We all want to live healthy and having a good diet is a major part of that.
But sometimes due to deceptive advertising or just a lack of understanding,
our attempts at eating healthy can sometimes backfire. In this video we
are going to go over 10 common foods that you are eating that may seem healthy but aren’t.
Hi, I’m Dr. Erik Richardson a board certified Family Practice physician.
I’d like to welcome you to FamilyMed, a channel that focuses giving you practical and accurate
medical information to help you and your family. If you think this would be something that is
helpful to you make sure you subscribe, hit that notification button and follow along with us.
One of the biggest problems I see in my practice is an overall lack of understanding on what really
makes a healthy diet. It’s hard because you have so many different messages out there that are
confusing, conflicting and outright deceiving. You see packaging that advertises something as
“gluten free”, “Low-Fat”, “orgainic” that are trying to convince you that it is healthy.
I remember once talking with a patient of mine several years ago who was very obese
and she was lamenting about how hard it was for her to lose weight. As we talked about her
struggles, I had her tell me about her typical diet. She worked, so every morning she would
have a bottle of yogurt drink and a low fat pop tart. You couldn’t get a more unhealthy breakfast,
but I was shocked that she was shocked to learn how unhealthy this was. We need to
start educating ourself on what is healthy and not rely on what the food manufacturers want
to tell us on the outside packages. With that in mind, let’s talk about
some of the common foods out there that may be getting you in trouble.
The first I’m going to focus on I just mentioned, and that is Yogurt. Yogurt can be a great part of
a healthy diet but unfortunately, most types of yogurt that you see on the store shelf are full
of sugar, and sugar is the biggest thing that is going to get you in trouble when you are trying
to lose weight. Like I said Yogurt can be a very healthy thing but you need to stick with plain low
fat Yogurt or Greek Yogurt and then flavor it with berries or other whole food, natural ingredients.
The next one is “Whole Grain or Multi-Grain” bread. We are always recommending this over
white bread however you need to be careful here. Most commercially available breads
like this still have a large percentage of white flour as their main ingredient.
They may have whole grains in them but oftentimes they are more of an afterthought.
When you are looking for a whole grain bread make sure you look at the ingredients and
avoid anything that has the word “enriched” at the top of the list. You want to make sure
that the whole grains are at the top of the list. Third on our list is Plant based milks. There has
been a lot of bad press against Dairy lately but most of it is unwarranted. Plant based milks such
as soy, almond and rice milks do not have near the nutrients that cow’s milk does. Also many of
the plant based milks end up putting in different sugars and unneeded fats as well. Now you may be
other reasons to avoid milk, especially if you have some intolerances to it, and that’s fine,
but just purely as a health choice, milk will get you a lot more bang for your buck.
The 4th on our list is Fruit Smoothies. I remember when we first got married and were
expecting our first child, we would go by the local smoothie stand and get one every day.
It just seemed and felt healthier. After a month or so of doing that and noticing that both of
our waist lines were expanding, we were shocked to see how many calories these smoothies had.
They were upwards of 5-600 calories a piece with well over 100 grams of sugar.
Smoothies can be a healthy thing but make them at home and avoid adding all the sweeteners.
The Next thing that we are going to talk about is Low Fat Peanut butter. These highly processed
spreads have the same amount of calories as peanut butter, the only difference is,
that they have replaced the fat, with processed fillers and sugar. This is actually the case with
many “low Fat” products in general. They’ve taken the fats away, but replaced them with ingredients
that are worse for you and just make it easier to eat more. So go for the full fat version.
In moderation fats contained in nuts are healthier for your heart.
The 6th is Granola. Granola looks super healthy because it is full of whole grains,
nuts, seeds and dried fruit which are all good things. The problem is though that the
manufacturers then go and coat them with sugar and other sweetners and then cook them in oil.
So you’ve taken something that is very healthy and ruined it. Granola can be a great thing
but its better to make it yourself, so you can control how much sweetener and oils are used.
Number 7 are Wraps. This one always surprises me, but many wraps or tortillas have just as many,
if not more, carbs and calories than two slices of bread. Wraps tend to be bigger and
more dense. The Spinach or Tomato ones aren’t any better either. There may be a little more
vegetable flavoring but it’s not enough to made a significant nutritional difference.
You still need to watch your carb intake. Number 8 is instant flavored oatmeal. We
all know that oats are good, so therefore any kind of oatmeal must be healthier.
The problem is when they are put into little packets with the different flavorings. They
like many of the other foods that we have talked about are full of sugar. Oatmeal can be a great
source of soluble fiber and a great breakfast meal but add your own fruits and healthy ingredients.
Number 9 is a sweetener that has started to be come popular. As we’ve tried to stay away
from sugars many are reaching for more natural sweeteners. One that many are turning to is Agave.
Most commonly sold as a syrup, this comes from the agave plant so is felt to be more natural.
The problem with Agave is, that it is no better if not worse than regular sugar.
It caries an excessive percentage fructose which can be a source of significant metabolic problems
when consumed in excess. Sticking with sweetners such as erythritol,
xylitol and stevia seem to be a safer alternative. The last one we are going to talk about today is
breakfast cereals. There many that are obviously bad for you, but even many of those that are
marketed as healthy are not good. They always advertise that they are made with whole grains or
are enriched with vitamins. The problem is again, all the sugars that they are putting in them.
When choosing a cereal you need to look at the ingredients. Sugar is often one of the first
ingredients but can be hidden under the names of corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrates,
glucose, malt syrup or evaporated cane juice. Many cereals can have a whole days’ worth of sugar in
one serving. I remember as a kid my mom when we were at the grocery store she would send us to the
cereal aisle to pick out our cereal. We could pick out any cereal that we wanted, but, sugar had to
be at the very most the 5th ingredient listed. It wasn’t until much later that I realized how
genious she was. Not only did she keep us busy in the grocery store for the whole hour searching
for a cereal that would qualify, it also kept us from getting those sugar filled cereals.
Look for those true whole grain cereals that also contain more natural ingredients
such as seeds and nuts with little to no added sugars.
This certainly isn’t a comprehensive list of foods that may look healthy but really are not.
There are many more examples, but this is a good start. What’s important is that you begin to look
at ingredients of what you are eating. Educate yourself on what is healthy and what isn’t.
We need to change the way we interact with food. We need start looking at food
more as fuel for our bodies instead of something to satisfy our taste buds. When we do,
we will be on the pathway to good health. Well, I hope you found this to be helpful,
if you did, please take the time to give this video a like and share it with your friends. It
helps our channel to grow and reach other people that may need this in their life. If you haven’t
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don’t miss out on any of our future content. So until next time, this is FamilyMed with
Dr. Richardson and remember to take care of your body because it’s the only one you have.