Some foods are marketed as healthier than others, which can make you eat more of them. Truth be told, some of these might not be as healthy as they seem. How can you tell? Read the labels: decipher the large print, and never ignore the small print. We’re here to give some pointers.
According to a survey recently conducted in the United States, the majority of people believe their diet is healthy. If you take into account the significant increases in obesity and chronic diseases, it is obvious there is a huge gap between the understanding and reality of healthfulness of the foods Americans eat.
In the survey conducted by Consumer Reports, only 1 out of 10 Americans admitted to having an unhealthy diet. Further, not only was it not always clear whether the food is actually “healthful”, but even if it was, it was not entirely clear what constituted an appropriate portion size. The data also indicated a significant gap between reality and people’s perception of how much they exercise.
Just as notable, only 4 out of 10 admitted to having a slight overweight problem, and only 11% said they suffered from an overweight or obesity problem.
This data completely contradicts the national data collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which state that 68% of all Americans suffer from overweight or obesity.
Healthy or unhealthy food?
Part of the problem regarding the perception of healthy foods is due to the way they are marketed and the way they are described in advertisements. When talking about food, you usually use words such as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. But the truth is much more complex. Some foods are considered healthy, but when you eat a lot of them or eat them instead of other foods, the net quality of your nutrition suffers.
For example, 100% whole grain bread is an excellent choice in the category of complex carbohydrates, but many people eat large amounts of bread, sometimes at the expense of high-quality protein, and many vitamins and minerals. Even with the fiber and chromium content, it is still a source of carbohydrates, which eventually will influence blood sugar levels. Such a diet most likely will not support reaching sustainable weight loss and other long-term health goals.
In a similar fashion, many people don’t understand why they fail to lose weight in spite of their continuous efforts to eat healthy foods –- most of the time. In these cases, you should increase awareness of what you eat exactly, including on weekends, in restaurants, and during special events, and how much is being eaten. In addition, you should also check what the food you eat actually contains – you can’t just rely on the large letters on package labels, you also need to read the fine print.
Examples from the survey:
Fruits and vegetables
According to the survey, only about 60% of the participants stated that they eat according to the nutritional recommendations of 5 or more servings of fruit or vegetables every day or during most days of the week.
The survey found that the most consumed vegetables were greens like lettuce, in the context of a salad.
What can go wrong with a salad?
The condiments: For instance, a regular salad dressing contains about 50 calories per tablespoon.
The non-vegetable items: Many of these are high in fat and salt—croutons, ham, processed cheese—and others can be made to be troublesome—such as candied pecans.
A salad containing a few lettuce leaves and a ton of dressing and unhealthy extras is not a salad you can call healthy, and is obviously not equivalent to a salad containing colorful vegetables and lemon juice.
Starchy vegetables
Many people consider potatoes to count as a “green” vegetable, including mashed potatoes and French fries. Nutritionwise, potatoes (as well as yams, corn, peas, and winter squash such as pumpkin) are considered to be carbohydrate-rich foods, which means they can substitute for bread, pasta etc., but not entirely for green vegetables such as peppers and cucumbers.
Most importantly, such modification as deep-frying potatoes to make French fries, drowning yams in maple syrup and marshmallows to candy them, and limiting your squash intake to pumpkin pie does not enable you to benefit from the health advantages these vegetables have to offer in their natural state.
What is better: fruit juice or the fruit itself?
Fruit in its whole form will always be the better choice. Fruits, like vegetables, are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber; however, fruits contain a larger amount of sugar. Even though this sugar is natural, it can still add up. Therefore. It is highly recommended to combine them in a healthy nutrition, but to be aware of the amounts you eat.
Fruit juice, even when natural and fresh-squeezed, is not necessarily better than the whole fruit for a couple of reasons:
- Juice has much less fiber than the whole fruit, as much of the fiber is left behind in the squeezing process. Sometimes this can be an advantage for absorption of beneficial “phytochemicals” in fruit, but the fiber should be reclaimed elsewhere.
- The sugars in juice are much more concentrated than in whole fruit, even if no additional sugar is added.
- The process of eating fruit with its combination of fruit fibers with fluid highly contribute to the feeling of fullness – imagine how you’d feel after drinking a glass of orange juice compared to eating three whole oranges – the difference is another reason to prefer the whole fruit.
Plant-based oils
It is important to note that anything labeled “vegetable oil” is generally not a good choice, as this term has become synonymous with overly processed oils with unbalanced and disadvantageous compositions. However, avocado, tahini, nuts, and oils such as olive, avocado, flaxseed, chia seed, mustard seed, moringa, perilla, almond, hazelnut, macadamia, and cold-pressed organic rapeseed (canola) oil, all contain healthy vegetable fat and are recommended as a part of a healthy nutrition. They are still fats, though, and can add up quickly.
Organic food
People make the connection between organic and “light,” and feel like they can consume more organic food because it isn’t as “fattening.”
It is important to note that many organic foods, like cookies, wafers, ice creams, etc., contain amounts of fat and carbohydrates similar to the regular products. And not all organic food products are necessarily healthy: though they generally tend to be less processed, they are often more processed than is considered ideal.
It is vital to read the package’s small print, especially in organic sweets and snacks, and make sure that they truly have a healthy advantage, such as less hydrogenated fat, salt, and/or refined sugar—or just as important, more fiber, vitamins, and essential minerals—compared to the “conventional” product.
Food made from “natural” ingredients
Similar to organic food, the inscription “only natural ingredients” creates a feeling that it’s an especially healthy food, and it can be consumed in large amounts without being afraid. This is why distributors and marketers choose to promote their food products using the words “natural” and “no artificial additives.” Unfortunately, such language is open to many loopholes that are often abused at the consumer’s expense.
So what is vital to know?
First, even whole natural ingredients products can contain a significant amount of unbalanced fats and excessive sodium, and/or sugar. So it is highly recommended to thoroughly read the package labeling.
It is also important to know that in some cases, natural foods carry their own risks. For example, nuts and dried fruits sold in bulk often sit in their bins for long hours, and are exposed to contaminants, starting with oxygen and ending with the myriad hands that reached inside. Peanuts in particular can be contaminated by mold that secretes a deadly toxin—it’s a very natural process, but that same toxin can hurt your liver and is even considered to be one of the more dangerous carcinogens out there.
Whole grains, whole flour
There are plenty of baked goods boasting “contains whole grains” or “made with whole wheat flour”. Whole grains have an advantage due to their nutritional fibers. The fiber delays the absorption of the sugar and cholesterol from the food, and lends a prolonged feeling of fullness and aids digestive health.
Recommended items include sprouted or 100% whole grain breads and bread products and whole cooked grains and pseudo-grains such as brown rice, oat groats, amaranth, and quinoa. Higher sugar items such as biscuits, cakes, , and other snack- or dessert-type foods, even if they were made out of whole wheat flour, are still considered a treat that should only be eaten every once in a while, and then in a moderate amount.
It is important to examine “whole wheat” product labels closely, as they often also contains refined flours. It is preferred to select “100% whole” grain products (wheat or other), as the “100%” is a legal designation that cannot be skirted. Even with these products, be sure to read the label and avoid hydrogenated fats or similar ingredients such as monoglycerides and diglycerides, as well as their coded designations E-471 and E-472. It is also important to check the nutritional facts and how much fiber they contain, because they don’t always have a significant amount, as well as the undesirables such as excessive added sugar and sodium—these shouldn’t exceed 5 grams and 140 mg, respectively.
Sugar: where you didn’t think you’d find it
About half of the participants in the Consumer Reports survey stated that they limit their daily consumption of sugar. Most people restrict the sugar amounts they add to food or drinks like tea or coffee, but don’t consider the significant amount of sugar they receive from foods considered healthy.
Where does the sugar hide?
The most prominent foods that hide large amounts of sugar are breakfast cereals and cereal bars, even those considered healthier or less sweet and produced from whole grains. Some foods that are not considered sweet also contain notable amounts of sugar, including various savory sauces and salad dressings.
Sugar-free foods
Many people think that sugar-free food is diet food, and so consume large amounts of it.
This might sound reasonable, but different kinds of sugar-free foods (such as cookies, wafers, chocolate) are not necessarily low in sodium or undesirable fats, and in many cases contain even more than the original product, to compensate for the lack of sugar. A similar trade-off is often made for low-fat and/or fat-free foods.
In addition, some of the foods contain natural sweeteners that have similar effects on the body as sugar. Worse still, some contain artificial sweeteners that may be even worse for the body. Therefore, again, you should read the label carefully and compare nutritional values.
Food enriched or fortified with vitamins and minerals
Snacks and sweets enriched or fortified with vitamins, minerals, and fiber don’t miraculously become healthier. The dominant nutritional ingredients in the health equation are still fat, sugar, and/or salt, and often refined basic foods which have been stripped of their innate value. Artificial post-mortem additions have been proven not to add up to a healthy whole.
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Healthy nutrition incorporates a variety of whole grains, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, and high-quality proteins and fats, in the right proportions, which together supply our bodies with the nutrients it needs. Sources of concentrated sugars, fats, sodium, and refined ingredients are fun once in a while, but they can never be considered “healthy” and should never be a staple in your diet.
Thanks for the great article. Lots of good information here. If I want a dessert I have some chopped up fruit like banana or mangos or strawberries and freeze them. Then put some of the frozen fruit in a mini food processor and whiz it with some yoghurt or coconut milk and you have yummy soft serve dessert. To be extra decadent you can add a dollop of cream and a tablespoon of granola. Yuuummmm!
If we were looking for a truly “healthy” frozen yogurt or yogurt in a cup, how much sugar should be hope it has? For instance, What’s the maximum number of grams of sugar a half a cup (100 grams or roughly 3.5 oz) of frozen yogurt have?