Nutrition is full of nonsense.
You will find bold health claims for all kinds of
foods , most often based on zero evidence .
Here are the top 11 “ health foods ” that are
actually very harmful.
1 . Fruit Juices
The fruit juices you find at the supermarket
aren’t always what they seem .
They may have small amounts of real fruit in
them, but often they are little more than water,
artificial flavor and sugar.
But even if you ’re drinking real fruit juice , it is
still a bad idea.
Fruit juice is like fruit with most of the good
stuff removed .
All that is left is the sugar and a few vitamins.
Orange juice, for example, contains the same
amount of sugar as Coca Cola.
There’s no fiber in it, no chewing resistance
and nothing to stop you from downing massive
amounts of sugar in a short amount of time.
Eating too much sugar is associated with all
sorts of diseases . These include obesity , type
II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many
others .
It is much better to avoid fruit juices and eat
real fruits instead .
Bottom Line: Most fruit juices contain the
same amount of easily digestible sugar
as sugar- sweetened soft drinks . It is
best to eat whole fruits instead .
2 . Whole Wheat
It is true that whole wheat is healthier than
refined wheat.
But this does NOT mean that whole wheat is
healthy.
It’ s kind of like saying that because filtered
cigarettes are healthier than unfiltered
cigarettes, everyone , be smoking filtered
cigarettes. It ’ s flawed logic .
There are plenty of good reasons to avoid
wheat… both the refined and the whole variety .
For example, wheat is the main source of
gluten in the diet and a large part of the
population may be gluten sensetive.
The immune system of susceptible individuals
attacks the gluten proteins in the digestive
tract. This can cause damage to the lining of
the digestive tract, pain, bloating, tiredness ,
stool inconsistency and other nasty symptoms
.
One study shows that wheat fiber can make
you Vitamin D deficient , making you burn
through your stores of this important vitamin
much faster (.
Another study shows that whole wheat raises
small, dense LDL (the truly “ bad ” cholesterol )
by a whopping 60 % .
Bottom Line: Whole wheat is rich in
gluten and can cause digestive problems
and various symptoms . It may also
cause Vitamin D deficiency and elevated
small , dense LDL cholesterol .
3 . Agave Nectar
In the health food isle at the supermarket , you
will definitely find some “ sugar-free ” products
that are sweetened with Agave.
This sweetener is touted as a healthy
alternative to sugar because it is natural has a
low glycemic index .
But the harmful effects of sugar have little to do
with its glycemic index , it is harmful primarily
because it is loaded with unnatural amounts of
fructose.
Too much fructose in the diet can cause all
sorts of problems , especially in people who
don ’t exercise much .
All fructose is metabolized by the liver . If the
liver is full of glycogen the fructose will be
turned into fat .
This can cause non - alcoholic fatty liver
disease and all kinds of metabolic problems
like resistance to the hormones insulin and
leptin, which will ultimately lead to obesity and
diabetes .
While regular sugar is 50 % fructose, the
fructose content of Agave is as high as 90 % . If
anything, agave is even worse than sugar!
Bottom Line: Agave nectar is loaded with
fructose and therefore causes all the
same problems as regular sugar and
High Fructose Corn Syrup.
4 . Sports Drinks
Sports drinks were designed for athletes who
have just finished an intense training session
with massive sweating and glycogen depletion .
For this reason , sports drinks contain:
Water – to replenish lost fluid .
Electrolytes – to replenish electrolytes
like sodium that were lost via sweat.
Sugar – because athletes need energy
after an intense workout.
You don ’t need any additional electrolytes
unless you ’ ve been doing a very intense
workout and most people are already eating
too much sugar.
One bottle of Gatorade contains over 30 grams
of sugar.
You’re better off sticking to plain water, which
you should certainly drink plenty of, especially
around workouts .
Bottom Line: If you ’re not doing super
intense workouts , then you should avoid
sports drinks. They are not needed and
contain sugar.
5 . “ Heart- Healthy ” Vegetable Oils
As the fear of saturated fat took hold of the
world , consumption of all kinds of nasty
ingredients increased.
Prime examples are industrial seed- and
vegetable oils like soybean , corn and
cottonseed oil.
These oils are extracted from seeds using very
harsh processing methods and include high
heat, bleaching and the toxic solvent hexane .
These oils contain very large amounts of
Omega- 6 fatty acids , way more than humans
ever consumed throughout evolution .
We need small amounts of these fatty acids in
the diet , such as the amounts found in meat
and nuts. However , if we eat way too much
like is the case with Western populations, this
causes problems .
Eating too much of these fats can lead to
inflammation, which is a leading cause of many
chronic diseases
These oils get incorporated into our body fat
stores and cellular membranes, where they are
highly sensitive to oxidation and damage.
To top it all off, the industrial vegetable oils that
you find in the supermarket contain 0. 56- 4. 2%
of their fatty acid as trans fats, which are highly
toxic
(This does not apply to olive oil, which is good
for you !)
Bottom Line: Vegetable oils are
unhealthy and lead to inflammation . They
are potential key players in the epidemic
of Western diseases .
6 . Low- Fat or Fat- Free Foods
It ain’ t the fat , people !
Despite the last decades of propaganda against
saturated fats, they have now been proven to
be harmless
When the anti -fat message first came out , food
manufacturers started producing “ healthy ”
products that were low -fat or fat -free .
The only problem is that foods that have had
the fat removed taste like crap .
The food manufacturers then loaded their
products with chemicals, artificial sweeteners
and massive amounts of sugar.
What they basically did was remove the good
stuff ( fat) and replace it with bad stuff (sugar) .
This is how they managed to turn perfectly
healthy foods like yogurt into very harmful
products filled with unhealthy ingredients .
Bottom Line: Avoid everything labelled
“low - fat” or “ fat- free.” These are highly
processed products loaded with sugar
and other harmful substances.
7 . Gluten - Free Junk Foods
Many people have started to avoid gluten… a
protein found in wheat, spelt , rye and barley
(and a few other grains).
Almost a third of the U. S . population currently
wants to cut back on gluten or go gluten -free.
Food manufacturers have caught up on the
trend and have started offering all sorts of
gluten-free “health foods .”
The problem with these foods is that they’ re
usually not healthy at all.
Instead of a gluten grain, they’ re made with
other starches like potato starch , tapioca
starch or some others. These starches are
usually highly refined , void of nutrients and
spike blood sugar fast, just like wheat .
But these products are often also loaded with
sugar and other harmful or artificial chemicals .
This does NOT apply to foods that are naturally
gluten free, like meats or vegetables . If a
product says “gluten- free” on the package,
then it ’s probably bad for you .
Bottom Line: Gluten- free foods are
highly processed foods that are not
much healthier than their gluten -
containing counterparts. It ’s best to
avoid them .
8 . Margarine And Fake Butters
“I wish butter tasted more like margarine, said
nobody ever.” – Danny J . Albers
Another side effect of the anti - fat histeria is a
plethora of so -called “healthy ” butter
alternatives.
The most notable example of these is
margarine. It used to be loaded with trans fats,
now it tends to contain processed vegetable
oils instead .
Butter consumption went down , margarine
consumption went up.
The problem with this is that butter is healthy.
Margarine is NOT.
Grass-fed butter, in particular, is an excellent
source of the fatty acid butyrate and Vitamin
K2 , both of which can have powerful positive
effects on health
Margarine is a processed food with harmful
ingredients that can make you sick.
In one large study , replacing butter with
margarine lead to a drastically increased risk of
death from heart attacks
This is one great example of where blindly
following the mainstream advice can put you in
an early grave.
Bottom Line: Margarine is a processed
food that contains unhealthy, artificial
ingredients . Avoid it, use real grass-fed
butter instead .
9 . Energy Bars
Energy bars are in the same boat as sports
drinks – most people don ’t need them .
If you ’re an elite athlete who desperately needs
to keep protein intake high and eat every 2 - 3
hours, then these bars can definitely be
convenient.
However, most people don ’t need to eat that
often and these bars don ’t contain anything
that you can ’t get from real foods .
Energy bars and protein bars are often highly
processed products . Even though they may be
higher in protein than chocolate bars , they
often still contain the same unhealthy
ingredients.
Sugar, white flour , artificial flavor… you name
it, they’ve got it .
Of course , there are some healthier brands
available, but if you want to avoid the crap then
you must read labels!
If you ’re starving and far away from home ,
then healthier types of energy bars can
certainly be better than a burger and a coke ,
but your money is still better spent on real
foods .
Bottom Line: Energy and protein bars are
often highly processed products . Most
people don ’t need them and they tend to
contain sugar and other nasty
ingredients .
10. Low Carb Junk Foods
As people have changed their mind on fat being
the root of all evil , some people have started
cutting back on carbs instead .
Again , food manufacturers have caught notice
and brought all sorts of low - carb junk foods to
the market.
Even though something is low in carbs and can
help you lose weight, it may still be very
unhealthy.
Great examples are the low - carb Atkins bars .
These are nasty , highly processed products
that nobody should be eating .
Just check out the ingredients list for this
Atkins Advantage bar . This isn ’t food.
If you ’re going to do a low - carb diet , stick to
real, unprocessed foods .
Bottom Line: There are some low -carb
processed foods on the market that are
extremely unhealthy and loaded with
artificial ingredients .
11. “ Healthy ” Breakfast Cereals
Most highly processed breakfast cereals are
not healthy.
In fact, they are among the worst foods you
can eat .
They’ re often loaded with sugar and refined
carbohydrates.
Then the manufacturers fortify them with some
synthetic vitamins and put tiny amounts of
whole grains in the mix , then market their
products as healthy .
Don’t be fooled by the labels … low -fat , fat -free,
whole grain , etc . Just check the ingredients list
on these products , they’re usually loaded with
sugar.
Starting the day with a high- sugar cereal will
set you up for a blood sugar crash later in the
day , followed by hunger , cravings and another
high-carb meal .