Is that Juice Healthy: Other Seemingly Healthy Health Foods Revealed

Health foods are defined as foods we assume are good for our bodies, healthy and high in nutritional value. The problem with many seemly healthy health foods is they are actually bad for your health! It seems as if everything on the grocery stores shelves claims to be healthy, even those chocolate chip cookies have "added calcium" There are some obviously unhealthy, health foods that I could go on about, but I would like to focus on the health foods that people are consuming believing they are making the healthy choice. Some of these may come as a shock to you, but I got the facts to back it up!

Healthy Food Gimmick # 1 - Diet soda

Diet soda has been around for quite some time, I can't say I understand why. As for me personally, I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners and diet soda reeks of it. However, there are thousands of Americans who enjoy their diet soda beverages and believe that they are making the healthier choice by grabbing one. This myth is simply because it has zero calories that it must be as healthy as water, healthier than full calorie soda, and taste good. But the real problem is the amount of unhealthy, toxin laden artificial sweetener in each can of diet soda. Not to mention, the soda leches calcium out of your bones putting you at risk for osteoporosis and other bone health concerns. Obesity rates are also connected to diet soda. Yes, it is possible to gain weight by adding a zero calorie beverage to your daily food intake! Studies show that regular consumers of diet soda are more likely to be overweight than those who do not consume diet beverages!

Healthy Food Gimmick # 2 Juice

You may be surprised to hear that juice is actually considered unhealthy! How could that be? Well, even 100% juice is full of sugar and calories. It is much like a liquid sugar, although natural sugar from fruit, it lacks the healthy fiber and other benefits of just eating the real fruit it's self. You could be mindlessly swigging an added 600 calories a day, if you drink two 16 oz. servings of juice a day. It is always best to opt for the apple, rather than the apple juice. In addition to that, juice must be pasteurized which kills many of the beneficial vitamins, nutrients, and minerals contained in the juice. Juice is also blamed as one of the culprits in toddler obesity. It is healthiest to eat the fruit, but fruit juice can still be enjoyed on occasion, hopefully watered down. When giving juice to children, stay away from the juice boxes, as they are a concentration of juice that you can not dilute. Instead give children a mixture of 50% Juice 50% water. Do the same for yourself, or add juice to a FULL glass of ice to help dilute it and cut down on the ounces per cup.

Healthy Food Gimmick # 3

Yogurt! Yes, Yogurt! I know you have been thinking that the yogurt consumed every morning is healthy, but if it is flavored from the container, you are mistaken! Dannon, Yo Plait, and EVEN Stony Field Farms yogurt is nothing short of indulging in candy. There is tons of added sugar in each cup. Now, plain yogurt is a very healthy food, and it is full of good bacteria that it helpful to all of us. Plain yogurt is a health food and can be enjoyed daily in smoothies, in place of sour cream, with granola and Cinnamon on top...but NOT so with commercially flavored yogurt. So be aware of the deceptive marketing tricks to make you think otherwise. Many yogurts are chock full of sugar, artificial sweeteners and food coloring, so buyer beware!

So the next time you go grocery shopping, make sure your not including these unhealthy items mistaking them for healthy health food! It is especially important that we avoid portraying these seemingly healthy health foods as healthy to our children. With childhood obesity rates rising, w need to be on point to teach our kids truly healthy eating habits. One of the best ways to do that is to avoid buying these health food gimmicks and opt for the really healthy health food, such as fruits, veggies and whole grains!