10 Healthy Foods that Aren't Healthy

We’re constantly tricked into thinking foods are healthy when in fact sometimes they’re worse than the foods we’re trying to replace them with, so to put an end to this madness we count 10 healthy foods that aren’t actually healthy

10. Fruit Juice
Sugar, sugar and some more sugar. While fruit juices do contain some great vitamins, they just have way too many calories and sugar to be worth consuming. For example, 230 ml of grape juice has about 170 calories, 42 grams of carbs and 40 grams of sugar. That’s nearly DOUBLE the amount of sugar in a 330ml can of normal coca cola. Ridiculous

9. Cereal 31% of
Americans who eat breakfast, start their days with a bowl of cereal. Yet many if not most cereals aren’t healthy at all. Cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios and Raisin Brain for example contain huge amounts of sugar and end up being no better than eating fruity pebbles. In order to produce the flakes of corn, manufacturers have to destroy many of the original vitamins and minerals and to compensate for this they use synthetic ingredients but regardless they’re just not as healthy as whole foods.

8. Fat Free Food
This also spawns from the “fat will make you fat” myth. Fat doesn’t make you fat, a bad diet and a lack of exercise does. Fats support everything from brain and metabolic function to quicker fat loss. If you avoid fats, you’ll struggle to get the right ratio of macronutrients because more calories will have to come from carbs; that will skew your macronutrient ratio and cause more fat gain.

7. Most Yoghurts
Many low-fat and fat-free yogurts have high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, and starch. Some have as much sugar as a candy bar, and others use artificial sweeteners, which may spike your insulin. Also, avoid the ones with fruit inside – the fruit is either soaked with sugar or its from concentrate. Instead, buy plain yogurt and add your own fruit.

6. Prepared Salads
Don't assume that anything with the word "salad" in it must be healthy. Prepared tuna salads, chicken salads, and shrimp salads are often loaded with hidden fats and calories due to their high mayonnaise content. While a lot depends on portion size and ingredients, an over-stuffed tuna salad can contain as many as 700 calories and 40 grams of fat. Just to help you soak that in, a Big Mac from McDonald’s only has 550 calories with 29 grams of fat. 5. Energy or Protein Bars Energy bars are the perfect pre-workout snack, right? Not always. Many energy bars are filled with high fructose corn syrup, added sugar, and artery-clogging saturated fat. Plus, some bars, particularly meal replacement varieties, contain more than 350 calories each―a bit more than "snack size" for most people.

4. Smoothies
Even in most smoothie chains and coffee bars, smoothies start out pretty healthy. Most have a base of blended fruit and low-fat dairy. But disproportionately large serving sizes combined with added sugar, ice cream, or syrups, can add up to a high-calorie treat. Some chains serve smoothies that contain up to 1000 calories, that’s over half a chicken! For a smoothie… I mean I know they’re delicious but.. no!

3. Skimmed Milk
While skim and low-fat milks have fewer calories, whole milk has more saturated and monounsaturated fats to keep you feeling full, support metabolism, and improve your body composition. Without the fat, skim and low-fat milks also have less fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K than whole milk. Even worse, producers add powdered milk into skim milk to improve its consistency because skim milk doesn’t resemble real milk when it’s harvested; that process introduces oxidized cholesterol, which damages your arteries worse than regular cholesterol.

2. Trail Mix
Ah, the ease of taking a handful of trail mix from a bag for a quick snack on your way out the door. Ease, yes. Low in calories, no. Although healthy trail mix is possible, most of the versions we are buying at the store are loaded with candy-coated pieces, yogurt-covered raisins, sesame sticks and deep-fried banana chips. If you put your hand in the bag twice, you're looking at almost 600 calories full of simple sugars, trans fat and refined carbohydrates!

1. Sports Drinks
There are so many sports or “health” drinks out there that make you think they’re even healthier than water, while actually having little to no evidence to back up their claims. Not to mention, if you take a look at the nutritional facts on the label you’ll find a lot of sugar, along with a lot of calories too. So if you’re going out for a run to lose weight, skip the sports drinks and stick to your water.