Five Unhealthy Foods that Seem Healthy

Debunking food myths will help you to avoid consuming empty calories or ingredients that are harmful to your health. It would also be beneficial for you to be aware of certain foods that seem healthy but are not. You should keep these as far away from your diet as possible.

Balanced nutrition is, without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of good health. Nevertheless, most people’s dietary plans are influenced by myths about unhealthy foods. These could make it difficult for you to maintain a healthy diet.

A lack of knowledge can lead you to consume unhealthy foods that seem healthy. In reality, these can be damaging to your body. In the following article, we’ll take a look at some of these.

Foods that seem healthy but are unhealthy

The search for “fast weight loss” or “fighting the ageing process” can lead us to consume foods that seem to be healthy. However, the great majority of these food products carry a significant amount of noxious ingredients that are hidden within them. Even if they do not appear harmful, they may have very little actual benefit for you.

Behind the advertisements that claim to offer “light” products, some of these reveal a high content of sodium and sugars. Additionally, the food industry often abuses the use of chemical additives in order to make their drinks taste better. Moreover, certain vegetable products can contain quite a lot of fat.

Whole-wheat and its derivatives

Whole-wheat bread products and cookies tend to have the same glycemic index as the white ones. In other words, they contain the same amount of sugar, as whole-wheat products. Therefore, you should only consume them in moderation.

From another angle, the process of refining whole-wheat can negatively affect the product. This is because it removes a large portion of the natural properties found within the grain. The purported whole-wheat characteristics of some foods often confuse consumers.

A good portion of store-bought products, such as whole-wheat derivatives, don’t even contain whole-wheat in significant quantities. There are predominantly other types of flours or cereals in many cookies, breads, and other whole-wheat products. And that’s not even considering the high levels of sodium and fat that manufacturers use to improve the taste.

We should remember that the fiber contained in foods that are truly made of whole-wheat, stimulates the passage of material through our intestines. This characteristic turns out to be very beneficial for preventing constipation and other digestive problems. Products with high amounts of fiber tend to make people feel fuller for longer.

Nevertheless, many doctors assert that the excessive consumption of whole-wheat flour and its derivatives, contributes to inflammation of the intestinal tract. Because of that, doctors instruct many patients with signs of diverticulitis (inflammation of the diverticula in the digestive tract) not to eat them.

Low-fat foods

Currently, experts consider foods that are high in saturated fats, to be an obstruction to a healthy diet. From another viewpoint, it’s true that balanced diets include moderate consumption of all types of fats.

Food manufacturers have discovered that when they reduce a product’s fat content, the taste also suffers. Due to this, they’ve started to increase the quantity of sugar and sodium in their recipes to improve the flavor.

This increased quantity of sugars and additives can be quite harmful for your health. It increases your risk for numerous diseases, such as heart problems, diabetes, and hypertension.

Also, it’s important for you to remember that processed foods tend to have many chemical additives too. At the same time, they are often missing vital nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, making them unhealthy foods.

Processed fruit juices

In their natural state, fruits contain fructose. This is a type of unrefined sugar that your body can easily absorb. Processed fruit juices also contain a high quantity of refined sugar. Because of that, commercial orange juice, for example, is a lot sweeter and less acidic than natural orange juice.

Many processed juices aren’t even made with real fruit! That’s why they don’t provide you with fiber, vitamins, or minerals. In reality, they’re full of artificial coloring and other chemical compounds that imitate the taste of fruit.

Processed dressings for salads

Salads are great allies in your quest for a healthy diet and can be enjoyed as part of a low calorie diet. Even so, if you use processed salad dressings, you will be removing a lot of benefits from your salad.

Most processed dressings have high amounts of sodium, sugar, genetically-modified fats, and chemical additives. It’s best if we use natural ingredients to add flavor to our salads instead. Some examples of these are lemon, vinegar, olive oil, or spices.

Processed products with reduced carbohydrates (“low carb”)

Even though it has a bad reputation, carbohydrate is a source of energy that should be present in a balanced diet. It’s always a better idea to consume natural products, rather than processed flours or derivatives.

Experts also include low-carb processed products in the category of unhealthy foods, that appear to be healthy, but really aren’t. Many reduced-carbohydrate bars or snacks are actually sources of empty calories. If we take a look at their composition, we’re sure to find many refined ingredients. We’ll also discover a very low or non-existent amount of vitamins, minerals, and proteins.