14 Healthy Food That Are Not Actually That Healthy

Image by Maddi Bazzocco (Unsplashed)

These days, wanting to live healthy is pretty difficult. Not only is it difficult for us to find time to exercise, now, but even food are also tricking us. When you buy all those good that seems like they are excellent for your health, such as “low-fat,” “no sugar,” “100 percent wheat” all these are actually junk food in disguise. The next time you go on a trip to the grocery store, just be aware of them.

1. Bottled Fruit Juice.

Fruit juices are healthy. They contain a lot of nutrients, such as fiber, minerals, and tons of vitamins. But that is if the fruit juice is freshly squeezed, all raw from actual fruits. On the other hand, bottled fruit juices that you usually see in stores are nothing more than a bottle of water with tons of artificial sweetener and colouring. Sure, they do contain fresh juices in them as well, but the amount of the artificial sugar exceeds over the fresh juice, so much so that the nutrients from the fresh juices are neglectable.

2. Diet Soda.

When you are in the grocery store and you saw two types of soda: the original version and the “diet” version of it, or so they say, you are more likely to get the “diet” version, is that right? You’ll get to taste the soda, and at the same time you’ll be “healthier.” But the truth is, the “diet” version is not much healthier than the original version. Sure, there might be lesser sugar in the “diet” version, but don’t forget that in order to compensate for the reduced in sugar, they have to add in tons of artificial sugar for the soda to retain its taste, in fact, it might be even more unhealthy than the original version.

3. Low Fat Milk.

Similar to the soda, imagine walking in the grocery store looking for milk and you saw you types of it: an original version and one that has a huge “low fat” written on it, of course, your instinct will tell you to choose the latter, since you are already consuming something healthy, why not go for the healthier version? But with a reduced in fat means that they have to add in artificial ingredients just so the milk would get the same taste as the original one. Having to consume something artificial into our body would definitely not do good to our body. Who knows what the ingredients actually contain?

4. Bottled Smoothies.

Smoothies are well-known health food, that even junk food chain stores are starting to sell them. But the truth about the smoothie sold in stores or restaurants is usually using the “healthy” reputation smoothie to increase their sales, by creating something that is actually very unhealthy for you, as it might be filled with tons of dairy, sugar, colouring and all the things that are harmful to your body. If you truly want to enjoy a smoothie while getting all the health benefit from it, the only thing you can do is to make your own, so you know exactly what is in that drink.

5. Dried Fruits.

Fruits are obviously healthy food that you are encouraged to eat just to get all the nutrients from them. However, dried fruits are completely different things as compared to the original thing. Sure, they do originate from actual fruits, and the end product does resemble the fruit itself, but it is important to be aware of what goes through during the process of creating the dried fruits. Most of the time, all the good nutrients are stripped away from the fruit, and what is left are mostly sugar. Whilst being filled with sugar, they are fed with even more artificial sugar to finally produce dried fruits. Next time if you are craving something sweet, just go with the actual fruits.

6. Pre-made Sandwiches.

Sandwiches are convenient food that you can find them almost everywhere in stores, whether it be from the convenience store or groceries, and aside from that, they can be delicious as well. But if you are a little concerned about the nutrients in it, then it is important to know that the only healthy sandwich is the one you made yourself at home. The problem with pre-made packaged sandwiches is that they contain high-sodium fillings, such as eggs salad and processed meats, vegetables that are soggy and probably slightly wilted, and also a whole lot of spreads, like ketchup or mayonnaise, which are terrible for you.

7. Flavoured Nuts.

Nuts on their own are extremely healthy. Different nuts have different benefits on your body, but of course, consuming in moderation is the key. However, nuts that are processed and added to flavour are not those that you are looking for. Flavourless nuts are tasty, but with added flavour, they taste much better, which is why people tend to go with them. But truth be told, whatever happens in the factory is what you do not want to know. There are many salts added, and for the sweet flavoured ones, they are usually drenched in syrup and sugar, making them not any better than fried food. The best bet is to just go with flavourless nuts, or if you prefer flavoured just make them on your own.

8. Low Fat Peanut Butter.

Ah, Peanut Butter, what a great childhood food! And speaking of childhood, the peanut butter your mother used to buy for you from the stores are probably even healthier than the “low-fat peanut butter” you have sitting in your pantry. Why so? Well, nuts are known to contain good fats that, with an appropriate serving, is good for us. But people from the industry want to trick people into thinking there is a healthier version of peanut butter, where they remove all the healthy fat, making it seem “low fat” but it actually contain tons of artificial ingredients that you’d probably do not even know of but you still buy them because it states that there is less fat. A better choice for if you are concern about your waistline is to just not go for the version with any reduced ingredients and just go with the original, or if you prefer the “low-fat” version, make sure the check the ingredients lists to see if there are any ingredients that you’ve never heard of.

9. Store Bought Salad Dressing.

Most people claim that they like salad, but the only thing they love about a bowl of greens is probably the dressing added to it. The one that makes the whole thing taste much better, and also the one that makes the whole thing unhealthier than ever. When you are at the dressing’s aisle of the grocery store, you will see a variety of dressings for you to choose from, and they all look like they taste great! But perhaps you could save your money and just get some simple ingredients and make your own. One of the most common homemade salad dressing would be olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The reason why store-bought salad dressing is terrible for you is that they are usually added with salt, sugar, flavourings, preservatives and so on, which your body do not need.

10. Granola Bars.

Granola bars are such sneaky food. They are made of granola, which is baked oats, where oats are great for your body. But what is wrong with granola bars is everything that it is made of. Granola, dried fruits, nuts and seeds, these are all made into an unhealthy version of what they were originally, and also the hidden ingredients, such as sugar, salt, syrup and so on. They might make you think they are healthy and provide you with great nutrients, but in actual are extremely terrible and might do you more harm than good. If you really do love granola bars, you could just make your own using healthy recipes you can find online.

11. Vegetable Oil.

We are told to not eat unhealthy fats, such as margarine, high dairy amount food, fats from red meats and so on, but that doesn’t mean vegetable oil should be your next choice. Although vegetable oil is less harmful than those unhealthy fats, that doesn’t mean consuming them would be beneficial for you. Fats are dangerous for your blood cholesterol, and taking vegetable oil wouldn’t be any help to reduce it. Plus, vegetable oil is highly inflammatory, and are harmful to your organs. If you want to add healthy fats into your diet, then just go with olive oil, coconut oil, and butter, but all in moderation, of course.

12. Flavoured Instant Oats.

Oats are super healthy food as they provide great nutrients to our body. But eating oats alone is pretty tasteless, so some people would opt for flavoured instant oats. You can get a warm bowl of oatmeal in no time, and it comes with a delicious flavour. As much as this sounds delicious, this is actually not anywhere near healthy. Instant oats on their own are more processed than actual oats, and during the process, a lot of their nutrients are being stripped away from them. Now together with added flavour, the oats you would be consuming would just be a bowl of sugar-filled oatmeal, where the oatmeal probably doesn’t even contain many nutrients. The thing you can do is just to consume regular oats, and then add the flavours in on your own, with fruits, nuts and seeds and milk.

13. Low-fat Yogurt.

Just like any other low-fat products, not only do they strip away the healthy fats, they even add all the unnecessary artificial ingredients that are not beneficial to your body, and might even bring your body harm, as they are chemical ingredients that our body do not need to survive. It is just easy to be tricked because the word “fat-free” is usually written in huge letters, and they got you thinking you can have yogurt but in a healthier way, but the thing is, yes, there are a lesser amount of fats in it, but in return, there is a lot of junk in it. “Low fat” doesn’t mean it is low in calories. So your best bet is to just go with the original version, where no healthy ingredients are being stripped away, and lesser artificial ingredients are added.

14. Sugar-Free Candy.

Don’t we all just love candies? They are sweet, fun to chew, and they also come in many different flavours. Perhaps the kind that we all would probably go for is the “sugar-free” version of the candies, because you get to enjoy candy, and at the same time not adding any sugar onto your body! Of course, either way, with sugar or not, candies are still unhealthy. But to label candies, “sugar-free” means nothing more than a piece of cube made of artificial sweetener, colourings, and all sorts of chemical ingredients.

These are some of the food with a label that makes them seems like they are a healthier choice, but in actual do not differ from any other unhealthy food. Usually when food tried to make a label to tell you that they are “healthier” than the original version, just remember that they mean they added more artificial ingredients in them that your body don’t need and they might even have a harmful effect on your body.

*Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that the descriptions for the points shown are dependent on researches are done by the writer and are just for entertainment purposes and do not intend to offend anyone in any way. Should you be responsible for any unpleasant caused to you before reading this article all by the title. The writer would not be responsible for any emotional and mental issues that have happened due to the extracted information shown.