Why Healthy Diet Foods Aren't so Healthy

We all know those foods, those power bars, fruit flavored low-fat yogurt, and 100-calorie snack packs. We see them lining the shelves of the grocery stores, coming in all forms and pretty packaging. They’re healthy right? Perfect for anyone looking to lose weight or gain health?

Not so fast.

Contrary to what the food companies who produce these foods want you to believe (actually, I’d rather call them “fakenfoods”, as they are more fake and artificial chemical concoctions than they are actual food), these foods are far from healthy. Not only are these fakenfoods full of fake ingredients, but they are also misleading, and often leading to overeating in the process.

Need further convincing to give up your bars, yogurts, and other fake-health foods? Here’s my top 3 reasons to give up the healthy diet foods:

1. They are loaded with sugar. Because our society (wrongly, might I add!!) associates low-fat with healthy, these food products are low in fat by creation. But, to replace the fat (which makes food taste good!) something has to take its place, and that is sugar. This sugar is often sneaky; you may not even think it would be in the product to begin with! Take fruit-flavored Greek yogurt: it’s healthy right? Full of healthy protein and vitamins and minerals from fruit? Nope, sorry. That fruit isn’t actually made of real fruit. It’s mostly sugar, usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup, plus a small amount of fruit juice concentrate (which is recognized by the body as regular sugar because it lacks the fiber of a fruit in its whole, natural state). In addition, most protein and energy bars are loaded with sugar. Take one look at the ingredient list on the package – most energy bars contain upwards of three types of sweeteners! Do you know why companies add so many forms of sweeteners? If they do this, sugar doesn’t have to be the first ingredient listed because even though makes up the highest percentage of the product, it comes from multiple sources. Therefore, each source may only contribute a portion of the total sugar amount, but the sources of sugar can be listed individually. Tricky, isn’t it! Next time you go to grab any of these healthy diet foods, turn over the package and look at the ingredients and grams of sugar. You may be shocked! P.S. If they contain artificial sugars instead of real sugar, they are NOT any better. Don't be fooled. (Click here for a great article on the subject)

2. They contain little to no bioavailable vitamins and minerals. Yes, most packaged food nowadays, especially the “healthy” kind, boasts loud and proud on the front of the package that what is inside contains a multitude of essential vitamins and minerals. I won’t deny that this may or may not be true; however, these micronutrients are usually added back into the product after it’s created (in a lab, most likely). These artificial vitamins and minerals aren’t recognized by our bodies as the same as the micronutrients found in real, whole foods. Real, whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, meats, and high-quality fats, contain perfect, synergistic packages of micronutrients that the body processes properly. Artificial chemical vitamins and minerals just can’t compete with nature, I’m afraid.

3. They are low in calories. Yes, you read that right. They are low in calories. We’ve been trained to think that low-calorie equals healthy; however, our bodies need calories (from real, whole foods, mind you!) to live and thrive! Depriving ourselves of one of our basic needs is cruel and often damaging. Take it from me – I know firsthand what starvation can do. These foods are low in calories from products that don’t nourish our bodies and are full of chemicals and sugar. These are basically wasted calories – our body hardly gets any nutrition from them except energy. No vitamins, no minerals = no good. Furthermore, these low-calorie products are super easy to overeat. Why? Because they are low in calories and fat. We eat them, burn right through their sugar content, and are hungry again within the hour, our blood sugar rising and crashing along with them. If we choose real foods that, in combination, contain a bit of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, we will find ourselves more satiated and healthier in the long run, even if these real foods contain more calories. Besides, what kind of food is a calorie-free food? Isn’t food by nature a form of energy in the form of calories? Just a thought there.

Our bodies are trying so hard to make us healthy, and when we eat these fakenfoods as a means to gain health, we are doing our hardworking bodies a disservice. Instead, let’s vow to treat our bodies with love and respect, helping them in their pursuit of health by nourishing them with real, whole foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, and healthy fats). Need some examples? Try whole fruits and vegetables, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, and avocado. All of these foods are wholesome, nutrient-dense, and, quite frankly, DELICIOUS!

In the next few weeks, I’m going to be posting about my personal views on nutrition and explain exactly what I mean when I say “real, whole foods.” You may have guessed already that it includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, seafood, and other healthy fats, but what you may not have realized is what it excludes. It’s a ton of information (and probably completely different than what you have been taught by society to believe as healthy), but it needs to be shared, and I hope you all will find it helpful on your journey to nourishment. Stay tuned!

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