With so many promises and magic claims in your local health food store, it can sometimes be hard to find what you actually want to be investing in. You have to remember that everyones body is different and somethings that work for others won’t actually work for you. A lot of people will go to the health food store and buy anything simply because they think if it’s in the health food store it must be healthy. In reality a lot of “health foods” are harbouring excess sugar, fats and can be just as processed as the bag of Cheetos you were trying to avoid in the first place. Leading you to not only waste your money but you’ll be wasting your time too.
“It’s not you are what you eat, but more you are what you absorb.” -Jaime Oliver
Top 5 to Avoid:
Agavé Nectar:
Most agave sweeteners come from the blue agave plant. Surprise surprise you don't get its raw nectar. Much like high-fructose corn syrup, it's highly processed before you can add it to your tea, top your pancakes with it, or get it in an energy drink, bar, or other product. In fact, agave has about 60 calories per tbsp while sugar only has 40 calories per tbsp. Instead of agavé, opt for honey, sugar cane juice or stevia instead as these don’t require nearly as much processing and contain fewer sugars and artificial ingredients.
Crunchy Kale Chips:
The crunchy kale chip is one of the biggest crimes in the health food store. It takes some thing that could have been so nourishing and tasty and turned it into the total opposite. These chips don't do much better compared to baked potato chips with Kale Krunch’s Quite Cheezy (28g) at 100cals (63 from fat), 11% of your daily fat and 11% of your daily sodium compared to Lay’s Original Baked (32g) at 130 calories (18 from fat), 3% of your daily fat, and 8% of your daily sodium. Shocking I know, especially because Lay’s are actually giving you the bigger serving. Now I know that your trying to avoid the processed junk in the potato chips, but many crunchy kale chips have the exact same ingredients! What you really want to be roasted kale leaves drizzled with a little EVOO and sprinkled with a little salt and a little pepper.
Organic Products:
Lots of people think that because it’s organic it doesn't contain the chemicals that non organic would- this again is just wrong. Many things like sodas and breads contain many of the same ingredients (just the organic version) of the generic products. For this one you can’t exactly narrow it down to what to buy and what to avoid; as far as soda try to get the ones sweetened with stevia as the tend to be all natural, sugar free and artificial sweetener free. When looking for breads always check the labels because its the most straight forward way of knowing exactly what’s in it.
Frozen Health Foods:
When it comes to frozen, I always say it’s best to avoid that isle entirely anyway. Hey, fresh is always best! And I know how convenient it is to keep a chicken pot pie that you can pop in the microwave when you have no time, but my biggest tip is to avoid having to do that all together. Plan your meals at the beginning of the week and when worse comes to worse, keep some homemade things in the freezer. If your making a spaghetti squash bake, make double the portion and that way when you need something in an instant you have something fresh that you know is good for you.
Wheatgrass:
If you’ve ever been to a juice bar, you've probably seen tall green grass growing behind the counter. This grass is actually wheat grass and people will juice it down to a liquid and add it to a juice or down it raw. People claim that wheat grass has massively higt nutrient contents and while it’s true it has a wide range, none of them are particularly high. Because you would have to take in huge amounts to be properly nourished, wheatgrass cannot be compared to any other green vegetable.
So there you have it! These are only some of the foods to be wary of when you walk into a health food store, but remember if you're wary you can always check the label and a good rule is if you can’t pronounce the ingredients, it really isn’t a “health” food. Also check the nutrition facts especially the daily percent as thats the easiest way to see how much of your diet should be composed of the foods.