Are You Eating These 6 Unhealthy Health Foods?
01/16/2012
Some food choices appear healthy out of habit but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. How much of your diet is made up of foods that we want to believe are healthy, but in actuality are far from it. These foods may appear healthy, or at least healthier on the surface, but in reality, they leave much to be desired.
1. Soy Milk
Just because it’s soy milk doesn’t mean it good for you. Dr. Weir recommends 1 to 2 servings per day of whole soy. According to health guru Christina Pirello, they include phytoestrogens, which act like estrogen receptors in the body. Estrogen receptors serve as a key to let estrogen out of the door of the body. Excessive estrogen in the body is one of the risk factors for certain kinds of cancers, namely breast cancer. But you have to make sure that your soy milk is organic and GMO-free, which isn’t so easy when you consider that more than 9 out of 10 soybean seeds are genetically modified to carry Monsanto's Roundup Ready trait.
2. Breakfast Bars
When you’re choosing a breakfast bar make sure you read the ingredients label. You want to recognize each and every ingredient on the label and you want the bars to be made without high fructose corn syrup. Look for organic, vegan, and raw breakfast bars. While the raw variety may be a bit more expensive, you get what you pay for in terms of quality. Or make your own unprocessed healthy granola bars.
3. Orange Juice
Photo: Thinkstock
If you make your own freshly squeezed orange juice as I do on occasion, then you’re aware of the difference between it and the store bought variety. Freshly squeezed orange juice is lighter and much less sweet than regular orange juice. In the end, store bought varieties are much too sweet to be drank regularly. I like to squeeze my own once in a while and stir in a scoop of Spirulina. Spirulina is 60-70 percent protein by weight and contains a rich source vitamin B12, vitamin A, and iron.
4. Organic Hot Dogs
Studies show that both conventional and organic hot dogs have cancer causing nitrates. Current labeling standards require products that use the non-synthetic source of nitrites and nitrates to say "Uncured" or "No nitrates or nitrites added," when products are cured and nitrites and nitrates are added, just from a natural source.
The New York Times reports:
A study published earlier this year in The Journal of Food Protection found that natural hot dogs had anywhere from one-half to 10 times the amount of nitrite that conventional hot dogs contained. Natural bacon had from about a third as much nitrite as a conventional brand to more than twice as much.
Skip the processed meat entirely, organic or not.
5. Fruit at the Bottom Yogurt
Not only can conventional yogurt be wrought with hormones and antibiotics fed to the livestock it was derived from, but fruit at the bottom yogurt has around 45 grams of sugar per serving. You might as well be eating a candy bar. Instead, make your own fruit at the bottom yogurt without all that unnecessary sugar.
6. Milk and Cereal
Photo: Ryan Mcvay/Thinkstock
Who doesn’t start their day with milk and cereal? It’s an American tradition, right? Not so much, considering that more and more of us see that milk and cereal is not satiating enough to get you through to lunch. Not to mention that the milk can be loaded with antibiotics and hormones and the cereal can be loaded with sugar. Instead, make your own granola and enjoy it with an organic GMO-free non-dairy substitute.
Photo: Noel Hendrickson/Thinkstock
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Hi Sara,
I was wondering if you would like a review copy of my Kindle ebook on health foods (see link) and if you would be willing to post a review on Amazon.com
I can send you the Kindle or PDF versions to review if so.
Posted by: Slim, Smart and Spirited: The Top Health Foods To Boost Your Body, Mind And Energy Levels | 01/28/2012 at 01:47 PM