By Teresa • 12 Comments
Everyone loves eating. It’s as simple as that. However, if you’re turning over a new leaf and want to eat healthy, it can be tough to decipher the good food from the bad food. In fact, a lot of the time, food is advertised as healthy when it’s really not. If you’re trying to eat healthy but don’t know where to start, these are the foods that you should avoid, or at the very least, be wary of!
If you’re going to drink juices or smoothies, it’s usually better to just make them yourself. I’m right there with you, every once in a while if I want a juice but don’t have time to make one, I’ll go for a store-bought brand. However, a lot of those juices and smoothies have a ton of additives and ingredients that you’re not even aware of, because they’re being advertised as “all-natural” and “just juice.” Read labels before you make decisions!
I worked in a frozen yogurt shop for an entire summer, so please take my word on it; frozen yogurt isn’t good for you. Not only did I learn that firsthand from the massive amounts of frozen yogurt I consumed while on the job, but also just from learning more about it while I worked there. They advertised the nutritional information, which was basically zero for everything, but wouldn’t let anyone see the ingredients, which should be a red flag. Although I didn’t work at a chain, you’ll find that’s pretty standard across the board for frozen yogurt shops.
Just like frozen yogurt, nothing is free. If food claims to be fat-free, there’s probably sugar or something else in your food making up for the lack of fat. I’m not even going to advise you to read the ingredients on this one, because if there are “fat-free” labels on your food, you probably can’t even pronounce most of the ingredients.
Just like fat-free food, protein bars contain a lot of ingredients that you don’t want to put in your body if you’re trying to be healthy. Sure, they can boast things like “high in protein” or “high in fiber,” but in the long-run, there are a lot of other fillers and sugars in there that you don’t in your body if you’re trying to be healthy.
I’m not even going to get into the “pop vs. soda” argument, so I’m just going to refer to these as diet fountain drinks to avoid fighting. Diet fountain drinks are actually known to have much worse long-term effects than a regular fountain drink would, however, if you’re really looking to be healthy, skip the fizzy drinks altogether and grab a water instead.
I’m going to make a controversial opinion here. Skip the dressing. Don’t do it. It’s easy for me because I really don’t like the taste or texture of any condiments, but dressing can instantly make the salad you’re ordering just as unhealthy as a burger. It may be tough at first, but you’ll adjust quickly, I promise!
A lot of people think that fish is a lot of good, lean protein, and it can be, but you have to be careful about where it came from. There are a lot of health risks from both wild fish and store-bought fish, so do your research and know the risks before you switch to a pescatarian diet. Even worse, and I’m sure I don’t need to mention this; frying fish in any fashion is not healthy. Don’t do it.
Were you surprised by any of these? Have you ever eaten foods only to find out they’re very unhealthy? Let me know in the comments!