5 Hazardous “Healthy” Foods You Must Stop Eating

There are a lot of so-called “healthy foods” that are anything but healthy. You see fancy packages telling you these foods are fat-free, low-carb, or low in calories. They brag they’re made “with whole wheat” or they’re “gluten-free.” With all those buzz words, it’s got to be healthy, right?

Maybe not.

Here’s the thing: many fat-free foods use sugar as a flavor-booster to replace fat. That’s not good! Products made “with whole wheat” only need to have some whole wheat. Pretty sneaky, huh? What about the other grains and unhealthy ingredients present? As for low-carb foods: a low-carb designation does not necessarily mean healthy, especially if the carbs are simple carbohydrates.

Many food manufacturers care about one thing and one thing only — profitability. They intentionally place dangerous, food-like chemicals and ingredients in the products they make.

They do so because they are cheap, they lead to addiction AND they make their items last forever on grocery store shelves. These foods aren’t to boost your health.

How do you combat this for the wellness of you and your family? You must be your own health monitor because you can’t trust what the food manufacturers are telling you.

I’m here to help you become healthier through nutrition. You do so when you STOP eating the following 5 “healthy foods” which are actually hazardous to your health.

1 – Fat-Free and Low-Fat Anything

I’ll start by saying not all fat-free foods are bad for you. As with any other food choice you make, it’s essential to be reading ingredients labels. Most of the time though, fat is replaced by sugar as a flavor enhancer. Refined sugar is one of the leading causes of the obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that the World Health Organization (WHO) says are at epidemic levels. So be really mindful of the ingredients of these products!

2 – Fruit Juices

Fruit juices are basically containers of massive levels of sugar. Even if your fruit juice says it is made of 100% fruit juice, it is devoid of many things that make fruits good for you, like fiber.

You probably already know that too much sugar is bad for your body not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. It doesn’t matter if that sugar is natural sugar or refined sugar. Did you know that fruit juices sold as healthy alternatives to sugar-filled beverages and sodas have a similar amount of sugar? Yep, this is a sneaky thing to look out for, so skip the fruit juice!

3 – Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks

The problems here are liquid salt and liquid sugar. Sports drinks brag that they are full of electrolytes that your body has secreted during exercise. Guess what? These electrolytes are nothing more than salts. In most cases, sports drinks have ridiculously high levels of salt.

They are also jam-packed full of sugar! You drink an energy drink or sports drink and you feel great, or so you think.  The reason you feel amazing is because your body experiences a massive rush of an unhealthy level of sugar. But eventually that will wear off and you…Will…crash. Hard. As if that weren’t enough, energy drinks often contain heart-stopping levels of caffeine. Might be time to lay off these drinks, wouldn’t you say?

4 – Wheat Bread

Yes, the best wheat bread is whole wheat. Even so, I’m sorry to say it isn’t that good for you. No matter what type of wheat is used, it’s crushed into a very fine flour that is quickly processed and absorbed. This leads to massive blood sugar spikes, and we know blood sugar problems can cause diabetes to occur.

Even if you see bread listed as 100% whole wheat, that wheat is nowhere near the healthy product your grandparents ate. Modern wheat is genetically modified, something that started way back in 1960. My advice is to steer clear of inflammation-causing, cholesterol level-raising, and health-destroying wheat products.

5 – Protein Bars and Granola Bars

As we said earlier, there are no absolutes. Not all protein bars or granola bars are bad for you, but many of them are. This is why reading food labels is key!

Flip over a protein or granola bar and you see ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, artificial coloring, artificial flavors and other health haters. Just because your “healthy” snack bar says it has fruits and nuts does not automatically make it good for you.

The Takeaway:

Just like you wouldn’t judge a book by its cover, be like an investigator to find out what’s inside of the food you eat. Don’t go by the flashy headlines of the labels and trendy buzz words – read ingredients lists and understand what they mean, so you’re sure that you’re buying the healthiest choices for your family.

This list of 5 hazardous foods is just a starting place. Be sure to download my FREE guide on 15 Foods to Never Feed Your Kids Again to stay away from some other sneaky culprits!

Wishing you well,

Dr. Jessica