5 Unhealthy Foods Hiding In Your Pantry Right Now
Most people tend to have a pretty good understanding of what dictates a ‘healthy’ diet – but that doesn’t mean that they have it sorted completely.
In fact, there are several foods that most people consider healthy on nothing but face value, but are actually terrible for you and all aspects of your health.
Sadly most of these foods can be found inside your pantry right now.
So, without further ado, prepare yourselves for the top 5 “healthy” foods to stay away from.
1.) Fruit Juice
Even though fruit juice does indeed contain several important vitamins and minerals, that does not make them healthy.
You see, these juices are also packed to the brim with both sugar and additives, literally making them as bad as most soft drinks. Seriously, these guys offer a one-way ticket to unwanted weight gain, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
You want a healthy ‘fruit-related’ snack? Try a piece of actual fruit.
2.) Cereal
Cereal has long been considered one of the healthiest breakfast options available – so much so that it even takes up the largest chunks of the recommended dietary pyramid that many people are so very fond of.
However, even the healthiest of cereals are chock full of processed carbohydrates.
Processed carbohydrates are essentially whole grains that have been refined beyond recognition. As a result, they are extremely high in energy content and absorbed by the body at an absurdly rapid rate.
There is a reason that increased consumption of these foods has been linked to an increased risk of weight gain and diabetes – because they are not very good for you…
3.) Yogurt
Now, let’s be clear for a second – pure, untouched and unprocessed Greek yogurt is quite good for you.
But the other stuff? Not so much.
In fact, not at all. Most other yogurts have had an abundance of sugar added to them, which seriously increases their energy content. Additionally, as they have been heavily refined, they have been completely stripped of their nutritional value.
They’re basically a junk food at this point.
4.) Dried Fruit
At first look, dried fruit looks like the perfect snack. I mean, its fruit, right? And isn’t fruit supposed to be good for you?
While the short answer to that question is a resounding yes, there is more to this story.
During the drying process, the fruit is combined with sugar to help keep it from oxidizing and going rancid. This is also what dries it out and gives it that firm and chewy texture.
It is also what gives it its unbelievably sweet flavor…
So again, I recommend you steer clear.
5.) Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oils are commonplace in almost every household on the planet – which is unfortunate because they do very little for your health.
In fact, they make it worse.
Cheap vegetable oils are created using a pretty nasty process of refining, in which they are stripped down using various chemical compounds. As a result, their consumption has been linked to increases in inflammation, disease, and illness.
Which I assume you probably don’t want?
In my opinion, the best replacements here are olive oils and coconut oils, as they have not undergone any refining, and therefore do not contain any nasty chemicals.
Take-Home Message
Sometimes it’s in your best interest to not take everything at face value – so don’t assume that every “healthy” food is actually healthy. And obviously steer clear of the foods on this list – you will thank me for it later.
I know what you’re thinking, checking every label and ingredient list while grocery shopping sounds like a headache, and let’s be honest with how busy our lives are we all want to get in and out of the grocery store as fast as possible.
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