Food Fiction!
Food Fiction: Caesar Salad
- A small bowl is between 300-500 Calories and 30 grams of fat!
- The dressing and Cheese is what sabotages our diets.
- Ordering your dressing on the side is a must when it comes to Caesar salads because restaurants tend to heap on the dressing in loads.
- Choose either Bacon or Cheese, instead of both!
- Only eat half of the croutons.
Food Fiction: Fresh Smoothies
- 80grams of sugar
- 400-700 calories
- No protein
- Most used full fat milk or artificial fruit juice
Make your smoothie at home! Control what you are putting into your smoothie! This morning I made a smoothie with 1 container of fat free plain Chobani, 1 cup ice, 1 cup almond breeze and 1 packet sugar free jello with cup of frozen fruit. It was around 200 calories from protein and calcium! No added sugars and it tasted AMAZING!
Food Fiction: Energy Bars
- You might as well eat a snickers bar! Most Energy bars are chocolate bars with added enhancements.
- The Size them also leaves you wanting more and still hungry
Eat a bowl of oatmeal or grab fruit with peanut butter! It will leave you satisfied and give you more energy than a power bar. I’m ALWAYS hungry after an energy bar and it only gives me energy to get up and grab another! The only Energy/Protein bar I am all for are the Special K protein bars. They are only 180 calories and have 10g protein.
Food Fiction: Chicken Burrito
- Always choose white meat! So it’s healthy….Wrong. It’s basically like eating a hamburger and saying I added Lettuce so “It’s healthy”.
- A Chicken Burrito from a fast food restaurant can be between 1000 - 2000 Calories. It’s LOADED in saturated fats and Full fat cheese. Since you are already treating yourself you probably wont think twice before added hot sauce, sour cream
- Your small food changes can reduce calories but what is the point when you are replacing them with more unhealthy calories.
If you are stuck at a Burrito place try sharing a burrito and have a fresh salad on the side!
If you are just having the crazy chicken burrito craving try making your own at home. You can make yours with Grilled Chicken, Whole Wheat Tortilla, Load it with Cooked Vegetables, use reduced fat cheese and healthy beans. Instead of added Sauce and Sour cream try a tablespoon of cottage cheese and salsa! My family stays away from fast food joints, making your own versions of these foods is so much healthier!
Food Fiction: Enhanced Water
- Not only are vitamins added so is sugar! The vitamins that are added effect your body maybe 5%
- When you see the words Vitamin it automatically clicks in your brain OH HEALTHY, but you have to look further.
- Sure it’s only 50 Calories….For not even half the bottle! They trick you into drinking 125 calories that are coming from sugar. That’s why reading labels are so important
If it’s the vitamins you are looking for start taking a daily vitamin. If its the problem with drinking water and staying hydrated add fresh lemon to your water or a natural flavored water. If I want Vitamin water I usually grab vitamin ZERO even though it does contain carbs.
Food Fiction: 2% Milk
- Why choose 2% Over Whole milk when it has MORE than half the saturated Fats.
Don’t just grab milk off the shelf, Look at your options
Whole Milk (3.25%) = 150 cal., 8g fat, 5g sat. fat
Reduced-fat (2%) = 130 cal., 5g fat, 3g sat. fat
Skim (nonfat) = 80 cal., 0g fat, 0g sat. fat
I rarely choose any of the three above. I drink Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla. It’s only 40 calories and has an amazing taste. It’s amazing in cereals, coffees, and i use it for baking!
Food Fiction: Lattes
- Skipping the ice cream after dinner and going to grab a latte? Don’t be fooled because it can be 10x worse than ice scream.
- Most Lattes use Full fat milk, added sugary syrups, saturated fat whipped topping and drizzled syrups on the top
Instead order a latte with sugar free syrup, skim milk, hold the whipped topping! You will cut out around 400 calories by taking this route instead! Or go for the low fat Ice cream. I normally go for the fresh brewed coffee with sugar free syrup and fat free half and half! That’s an easy 45 Calories!
Food Fiction: Turkey Hot Dogs
- Less Fat? AWESOME!….but wait, 1gram less?…does that REALLY make a difference.
Make sure you really pay attention to the fat content on the back of packaged turkey dogs, and other packaged foods for any matter. Or try to cut back on the packaged foods. Grilled Chicken or Fish seems like the better alternative. My family made a vowel to never eat processed sausage, hot dogs, or red meat again. If you really paid attention to how these were made you’d be terrified.
Food Fiction: Muffins
- Worse than cupcakes? Worse than Donuts? ….YIKES!
- Full of sugar! You can end up taking in 500-900 calories just by one muffin!
Try eating a mini muffin with a healthier side of fruit, or only eating half the muffin with a healthier side! Unless it is a healthy muffin with less sugar , fiber, and whole grains .Pay attention to the intake! It could break your healthy lifestyle. I have tons of Muffin Recipes on my page for the better choice! It’s fun to bake and your friends, family, or office will totally appreciate the healthy snack! I used to work at a bagel shop when I first started high school, I’d eat a muffin every morning for breakfast thinking I’m doing great! Now that I look back on it I was consuming 1000 Calories EVERY MORNING! no wonder my weight was escalating!
Food Fiction: Low-Fat Granola
- Most low-fat granola brands are only 7% fewer calories and is still loaded in sugar.
- The Low-Fat Labels can lead you into thinking you can eat more than serving side.
Choosing a low fat and whole grain cereal instead of granola cereal would be the better option. I used to overload on the granola and I never paid attention to the nutrional value of it. I was better off eating candy! Now I used Fiber One cereals to give my yogurts and other foods an extra crunch.
Food Fictioin: Low-Fat Yogurt
- Full of Calcium and Protein…..YEA YEA YEA…but also FULL of sugar!!!!
Pay attention to the sugar labels. The best option would be a plain non fat greek yogurt. You can add fresh fruit for flavor. I usually go with Chobani Plain. It has only 7g or Sugar which is so much better than other brands.
Food Fiction: Multigrain
- Just becuase it’s Multigrain doesnt meal it’s not Multigrain with a 80% refined grains like white flour.
- The dark color of the Multigrain product can also be misleading
- You don’t want to be ripped off from your fiber!
Make sure the product is “100% whole grain” as the first ingredient. If it isnt make sure its HIGH in fiber. Fiber One products are a great alternative.
Food Fiction: Light Olive Oil
- Why is it called light olive oil? Does it weight less?….because it definitely doesn’t make you light!
- The calories are the same, The fat is the same, it’s just lighter in color and taste lighter……..so don’t think you are getting off the hook.
Pay attention to the labels and start comparing. Olive oil can be healthy and good for you but eating it in proportion is key. I rarely use olive oil when I am cooking. I use Pam or just cut out all the oil in general.
Food Fiction: Added Omega-3
- There are different kinds of Omega-3s. You can find added Omega-3 in things like oatmeal, dairy products, eggs, and other foods, but is it the Omega-3 that our bodies need to have a good heart? NOPE!
- DHA and EPA are the Omega-3 are bodies can benefit from. Most products use vegetables as a source of Omega-3 called ALA, which is beneficial but not as powerful as DHA or EPA.
- The Amount of Omega-3 that is added is TINY.
If you are looking for a diet full of Omega-3 fish would be your healthiest option! There is enough Omega-3 in one bite of salmon to give you the same boost any added products would provide. Vegetarians can benefit with the Vegetables Source ALA but will never be fully nourished with Omega-3. I’m a pescatarian so Salmon is a huge part of my life when I am trying to catch up on Omega-3.
Food Fiction: Iced Tea
- Did you know that tea is a health food?…You didn’t? Oh that’s because it’s not! Don’t let the word “Antioxidant” Fool you.
- Most Iced Teas are artificially flavored and have so much added sugar.
- The Label can also fool you with it’s MULTIPLE servings per bottle. You think you are drinking 100 calories but if you look closely your consuming around 250 calories coming from added sugar.
If you are looking for a healthy alternative to Tea, Brew your own, add truvia or freshly squeezed fruit. I always go to Sonic and Order the Large UNSWEETENED ice tea and add fresh squeezed lemon and 1 packet or stevia or truvia.
Food Fraud: Microwave Popcorn
- Want a healthy snack loaded in more fat than a daily meal? Then go for the Microwave Popcorn!
- 2 Cups or 1 Snack Pack of Microwave popcorn can have up to 12g of saturated fat! Gross!
- Microwave popcorn is also loaded in salt making your sodium intake sky rocket! If it’s kettle it’s most likely loaded in added sugar, and If it’s butter….well do I have to say anything more?
Start air popping your popcorn! It’s so much healthier. Be creative and come up with your own flavoring techniques. I have a bunch of options in my snack section. You can cut out all the sodium, fat, calories and treat your self to an extra cups of popcorn. It may take extra time but your body will benefit from it. There are so many ways to air pop your popcorn too!
Food Fiction: Iceberg Lettuce
- Almost Zero Calories!! Awesome!….but zero flavor and zero nutrients! So basically its water with a CRUNCH.
- The idea that it’s salad gives a lot of people the thought that it is okay to add tons of dressing, cheese, bacon, nuts, and other full of fat toppings
Try to eat a mixed blend of lettuce such as spinach, romaine, cabbage and iceberg. Always order your dressing on the side, it saves so much. Make sure you pay attention to the fat content in your dressings and also the sugar grams, I know you dont think of sugar when it comes to dressing but believe me its loaded, even fat free brands.
Allow yourself 3 choices of toppings instead of going all out. My favorite are raisins, egg whites, and croutons. I never limit myself to the amount of veggies and fruit though.
Food Fiction: Salty Toppings
- There are good toppings, bad toppings, and both. Sure artichokes hearts, chickpeas, and olives are healthy and full of nutritional benefits but overloading them can lead to an overload of salt!
- Try to limit all the items that would come out of a can unless you are the one buying the can and it says “No Salt Added”
- Always choose one or the other, or half of each.
- Also most of the meat on a restaurants salad bar is from a bag and is processed, unless you have cooked and prepared it yourself eliminate it and go for egg or cheese a source of protein.
Food Fiction: Cole Slaw
- Cabbage alone can be great for you, but when you turn it into coleslaw you might as well say goodbye to your waistline.
- Most coleslaw’s range from 300-500 calories per serving and has over 24g or fat!
- Mayo is the killer here.
I love cabbage and I love coleslaw! It’s always hard to pass it up. I have a recipe up on my page for a healthy coleslaw that I made from greek yogurt! It taste just as good and you can almost eat the entire bowl without feeling guilty! If you are at a restaurant like apple bees or long john silvers ask for a side of fresh vegetables instead of coleslaw.Unless you know how it’s made stay clear.
Food Fiction: A Little Trans Fat
- Most pastries have more than 2 grams of trans fat. Trans fat is the fat that we never want to consume daily.
Food companies are brilliant and talented when it comes to tricking us into eating Trans fats. They use labels such as “0 Trans Fat and Less Than 0.5 Trans fat” If you eat more than the serving size you are consuming more trans fat than you expected even with the 0 Trans Fat labels. Don’t let the companies fool you!
Food Fiction: Fruit Chips
- It’s common sense to eat more fruits and vegetables when trying to obtain a healthy lifestyle. But does eating fried Fruit Chips Count?….hmmm no.
- Most fruit chips are loaded in saturated fat, calories and sugars because they are fried.
Make sure you go for the healthier Fruit chips that are labeled “baked” and have no added sugars. I like to make my own fruit chips that way they are fresh and non processed. Also instead of buying a bag of dried fruit try eating fresh fruit it’s a lot more filling!
Food Fiction: Crackers
- Crackers are so easy to be fooled by. They trick you with Sugar, Carbs, Fat, Grains, Fiber and So much more!
- Crackers are the easiest things to over indulge yourself with.
When you are looking for the right crackers avoid starting with the front of the box, professional advertisers will catch your eyes with the healthy parts and leave the unhealthy parts to the back. Start there and compare! Make sure its Whole Grain and never overindulge the serving size!
Grapes vs. Raisins
- Raisins are tricky little things! They seem pretty healthy…and they are…but they are high in calories. 1/4 cup of raisins equal about 130 calories with a high carb content.
- Raisins are so easy to over eat as well.
I always go for the cup of grapes instead of the raisins because it satisfies my hunger so much better!
Skip the Bacon
- Enough said.
- Okay but seriously, bacon is so full of fat, grease, sodium and can do damage to your heart
- Skipping out on your morning slices of bacon can cause a 10lbs weight loss in one year!
Frozen Dinners
- Oh they’re quick….but only quick on the weight gain.
- Loaded in sodium and fats.
Try to find a low sodium/fat content or get off your lazy bum and make dinner!:)
Vegetable Juices
- Drinking vegetable juices are not the smart way to get your daily vegetable servings
- Loaded in Sodium!
You can either make your own with a juicer, eat vegetables fresh or try to find a low sodium version vegetable juice.
Canned Vegetables
- Canned Vegetables are Sodium fireworks!
Make sure when shopping for canned vegetables you choose ones that are low in sodium or no salt added. Eating fresh vegetables is a better option or draining our the can and rinsing.
Marinades and Flavorings
You may assume you are eating very healthy by sticking to lean meats and rich nutritious vegetables but you are only eating as healthy as the sauces and seasonings you add to them. For instance if you add Teriyaki sauce 1 Tbsp is around 700mg sodium. That is about half a days amount. Soy sauce is around 1200mg of sodium. Most restaurants pile on the salty marinades especially the Chinese fast food chains.
There are so many delicious substitutes you can use.
-Fruit Juices, Italian salad dressing, olive oil, natural seasonings.
Pre-Packaged Pitfalls
The noodles are low in sodium but the packet of seasoning is horrendously high! Cook the noodles and add your own flavoring!
Food Label Claims
Can’t keep up with the jargon? Here’s a cheat sheet:
- Sodium-free: Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
- Very low-sodium: 35 mg or less per serving
- Low-sodium: Less than 140 mg per serving
- Reduced sodium: Sodium level reduced by 25%
- Unsalted, no salt added, or without added salt: Made without the salt that’s normally used, but still contains the sodium that’s a natural part of the food itself.
What’s in a Name?
When you’re scanning a food label, don’t just look for the word “salt.” Watch out for various forms of sodium or other names for the same thing:
- sodium alginate
- sodium ascorbate
- sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
- sodium benzoate
- sodium caseinate
- sodium chloride
- sodium citrate
- sodium hydroxide
- sodium saccharin
- sodium stearoyl lactylate
- sodium sulfite
- disodium phosphate
- monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- trisodium phosphate
- Na
General Mills Reese’s Puffs
150 calories
4 g fat (1 g saturated)
1.5 g fiber
15 g sugars
This cereal has more sugar than you’ll find in a real Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and just a trace of fiber. Not all super-sweet cereals are terrible for you—consider General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios, which you can easily blend with regular Cheerios to lower the sugar content but hang on to the flavor. Cereal serving sizes are generally miniscule. Next time you pour yourself a bowl, measure it out. You’re likely pouring yourself double the amount calculated on the label, and these extra calories add up quickly.
Krispy Kreme Powdered Cake Doughnut
290 calories
14 g fat (6 g saturated)
19 g sugars
Both of these are classic sugar doughnuts, but in otherwise equal matchups, cake doughnuts will always lose out to yeast doughnuts. Make this mistake twice a week and you’ll be looking at nearly 3 pounds of extra fat by the end of the year.
Quaker Natural Granola Oats & Honey & Raisins
420 calories
12 g fat (7 g saturated)
30 g sugars
6 g fiber
Thought the sweetest cereal in America would be one with a leprechaun or a rabbit on the box? Think again. Honey and brown sugar team up to cover these clusters with more sugar than you’d find in 3 Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts. Granola is basically dessert for breakfast. Sure, there’s a splash of fiber, but sugar accounts for more than a third of the calories in this bowl, and unfortunately, Quaker’s is the rule, not the exception. The only acceptable use for granola is to crumble a small handful into plain yogurt. Save your bowls for a cereal more wholesome.
Jimmy Dean Pancake and Sausage Breakfast Bowl
710 calories
31 g fat (11 g saturated)
890 mg sodium
34 g sugars
The emerging breakfast bowl trend is a troubling one for health-conscious eaters. It invariably involves a carb and fat-riddled amalgamation of eggs, meat, pancakes, and potatoes—or some combination thereof. A disastrous trifecta of refined carbs from the pancakes, saturated fat from the sausage, and added sugar from the syrup. Jimmy’s got his name attached to more than a few solid breakfast choices, so find one less than 400 calories immediately and make the switch. Hint: Look to the breakfast sandwiches and the D-Lights line.
Dole Tropical Mixed Fruit in Passion Fruit Nectar (1/2 cup)
90 calories
0 g fat
20 g sugars
If there’s one thing we love about fruit, it’s that nature prepackages it with the perfect amount of sugar. That’s why fruit packed in syrup bothers us so much. Apparently the folks who can these fruits don’t trust nature’s recipe, so they augment it with a gob of extra sugar, which downgrades nature’s wonder food into canned candy. Stick with nature’s recipe instead and buy only fruits packed in 100 percent juice.
Arizona RX Energy Herbal Tonic (20-ounce can)
300 calories
0 g fat
73 g sugars
The most egregious part of this beverage is the inference that this is somehow healthy for you. The name is at least half-true: by the time you finish with RX, you may need a prescription for insulin just to regulate your blood sugar. Any of tea’s proven health benefits are drowned out by the sea of sugar awaiting inside this can. Save more than 250 calories by switching to Honest Tea.
Bertolli Grilled Chicken Alfredo & Fettuccine Skillet Meal for Two (1/2 package)
710 calories
42 g fat (22 g saturated)
1,370 mg sodium
Bertolli makes some of the worst (and a few of the best) meals in the freezer case. This one, which gets 28 percent of its calories from saturated fat, falls decidedly into the worst category. There are plenty of healthy stir-fry options in the freezer. Grab just about anything but this.
Planters Trail MIx Nut & Chocolate (3 Tbsp)
160 calories
10 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
13 g sugars
20 mg sodium
A high chocolate-to-nut ratio makes this mix a lackluster choice.
Kashi GoLean Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (1 bar, 78 g)
280 calories
5 g fat (3 g saturated)
13 g protein
6 g fiber
33 g sugars
A candy bar in a protein bar’s clothing. This chocolaty mess has nearly twice as much sugar as the Larabar and 90 extra calories to boot.
What’s in my salami sandwich?
Salami, the mystery meat: Is it cow? Is it pig? Well, if you’re talking Genoa salami, like you’d get at Subway, then it’s both. Most salami is made from slaughterhouse leftovers that are gathered using “advanced meat recovery,” which sounds like a rehab center for vegans but is actually a mechanical process that strips the last remaining bits of muscle off the bone so nothing is wasted. It’s then processed using lactic acid, the waste product produced by bacteria in the meat. It both gives the salami its tangy flavor and cures it as well, making it an inhospitable place for other bacteria to grow. Add in a bunch of salt and spices—for a total of 15 ingredients in all—and you’ve got salami. But now that you know what’s in there, you might need to check yourself into an advanced meat recovery center.
What’s in fruit juice?
You may be a savvy enough grocery shopper to be able to spot the juice impostors (we’re looking at you, sugar-jacked cranberry cocktail). But when you smugly pull a Tropicana Pure 100% Juice Pomegranate Blueberry off the shelf, do you know what kind of juice you’re actually buying?
Drinks may be labeled 100 percent pure juice, but that doesn’t mean they’re made exclusively with the advertised juice. With respect to the Tropicana in question, pomegranate and blueberry get top billing, even though the ingredient list reveals that pear, apple, and grape juices are among the first four ingredients. These juices are used because they’re cheap to produce and because they’re super sweet—likely to keep you coming back for more. Labels loaded with of-the-moment superfoods like açai and pomegranate are especially susceptible to this type of trickery. Beware.
To avoid the huge sugar surge, pick single-fruit juices. POM, Lakewood Organic, and R.W. Knudsen all make some reliably pure products.
What’s in pre-made guacamole?
Not all pre-made guacamole dips are truly made with avocados. In fact, Dean’s “Guacamole” dip is comprised of less than 2 percent! The rest of the green goo is a cluster of fillers and chemicals, including modified food starch, soybean oils, locust bean gum, and food coloring. Dean’s isn’t alone in this guacamole caper; most guacs with the word “dip” attached to them suffer from a lack of avocado. This was brought to light when a California woman filed a lawsuit against Dean’s after she noticed “it just didn’t taste avocado-y.” Similarly, a British judge ruled that Pringles are not technically chips, being that they have only 42 percent potato in them.
If you want the heart-healthy fat, you’ll need avocado. Wholly Guacamole makes a great guac, or mash up a bowl yourself.
What’s in an energy drink?
Most energy drinks laud their herbal supplements, but the science behind the add-ins is somewhat fuzzy. Ginseng, for example, won’t give you an energy blast, although it might boost your brainpower. For instance, Australian researchers found that people who swallowed 200 mg of the extract an hour before taking a cognitive test scored significantly better than when they skipped the supplement. And guarana’s benefit may simply be due to its caffeine content-a guarana seed contains 4 to 5 percent caffeine (about twice as much as a coffee bean). And taurine? What is taurine, anyway?
Every can of Red Bull boasts the exotic-sounding ingredient. So do AMP Energy and Sobe Adrenaline Rush, among a slew of high-octane others. But can it really spike your performance, hone your concentration, and keep you up for hours? In a word: No. See, taurine is an amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter. And researchers at Weill Cornell Medical found that it might actually work more as a sedative than a stimulant. Meaning: It doesn’t give you wings—it clips them.
Boulder Canyon Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt
(~14 chips, 28 g)
150 calories
7 g fat (1 g saturated)
710 mg sodium
Boulder Canyon might boast “Natural Foods” on the packaging, but these chips contain nearly double the sodium of all the other major brands in the grocery store. To cut back on the sodium, opt for Popchips Salt & Pepper, instead. Popchips are neither fried nor baked—the potatoes “pop” with heat and pressure. It’s delicious ingenuity.
Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream
(~11 chips, 28 g)
160 calories
11 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
230 mg sodium
Ruffles are cut thick and crinkled, which means more fried potato is stuffed into each bite. Think of it this way: If you stretched out the crinkles, you’d have a massive hunk of fried potato. If you want a flavored crisp, go for anything from the Baked! Lays line, which has about 10 fewer calories per serving than almost any other brand of baked chips.
Kraft Cheez Whiz Original Cheese Dip
(2 Tbsp, 33 g)
90 calories
7 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
440 mg sodium
This glowing orange goop is pure junk. If you have a taste for cheese, save your calories for the real thing. We’re especially fond of Tostitos Salsa Con Queso Medium. With the nutritional perks of tomatoes and peppers, salsa con queso beats straight cheese dip every time. Plus, you can eat twice as much for the same caloric punch (not that you should, of course!).
Minute Maid Lemonade (20-ounce bottle)
250 calories
67 g sugars
This classic lemonade favorite has the sugar equivalent of 5 Good Human Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches, and you’d need to do a full hour of vigorous housecleaning to burn off all the calories. Switch to the much-less-caloric (and equally refreshing) Crystal Light option.
Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino (13.7-ounce bottle)
290 calories
4.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
46 g sugars
Most people don’t associate coffee with milk shakes-like loads of sugar, but that’s exactly what’s happening inside this bottle. Add one of these to your diet every morning and you’ll add about 28 pounds of flab to your body in a year.
Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5-ounce can)
360 calories
0 g fat
84 g sugars
If kiwi and strawberry are both fruits (and they are, we fact-checked it), then why does this can contain only 5 percent juice? Because it’s made from watered-down high-fructose corn syrup-enough of it, in fact, to give this drink the sugar equivalent of 7 bowls of Froot Loops cereal. The most disturbing part of this beverage is that it normally costs just $.99, making it the cheapest source of empty calories we’ve ever uncovered.
Naked Protein Zone Banana Chocolate (15.2-ounce bottle)
480 calories
3 g fat (1 g saturated)
32 g protein
70 g sugars
Naked makes fantastic smoothies, but this isn’t one of them. The flood of protein can’t justify the calorie counts, which will catapult your blood sugar and activate your body’s fat-storing mechanism. Shave off a few by going out for a nice dinner. A 6-ounce sirloin steak has 60 percent more protein and 160 fewer calories.
Del Monte Peach Chunks Yellow Cling Peaches in Heavy Syrup
100 calories
23 g sugars
Peaches themselves aren’t bona fide junk food; they are, after all, still fruit. But why manufacturers feel the need to can, packaged, and bottle nature’s candy with excess sugar is a question we will never stop asking. In this case, the viscous sugar solution clings to the fruit like syrup to a pancake, soaking every bite with utterly unnecessary calories. Looking for cheap sources of fruit to have on hand at any time? Opt for the frozen stuff—it’s picked at the height of season and flash frozen on the spot, keeping costs low and nutrients high.
Oscar Mayer Maxed Out Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Combo Lunchables
680 calories
22 g fat (9 g saturated)
1,440 mg sodium
61 g sugars
The Maxed Out line is the worst of the lackluster Lunchables, with a back label that reads like a chemistry textbook. By cramming dessert and a superweet drink into the box, Oscar manages to saddle this already-troubled package with more added sugar than your child should take in all day. This meal has the sugar equivalent of 10 Dunkin’ Donuts jelly-filled doughnuts!
DiGiorno for One Supreme pizza with Garlic Bread Crust
840 calories
44 g fat (16 g saturated, 3.5 g trans)
1,450 mg sodium
Regardless of the crust you choose, DiGiorno’s For One line is dominated by nutritional duds. The bloated crust and the greasy toppings will saddle you with 60 percent of your day’s sodium, 80 percent of your day’s saturated fat, and nearly twice the amount of trans fat you should take in daily. Hands off!
Stouffer’s White Meat Chicken Pot Pie
1,160 calories
66 g fat (26 g saturated)
1,780 mg sodium
The potpie is one of the world’s worst dietary inventions to begin with, and the damage is all the more extreme when the pie seems as big as a child’s head. Stouffer’s tries to get away with it by falling back on the serving-size sleight of hand; that is, to list as 2 servings what every person with a fork will consume as 1. Nobody splits potpies, and eating this whole thing will fill your belly with more saturated fat than you should eat in an entire day.
Kraft Original Macaroni and Cheese
The Claim: “USDA organic”
The Truth: It’s organic so it must be healthy, right? Not so much. For an extra 60 cents per box, consumers save 20 calories and 1 gram of fat. They also gain 2 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fiber, and 50 milligrams of sodium and they lose 6 percent of their daily iron. The point is, even organic junk food is still junk food. Your body processes organic refined flour and powdered cheese the same way it does conventional, so at the end of the day it’s still a high-calorie, low-nutrient letdown.
What You Really Want: If you must have mac, pick one with a label that reads like the recipe you’d use to fix it at home. Annie’s line of macaroni and cheese contains about eight ingredients per box and cuts the fat by 72 percent over Kraft Organic.
Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry
The Claim: “Juice drink”
The Truth: Words like “juice drink” and “juice cocktail” are industry euphemisms for a huge dose of sugar water. In this case, the product is also adorned with a cluster of other claims that attempt to hide this simple fact. (Most of Ocean Spray’s juice products suffer from a serious lack of juice; this particular one, with just 18 percent juice, is one of the worst offenders.) Ocean Spray, to be sure, is not the only juice purveyor guilty of this sleight of hand: Dozens of manufacturers, including Welch’s, Minute Maid, and SunnyD, perpetrate similar nutritional injustices.
What You Really Want: Every juice that hits your lips should be 100 percent juice. Period.
Healthy Choice Sweet & Sour Chicken
The Claim: “Healthy Choice”
The Truth: A company can call itself whatever it wants, but that doesn’t give credence to the name. Healthy Choice even provides a handful of nutritional stats-430 calories, 9 grams fat, 600 milligrams sodium-to back up the name, but they neglect to mention the 29 grams of added sugars used in this dish. The six different forms of sweeteners in the ingredient list combine to give this less-than-healthy choice almost the same amount of sugar as a Snickers bar. Many Healthy Choice selections are reliably nutritious; this is not one of them.
What You Really Want: Dinner that doesn’t taste like a bowl of ice cream. While fat and calories are important considerations in everything you eat, be sure to read the fine print. Companies with healthy label claims often pull the bait and switch, going low in fat but then elevating the sugar or sodium to up the flavor quotient.
Mama Celeste Original Pizza
The Claim: “Original Pizza”
The Truth: Ever had a pizza without cheese? Well, if you eat this one you will have, since Mama Celeste doesn’t use a single shred of real cheese in making this problematic pie. What does she use? Imitation mozzarella, which is the second ingredient on the list and is composed mostly of partially hydrogenated soybean oil, endowing each serving with 5 grams of nasty trans fats. Also watch out for the attachment of the word “flavored,” as in “strawberry-flavored”; it’s a surefire sign that the product is utterly fruitless.
What You Really Want: Cheese, strawberries, or whatever you think it is you’re getting. If the name or flavor in the food’s title isn’t one of the first few ingredients, find another product.
Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bar
The Claim: “Naturally and artificially flavored”
The Truth: While the FDA requires manufacturers to disclose the use of artificial flavoring on the front of the box, the requirements for what is considered “natural” and “real” are not strict: Even trace amounts of the essence or extract of fruit counts as natural. So yes, there is fruit in this bar, but it falls third in the ingredients list, behind HFCS and corn syrup.
What You Really Want: An honest snack with nothing to hide. Lärabars, one of our favorite snacks in the aisle, are made with nothing more than dried fruit and nuts.
Cheetos Crunchy
The Claim: “Zero gram trans fats”
The Truth: FDA allows manufacturers to make this claim when their products contain less than 0.5 gram of trans fats per serving. It may seem insignificant, but 0.49 gram of this nefarious fat can add up quickly.
What You Really Want: Keep total trans fat intake to no more than 1 percent of total calories-about 2.5 grams per day for most adults. That means reading the ingredients list (especially those that proclaim to be trans-fat free) looking for “partially hydrogenated,” “shortening,” or “interesterified.”
Smucker’s Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter
The Claim: “25% less fat than regular natural peanut butter”
The Truth: Smucker’s has indeed removed some of the fat from the peanut butter, but they’ve replaced it with maltodextrin, a carbohydrate used as a cheap filler in many processed foods. This means you’re trading the healthy fat from peanuts for empty carbs, double the sugar, and a savings of a meager 10 calories.
What You Really Want: The real stuff: no oils, fillers, or added sugars. Just peanuts and salt. Smucker’s Natural fits the bill, as do many other peanut butters out there.
Kellogg’s Smart Start Cereal
The Claim: “Lightly sweetened”
The Truth: Unregulated by the USDA, the word “lightly” gets tossed around like a Frisbee in the food packaging world. Always take it with a grain of salt; in many instances, “light” is the first sign of trouble. With this healthy-sounding cereal, “lightly” means 14 grams of sugar from 5 different sources, all of which adds up to a cereal with more added sugars per serving than Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, or Apple Jacks.
What You Really Want: A cereal with less than 10 grams of sugar per serving (and ideally less than 5), with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Look at cereal as a sugar-to-fiber ratio; you want a ratio no higher than two to one.
Kelloggs Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop-Tarts
The Claim: “Good source of 7 vitamins and minerals”
The Truth: Five of the seven vitamins and minerals are derived from this product’s first ingredient-enriched flour. That’s the code word for “refined flour that’s had nutrients added to it after it’s been stripped of fiber.”
What You Really Want: A breakfast without the nutritional profile of a dessert. Studies show that people who opt for high-quality protein (eggs, yogurt) over refined carbohydrates (pancakes, bagels, Pop-Tarts) lose weight faster and maintain higher levels of energy throughout the day.
Sadly, this flavor has 21 GRAMS of sugar per serving. Yikes! A Coke has 42 grams of sugar per 12 ounces serving. Honey flavored Dannon Greek has 21 grams for a 5.3 ounce serving.
Candy or Breakfast? Evaluate Your Cereal
BREAD VS. TORTILLA
One medium slice of whole wheat bread : 90 Calories, 23g Carbs, 2g Fat, 112mg Sodium, 4g Protein.
One medium Whole Wheat Tortilla: 130 Calories, 26g Carbs, 4g Fat, 420mg Sodium, 3g Protein.
“you should definitely add wraps to your food fraud list! people think wraps are a healthy alternative to bread, and if you buy in the supermarket and compare nutritional information they can be better! (like “flat out” multigrain tortillas) but at restaurants or delis, avoid it altogether. i work at a deli and if you get a sandwich with whole wheat bread, the bread is only 160 calories altogether. a whole wheat wrap that we have, on the other hand, is a whooping 390 calories!! just thought i’d share the knowledge!”
So, to equal the potassium in a banana, potassium is an electrolyte, to equal the potassium in one banana you will have to drink 216 ounces of Gatorade, which is 1.7 gallons. So think about the gallon milk jugs in your head, you would have to drink almost 2 gallons of Gatorade in order to equal the potassium. And that will provide 1350 calories in that Gatorade which if you eat the banana you would only get 200 calories. And not only that, the sugar would be 378 grams of sugar in the Gatorade versus 27 grams of sugar in banana. So in other words, bananas are rich in minerals.
You would have to eat 20.5 large Washington apples to equal one Quarter Pounder value meal from Mcdonalds. 2 Large bananas have the same amount of fiber as the Quarter Pounder value meal with much fewer calories. This is why it’s important to make smarter choices towards where our calories are coming from.
A Quarter Pounder from McDonalds has the same amount of fat as 60 Large Washington Apples!!!
