if you read the label a they replaced the fat with goodness knows what fillers to make up for it.
    Diet soda


    Better than I thought, I'll have to think on this one, lol
  • s1lence
    s1lence Posts: 493
    Some protein bars. Some aren't much better than candy; when the first three ingredients are different forms of sugar kind of makes me think it would just be better to have a hard boiled egg for protein.
  • umachanxo
    umachanxo Posts: 926 Member
    Starbucks Frapps DX
  • Manakonda
    Manakonda Posts: 3 Member
    Bacon
  • NicoleMarie0409
    NicoleMarie0409 Posts: 151
    Store bought trail mix, ya know the kind with banana chips. Whoa, never knew.
  • kfitzpa
    kfitzpa Posts: 326
    GRANOLA!

    Most of my life I thought that stuff was healthy, biiiiig surprise lol.
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    I think Subway is pretty clear on which sandwiches and condiments are healthy and not, but people tend to want to think ALL the choices are healthy. There aren't many fast food places that post their nutrition info upfront. Now... if you're worried about sodium, it's not a great choice, but not everyone is, and one of the 6 low-cal sandwiches a day at Subway won't kill most folks (and it's still better than a Big Mac and fries).

    I'm always amazed at how many "healthy" foods have a TON of added sugar... protein bars, peanut butter, protein powders, "whole wheat" bread / tortillas / bagels, marinara sauce, fruit flavored greek yogurt. It's crazy. You can almost always find a version that doesn't have a lot of added sugar, but you have to read labels pretty carefully to figure out what's natural and what's added.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    Cottage Cheese (or any cheese in general - especially little laughing cow wedges) -- I had no idea how much sodium was in these until I started watching sodium... holy cow!
  • Erindipitous
    Erindipitous Posts: 1,234 Member
    A good rule that I follow: If the packaging advertises that it's healthy.. It probably isn't. :P
  • 0lightasair
    0lightasair Posts: 42 Member
    GRANOLA!

    Most of my life I thought that stuff was healthy, biiiiig surprise lol.

    Granola is unhealthy!?!
  • katemme
    katemme Posts: 191
    Salads. Especially from restuarants/fast food places. They can have as much fat and calories as a cheeseburger. I've heard coworkers say they are eating "healthy" by eating salads fromt fast food places. Wrong. If you aren't dieting and enjoys salads, then by all means eat one, but don't fool yourself into thinking they are healthy.


    The salad I get at Mcdonalds (like a once a month, if that) is only 190 calories. Thats with grilled chicken. Not too bad. Its the dressing that kills it.


    Cottage cheese is good, relatively low in fat, and you get a great amount of protein.

    Who said Starbucks frapps were healthy? Are you like that lady trying to sue Nutella because on their packaging it says its 'part of a healthy breakfast'?

    Mine would probably be granola. It always surprises me.
  • juicyfruitkk
    juicyfruitkk Posts: 95 Member
    An italian sandwhich (amato's rings in at almost 700 calories and it's veggies/ham/cheese) (not that it's overly healthy just calorie shock I guess)

    dried fruit

    many protein bars

    Nuts! I know some are still good for you nutrient wise but I can't get over the calories in just 1/4 cup!
  • bisland
    bisland Posts: 245 Member
    The other day I was at McDonalds with my Mom, we both love the Southwest salad, but I thought I would make a healthier choice and get (2) grilled chicken wraps. Boy was I surprised to see her salad had about 100 calories less then my measly chicken wraps.
  • kfitzpa
    kfitzpa Posts: 326
    GRANOLA!

    Most of my life I thought that stuff was healthy, biiiiig surprise lol.

    Granola is unhealthy!?!

    Well sure, it's got oats and nuts and seeds and all that good stuff. But most granolas are packed with sugar and fat. Not to mention its around 500 calories a cup, yikes.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Splenda. 3.8 cals/packet.....It's 25% of the calories of a sugar packet- a significant reduction, but not calorie free! :explode:
  • crimznrose
    crimznrose Posts: 282 Member
    Granola bars, nuts, peanut butter, most cereals, Wendy's grilled chicken, most fast food salads, and even milk. I thought I was doing my family a favor by buying 1% instead of 2%, but it's still a ton of calories the way they go through milk. Switched them to skim and they didn't even notice for the first couple months - until they finally saw the label was a different color.

    Healthy surprise: Fiber One (the 90 cal brownies and chewy bars are my go-to sweet tooth snack), homemade meals. I was surprised how much lower the calories were in my homemade recipes (due largely to the fact I use fat free, reduced fat, low fat, whole grain, etc.), but it makes it worthwhile to skip the convenience of pre-packaged food (even "health" food) and just make a home-cooked meal.
  • aspen_matthews
    aspen_matthews Posts: 94
    Smoothies! They CAN be healthy but often aren't, and lots of people suck down a 500 calorie smoothie as a snack!
  • jamiem1102
    jamiem1102 Posts: 1,196 Member
    Dried Fruit. Craisins. Horrified at the sugar when I found out. So sad... they're so tasty.
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
    Subway was gonna be my choice...but I see thats been beaten to death! Still shocks me!!
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    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.
  • yustick
    yustick Posts: 238 Member
    I was surprised by high fructose corn syrup in a lot of yogurts.
  • cspong
    cspong Posts: 260 Member
    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
    Jessicaruby Posts: 881 Member
    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
    Caiii Posts: 27
    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! :D
  • cspong
    cspong Posts: 260 Member
    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
    rock_kowgurl Posts: 16
    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
    W0zzie Posts: 262 Member
    I feel some of the posts are confusing healthy and low cal ? Not that I'm a guru.
  • daves160
    daves160 Posts: 600
    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
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
    Ramen packets. High in sodium, lots of processed powders.

    Granola bars. Really high in calories. Plus Monsanto grains are evil.
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
    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...
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