- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- Air Quality Better in Northeast, Midwest
- Childhood Food Allergies on the Rise
- Herbal Remedy Could Halt Peanut Allergy
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- Taking the Mystery Out of Hypnotherapy
- Music Therapy For Prehistoric Man?
- Soybean Chemicals May Reduce Effects of Menopause
- ANIMAL CARE
- Safe Toys for Dogs
- Animals Respond to Acupuncture's Healing Touch
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- BONES & JOINTS
- Put Your Best Foot Forward Next Year
- Chronic Low Back Pain Is on the Rise
- Active Young Women Need Calcium, Vitamin D
- CANCER
- Spice Compounds May Stem Tumor Growth
- Minorities Distrust Medical System More
- Smoking Exposure Now Linked to Colon, Breast Cancers
- CAREGIVING
- Reduce Suffering, Urge Heart Failure Patients and Caregivers
- Transition From Home to Hospital Rarely Seamless
- Caregiving May Lengthen Life
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- Night Shift Work Hard on the Heart
- Support Network May Play Role in Benefits of Drinking
- Exercise Extends Life of Kidney Patients
- COSMETIC
- New Genetic Links to Baldness Discovered
- Science May Banish Bad Hair Days
- Gum Chewing May Cut Craving for Snacks
- DENTAL, ORAL
- Acupuncture May Ease Anxiety Over Dental Work
- Toothbrushing May Stave Off Heart Woes
- Gummy Bears Join Cavity Fight
- DIABETES
- Boosting Vitamin D Can Do a Heart Good
- Lifestyle Factors Tied to Older Adults' Diabetes Risk
- Saliva Test Could Monitor Type 2 Diabetes
- DIET, NUTRITION
- The High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Debate
- Vitamin D Vital for the Heart
- Shedding Light on Why Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help the Heart
- DISABILITIES
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- U.S. Diet Needs Heart-Felt Overhaul
- 1976 Italian Dioxin Release Damaged Babies' Thyroids
- Air Pollution Raises Risk of Heart Disease, Death
- EYE CARE, VISION
- Diabetic Hispanics Missing Out on Eye Exams
- Don't Lose Sight of Halloween Safety
- Poor Night Vision May Predict Age-Related Eye Disease
- FITNESS
- Research Confirms How Valuable A Healthy Lifestyle Can Be
- Exercise Extends Life of Kidney Patients
- Fitness Fades Fast After 45
- GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS
- Japanese Herbals May Ease Gastro Woes
- Traditional Nonsurgical GERD Treatments Not Impressive
- New Guidelines Issued for Management of IBS
- GENERAL HEALTH
- Lose Weight, Sleep Apnea May Improve
- Maximize Your Run
- Should the FDA Regulate Tobacco?
- HEAD & NECK
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- Airport Full Body Scanners Pose No Health Threat: Experts
- Study Suggests Link Between Cell Phones and Brain Tumors
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- Fewer Heart Attacks After England Goes Smoke-Free
- Fondness for Fish Keeps Japanese Hearts Healthy
- Laughter Can Boost Heart Health
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Viral Infection Might Trigger High Blood Pressure
- The HPV Vaccine: Preventative Medicine or Human Sacrifice?
- Dry Weather Boosts Odds of Flu Outbreaks
- KID'S HEALTH
- Quick Orthopedic Repair Can Save Young Shoulders
- Keep Safety in Mind While Your Kids Are Cooling Off in the Water
- Play Creatively as a Kid, Be a Healthier Adult
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Whole Grains, Bran May Fight Hypertension in Men
- Sunlight May Help Protect Men From Kidney Cancer
- The Dark Side of Vegetarianism
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Chocolate a Sweet Pick-Me-Up for the Depressed
- Estrogen May Help Men's Hearts
- Living Alone Increases Odds of Developing Dementia
- PREGNANCY
- Prenatal Stress May Boost Baby's Asthma Risk
- Pre-Pregnancy Weight Linked to Babies' Heart Problems
- Breast-Feeding May Protect a Woman's Heart
- SENIORS
- Fitness Fades Fast After 45
- For Older Walkers, Faster Is Better
- Laughter Can Stimulate a Dull Appetite
Six Healthy-Sounding Foods That Really Aren't
By eHolistic.com Published: 06/19/2008
Many foods have been heavily promoted as being healthy. But not all of them are. Here are some foods which are far less “good for you” than most people believe.
Energy Bars
Energy bars usually contain protein and fiber, but they may also be loaded with calories. That’s fine if you occasionally make one a meal, but most people eat them as snacks.
Granola
Granola sounds healthy. But it’s often high in fat, sugar and calories. Don’t be fooled by a seemingly low calorie count; the portion sizes on the label are usually tiny. Read the labels for ingredients, and pay attention to serving size specified on the nutritional information!
Salad Toppings
The pecans and Gorgonzola cheese on Panera Bread’s Fuji Apple Chicken Salad propel it into double-cheeseburger territory. Before ordering a salad, check its nutrition information.
Smoothies
Added sugars can make some smoothies the equivalent of drinking fruit pie filling. The smallest serving of Jamba Juice’s Orange Dream Machine has 340 calories and an astonishing 69 grams of sugars.
Sushi Rolls
Sushi rolls vary, and the fried bits [tempura flakes] and mayonnaise in some can really jack up the calories. If you order Japanese food, stay with sashimi, sushi or rolls that contain just fish and vegetables – not chopped pieces of fish blended with spicy mayo, or tempura flakes, orcream cheese, etc.
Yogurts
The “fruit” in yogurt is really jam (that is to say, mostly sugar). Also, flavored yogurts tend to be packed with sugar (or artificial sweeteners like aspartame), so stick with plain yogurt and add fresh fruit yourself.
Dr. Mercola comments:
A great way to sabotage your health and any weight loss efforts is to fall for the fraudulent claims of “healthy” snack foods and drinks. Many will try to fool you into thinking they’re good for you simply because they taste like fruit, or contain a small portion of something healthy, even though other ingredients might counteract any health benefits completely – excess sugar, or artificial sweeteners, being just a couple of the main culprits.
But considering the fact that Americans spend about 90 percent of their food money on processed foods, the allure of these quick and easy food products is no surprise. Let’s take a closer look at a couple of the not-so-healthy-health-foods mentioned above.
The Low-Down on Energy Bars
Most likely, you already know that candy bars are not good for you. Loaded with sugar and typically devoid of any healthy proteins or fat, they give your body a quick lift without providing any real nourishment. The lift soon gives way to a letdown and you feel hungrier than before. Many contain trans fat and a slew of artificial ingredients.
Enter the Energy Bar. They look and taste like candy bars, have the shelf life of candy bars, contain protein and fiber, and are loaded with vitamins and minerals. They are convenient and they taste good. And, thanks to an incredible amount of advertising hype, they can be consumed without the guilt of the candy bar. Or… can they? The original energy bars, such as the Power Bar and the Source Bar, were based on so-called “natural” sweeteners--high fructose corn syrup and juice concentrates--along with dried fruits and nuts, a combination that resulted in higher percentages of carbohydrates than your typical chocolate candy bar. But the real boost for the bar business came with the advent of cheap soy that could be added to make a "high-protein" bar. Unfortunately, most of today’s energy bars contain few desirable, health-promoting ingredients and quite a bit of junk. For example:
• Soy protein comes with an initial burden of phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors and isoflavones. More toxins are formed during high-temperature chemical processing, including nitrates, lysinalanine and MSG. Soy protein must therefore be processed at very high temperatures to reduce levels of phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors -- a process that over-denatures many of the proteins in soy, especially lysine, making them unavailable to your body.
• High fructose corn syrup (or concentrated fruit juices, which are high in fructose), has been shown to be more hazardous to your health and waistline than sugar.
• Synthetic vitamins are thrown in so the bars can be called "complete.” However, synthetic vitamins are useless at best and hazardous at worst, as your body cannot process synthetic vitamins the way it processes natural vitamins.
With the exception of most of the fats, most of the ingredients used in energy bars are actually waste products from other industries:
• Soy protein isolate and most whey protein are the waste products of the soy oil and cheese industries respectively. (Note: This is not the case for the healthy whey protein used in Cocoa Cassava bars).
• Apple and lemon fiber, used to create a crunchy effect, are made from the pulp left over from squeezing the fruits for their juice
• Most of the sweeteners are made by highly industrialized processes and can cause significant rises in blood sugar and insulin levels.
In short, most of the ingredients in energy bars are anything but natural. Of course, there are exceptions, but you really have to analyze the ingredients. Naturally, you can’t compete with whole, unprocessed high-quality food, but if you occasionally need a healthy alternative, make sure you do your homework before you throw those commercial energy bars into your bag.
What’s Really in Your Yogurt?
Yogurt is another very common food that is misleadingly advertised as healthy. Why?
Because nearly all commercially available yoghurt is pasteurized, which places them in the same category as pasteurized milk. And, if you’ve been a reader of my newsletter for any amount of time, you already know why pasteurized milk is bad for your health:
• Pasteurized cow's milk is the leading allergic food in the United States
• It has been well documented as a cause in diarrhea, cramps, bloating, gas, gastrointestinal bleeding, iron-deficiency anemia, skin rashes, atherosclerosis, and acne
• It is the primary cause of recurrent ear infections in children
• It has also been linked to insulin dependent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, and leukemia
Pasteurizing milk destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamins, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria, and promotes pathogens. From my perspective, there’s simply no rational justification to ever drink pasteurized milk, even organic pasteurized milk, and the same goes for pasteurized yoghurt. And, the pasteurization aside, store-bought yoghurt can also contain high amounts of added sugar; high-sugar fruit jams; or worse, artificial sweeteners.
Fortunately, if you have access to raw milk, making your own homemade raw yoghurt is really easy, and is a truly healthy superfood, rich in highly beneficial bacteria and other nutrients.
-Dr. Mercola
Sources: Dr. Rachel Johnson from EatingWell Magazine, Shine by Yahoo and Dr. Mercola