The Worst “Healthy” Foods

In this blog post I want to talk a little bit about the illusion of health. More specifically I would like to discuss how some food manufacturers label or advertise a product as “healthy” when really it may not be any better for you than the alternative it was intended to replace. Please understand that the focus in my Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky weight loss centers in weight loss exclusively. For this blog the framing of “healthy” will be centered on weight loss. Let’s look at a few examples.

The type of product that comes to mind first when I think of the perception of a healthy product not actually being so is the “veggie chips/straws”. Their packaging shows vegetables on the front, so they must be healthy right? To be honest, I’ve looked at a number of these products and I can’t see how they are any better than regular chips. The marketing, advertising and packaging may not be untruthful (they do have vegetables in the ingredients). They may be guilty of being misleading however. A lot of people will see vegetables on the packaging and automatically assume they are a healthy alternative.

Diet sodas are the next culprit I would like to mention. Almost all diet sodas contain 0 calories but unfortunately are sweetened with aspartame and/or sucralose. These two artificial sweeteners have been linked to weight gain in many independent studies. Diet sodas should be avoided during weight loss in my opinion. There are many great alternatives that I have mentioned before.

One of the worst examples of a product portraying itself as healthy, but not really being so, is sports drinks. Sports drinks often have just about as much sugar and calories as the same amount of soda but seem to be a healthier alternative. Their advertising shows athletes working out and sweating. These athletes are generally in good physical shape so it gives the perception to the audience that this drink may be a healthy alternative to soda. While not marketed as a weight loss product, sports drinks are often used by people who think they are making a healthy decision and potentially even saving calories.