Are these foods really healthy?

When most people think about losing weight, they first think about altering their diets. i.e. switching out candy bars for those healthy granola ones. Sadly though, things just aren’t that simple! So many manufactures are twisting the nutritional content labels and words to trick people in a sense into eating their foods that they promote as being “healthy”. With the steady rise of the every day consumer’s nutritional knowledge, food makers are finding new ways to misconstrue product labels to benefit their profits. We as consumers need to be more careful to make sure we’re buying what we think we’re buying!

Here are some basic examples of the point I’m trying to make. These are examples of foods that have good-looking labels, but are not what they seem!

Granola Bars
200 Calories
15 g Sugar

Try eating this instead:
1 oz cheddar cheese with Triscuits
150 calories
5 g sugars

Am I the only one who has ever wondered what keeps a granola bar together? The answer: High-fructose corn syrup, which quickly raises blood sugar and cancels out most of the potential benefits that the granola, almonds and oats might give you. Switch over to good old-fashioned cheese and crackers, and you’ll trade sugar and calories for protein and fiber.

Yogurt Cup with Fruit on the Bottom
190 calories
30 g sugars

Try this instead:
Plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in
110 calories
15 g sugars

Yogurt and fruit can be a great way to start your day, but do it yourself by mixing a cup of nonfat plain yogurt with a half cup of mixed berries.

Bagel with Cream Cheese
700 calories
40 g fat
13 g saturated fat

Try this instead:
Cheese omelet
425 calories
18 g
6 g saturated

Bagels are wack! The bread is bad enough, containing 300 calories and 60 grams of carbohydrates, but the excessive amount of cream cheese that most places add to a bagel turns your harmless breakfast sandwich into a monster! (A bagel with several tbsp. Of cream cheese can be deadlier than a Whooper!) The omelet swap will save you nearly 300 calories, plus provide a surge of metabolism-boosting protein.

Dried Fruit
175 calories
45 g sugars

Try this instead:
Fresh fruit, like an apple, peach or berries (Freeze them for a frozen treat!)
70 calories
15 g sugars

OK, so dried fruit won’t totally derail a day of good eating, unless you down the whole bag of banana chips or craisins, but it’s far from being a harmless snack. First, because the dehydrating process sucks most of the volume from the fruit, you can eat cups of the stuff, and 600 calories later, still not feel any fuller. More troubling, though, is the fact that Sun-Maid and Ocean Spray add sugar to the fruit, making craisins closer to candy than Mother Nature’s original intention!

Fish Sandwich
600 calories
30 g fat
11 g saturated

Try this instead:
Grilled chicken or fish sandwich
300 calories
13 g fat
4 g saturated

Fish is good for you, except when it’s battered, fried, smothered in cheese, and bathed in massive amounts of tartar sauce! Make sure your next fish or chicken sandwich is grilled, dressed with fresh produce, and topped with a low-cal barbecue sauce, or even ketchup and mustard. (Or you could just leave it alone and eat it plain!)

Stick margarine (1 Tbsp)
100 calories
11 g fat
2.5 g saturated
2.5 g trans fat

Try this instead:
Whipped butter (1 Tbsp)
50 calories
6 g fat
1.5 g saturated

In their haste to remove saturated fat from butter, margarine makers created the margarine monster, which is a dangerous lipid called trans fat, with more dangerous links to heart disease than saturated fat! Pick up whipped butter instead; by whipping air into the spread, manufacturers decrease the caloric density of a tablespoon of butter, and they make it easier to top your toast. If you buy margarine, make sure it’s the type found in the tub, hopefully with an added bonus like omega-3s folded into the mix.