Continued from last week…..
6. Microwave Popcorn- Sure, popcorn is low in calories and high in fibre. It is also extremely high in sodium and a chemical called diacetyl that has been linked to Alzheimer’s in a number of studies. A much better choice is to buy your own kernels and pop them over the stove. Then you can add whatever flavouring you like. Coconut oil is a great alternative if you are not a fan of butter.
7. Low Fat Salad Dressings- Next time you buy a container of one of these at the grocery store, take a look at the ingredient list. It is about a mile long and aside from sugar and sodium, I doubt you have heard of any of them. You are much better using extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemons and drizzling that over your salad. Now you are getting great monounsaturated fats from the olive oil and the alkalizing/pH balancing (gut health) effects of the lemons without all of the added chemicals and the sugars.
8. Fat Free Flavoured Yogurt- Just because the label says fat free doesn’t mean that it is healthy. It means that it is highly processed. Dairy is supposed to have fat in it. At some point health professionals got the idea that saturated fat would be the death of us all. So they decided to introduce fat free alternatives and replaced the richness and flavour that fat provides with sugar. One 12 oz. serving of fat free flavoured yogurt can have as many as 30 grams of sugar per serving. That is more sugar than you will find in most chocolate bars! Lose the sugar and buy the full fat plain yogurt and if you need something sweet to put on your yogurt, throw some strawberries on top.
9. Dried Fruit- Dried fruit is convenient and it is loaded with fibre, vitamins and minerals. What you may not know is that companies add sugar crystals to make it taste better and sulfur to make it last longer on the shelves. So now you are eating candy and chemicals with a few antioxidants mixed in. Opt for real fruit whenever possible. An alternative would be to buy frozen fruit and mix up a smoothie if you are short on time.
10. Gluten Free Products- Gluten is a protein found in wheat. Some people can digest it and others can’t. Gluten is not an epidemic and it is not a life or death health risk for the majority of the population. Next time you see a product labelled gluten free don’t assume that makes it healthy. Most gluten free products use corn starch, rice starch or potato starch for fillers and these starches rank high on the glycemic index and therefore are not desirable. Anything that is processed and packaged is always a lesser alternative to eating whole foods, whether gluten free or not. The best gluten free foods don’t need to be labelled. If you need a snack, stick with fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.