Food is essential to every human being. There are tons of cuisines around the world that you could eat, but one cannot fully determine if it's healthy. Most people think that when there is a vegetable or fruit content on the food, it is automatically healthy, but the truth is, it's not always healthy. Here are seven healthy foods that we think are 100% healthy, but are junk foods.
Low-fat and fat-free processed foods
When people hear the word "fats," they automatically think it is not suitable for the body or in any diet. However, this claim is based on weak evidence that has been eliminated through debates and discussions. Thus, many companies started making processed food with lesser fats because people will buy it more.
But, when fats are removed from the food, there is a tendency for the food not to taste good. Thus, manufacturers replace fats with sugar to compensate for the flavor. However, saturated fats are entirely harmless to the body, and it's the sugar that will bring harm, especially when taken in a huge dosage.
Commercialized salad dressings
We all know that vegetables are 100% healthy, especially when eaten fresh. However, when eaten fresh and raw, vegetables are not that appealing to eat. Thus, people use salad dressings and seasonings when eating vegetable salads.
However, most salad dressings in the market do not guarantee 100% healthy ingredients. Salad dressings are made of trans fat, vegetable oils, and sugar joined with many artificial chemicals. Although vegetables are incredibly sturdy, adding salad dressings will reduce the nutrient content you are eating. That is why you must look at the salad dressing's ingredients before purchasing it.
Fruit juices
Fruit juices are very refreshing, but not all fruit juices come from natural fruits. Liquids that you buy from groceries and stores are mostly made of artificial flavor plus added sugar, making it unhealthy. Fruit juices contain the same amount of sugar as sugar-sweetened beverages. Unless you are squeezing fruit juice from the actual fruit, you cannot guarantee your store-bought fruit juice is 100% natural.
Whole wheat
Just like fruit juices, not all whole wheat-labeled products come from actual whole wheat. Most whole-wheat products have been transformed into fine flour, increasing the sugar levels in the product. With that, the glycemic index of "whole wheat" products are the same as white bread.
Margarine
Since butter has high saturated fat content, people would recommend using margarine instead. But, margarine is much worse than you think. In history, margarine used to have a high percentage of trans fats. Although the trans fats have been lessened in margarine these days, it is now loaded and replaced by refined vegetable oil, which makes it worse. It is still advisable to eat real butter rather than margarine because it is healthier.
Sports and energy drinks
Athletes need more energy than ordinary people because they tend to do athletic and intensive activities for their sport. They tend to drink sports drinks to boost up their strength. However, experts say that sports drink are not healthy because it contains electrolytes and sugar, which is not suitable for the body in general. It is still recommendable to drink loads of water instead of drinking sports drinks.
Low-carb junk foods
Low-carb products have become drastically simplified in the past few years because people want to cut off carbs and lose weight. Many studies have confirmed that the diet is useful when it comes to losing weight and staying healthy. Thus, many food manufacturers have innovated to make low-carb processed foods and put them in the market.
However, experts say that low-carb processed products are not guaranteed low in carb or healthy to eat. Most low-carb products do not contain any real food, and it is made of artificial ingredients.
ALSO READ : 4 Things You Need to Know Before Going Vegan
