Myths about 10 ‘healthy foods' busted
Most of us, in a bid to eat healthy and stay fit head
straight to the "Health" or the "Diet food" section of
supermarkets.
These products, which are heavy on the pocket
promise to be really light in calories. But have you ever tried to read the
food labels to understand if they are really healthy or is it just another
marketing gimmick? Sheryl Salis, a senior registered nutritionist, naturopath,
certified diabetes educator and wellness coach busts some of the common myths
associated with popular health products.
Sugar-free chocolates
"We often hear people say "I am a
diabetic, therefore, I only buy sugar free products". I have come across
many people who eat an entire bar of chocolate thinking it is sugar free.
Beware! The sugar free market is booming thanks to our ignorance", points
Sheryl. Do not fall prey to the sugar free scam assuming it won't affect your
blood sugar levels. 'Sugar free' does not mean carb, calorie or fat free. When
manufacturers remove sugar, they often add fat to the product making it higher
in fat content than the product with sugar. Why eat the nasty sugar free
cookies when you can have the good ones with less carbs in it. It is advisable
to check the food label on the product for the total carbohydrate and fat
content before consuming it.
For eg: if you look at the food label above, there is hardly any
difference in the carb content in both the products but the saturated fat
content in the sugar free product is more than that with sugar.
Brown bread
Those of us watching our waistlines choose brown
breads over white breads thinking we are making a smart eating choice. Beware!
"The truth is that the so called brown bread
may not necessarily be made with whole wheat flour or whole grain. Some
manufacturers add caramel colour to the dough to give the brown colour to
bread. The soft texture of the brown bread is maintained by adding 3/4th
refined flour (maida) to 1/4th wheat flour. So it is actually white bread in
disguise," informs Sheryl.
To ensure that you are buying the most nutritious
bread option, read labels and check to see that the first ingredient listed is
either whole wheat or whole meal flour and there is no caramel colouring
mentioned on the label. Choose breads labelled as "whole wheat,
multigrain, 7 grain, 5 grain or high fibre".
An easy way to check for the authenticity of brown
bread is to hold it and see if it crumbles under pressure. If it is white
bread, it will not crumble easily because of its sticky consistency.
Multigrain high fiber biscuits
When we are struck with hunger pangs in between
meals or for some of us as soon as we wake up with our morning cup of tea, we
often reach out for the biscuits labeled "multigrain /high fiber" and
finish almost the entire packet in a jiffy assuming it's a healthier
option...Think again!..Biscuits, even the low sugar, high fiber variety are not
very healthy and not the best option when it comes to snacking. To make the
biscuits crunchy and crispy, manufacturers add fats and sugar.
It is ironic that when hunger pangs strike
in-between meals, we reach out for the biscuit jar thinking of it as a
healthier alternative to other snacks. In reality, most biscuits are not very
healthy, and this includes the high-fiber, low-sugar variety as well.
Surprised? Well then, you must not forget that while some biscuits may have
low-sugar, they still contain a large amount of unhealthy fat, without which
they can't be crispy and crunchy as we enjoy them. These fats can increase the
risk of diabetes, heart disease and sudden cardiac death. Skip the biscuits and
munch on khakra or roasted chana for a satisfying mid-day meal instead.
Fat free cereals
In today's modern times due to paucity of time and
busy lifestyles, breakfast cereals are gaining immense popularity.
Manufacturers are marketing them as low fat meal replacers asking us to replace
two of our traditional home cooked meals with these highly processed cereals
loaded with additives. In our fight against our bulging waistlines, we fall
prey to these the tall claims in a bid to achieve quick weight loss.
Usually products marked as low fat or fat free can
be misleading as they may be high on the sugar content. In order for the
fat-free food to maintain its taste, the fat has to be replaced by either
sodium, sugar, or something else that will give it a similar flavour and
texture. For example, if you have a look at the list of ingredients mentioned
on the cereal packet, it has honey, malt extract and sugar (8.4 gms in 30 gms
cereal) making the product problematically high in simple carbs/sugar. This
means you are consuming sugar coated cereal which can induce increased appetite
and be detrimental to your sugars. Studies have shown that the body utilizes
more energy metabolizing a meal from less-processed foods than highly processed
foods, which means lesser calories leftover for the body to store as fat.
Light/ Lite butter
Some years ago, the use of lite butter surged in
popularity as people began to understand the dangers of cholesterol and
saturated fat present in regular butter. There is no debate over which one is a
healthy option. Lite butter is definitely better than regular butter as it is
cholesterol free. Lite butter is made from vegetable oil whereas regular butter
is made from cow's milk. One word of caution here is; even though lite butter
is cholesterol free, it is not fat free. It has saturated fat and sodium which
puts you at a risk of heart disease if not taken in moderation. Our human
tendency is to go overboard with the quantity when we know it's a healthy
option. Moreover some margarines available have transfats which are harmful.
Suggest you read food labels carefully and look for total fat, sodium and
transfat.
Remember, whichever product you select, limit your
overall consumption. Do not overdo even if it's healthy - portion control is
the key.
Nutrition /Energy bars
In today's "on the run" busy times,
energy bars are fast becoming a rage especially with athletes, health conscious
people, workaholics or busy moms all opting for these as a quick nutritional
fix. They are being marketed well under the guise of convenience and good
nutrition. Most of us ditch our regular snacks like fruit, yoghurt or muesli
and turn to these sophisticated energy or "power'' bars.
Watch out! Have a good look on the food label of
the wrapper before you make a choice. Many of these are simply enhanced sweets
with as much sugar, saturated fat and calories as a snicker bar. Generally, if
bars are labeled "low carbs" they may also be low in fiber and high
in fat especially saturated fat. And if a bar tastes good, it probably has at
least 12 grams of sugars per serving. You have to decide, what means most to
you - taste, fat, fiber, protein or sugars.
Being heavy on the pocket , these bars are also
small and compact in size leaving you unsatisfied and hungry for some more (one
may not be enough). There are different types of bars available in the market
today. There are high-carbohydrate bars, protein bars, energy bars, breakfast
bars, brain-boosting bars, meal-replacement bars, diet bars, and women-only
bars. To complicate matters, you may not be able to judge every bar by its
wrapper. In October 2001, when ConsumerLab.com announced the findings of its
independent laboratory tests of 30 nutrition bars, 18 did not meet the claims
of ingredient levels on the label. More than any other misrepresentation, about
one-half of the nutrition bars exceeded the carbohydrate levels stated on the
wrapper (one bar promoted as a low-carbohydrate diet product claimed it had
just 2 grams of carbohydrates, but testing showed it actually contained 22
grams).
When choosing bars, keep the following points in mind:
-less than 200 calories
-less than 5 gms of fat
-at least five grams of fibre
-And more than 15gms of protein
Diet foods
Here comes another popular fad- roasted/baked or
diet snacks. We see an entire section dedicated to these roasted/diet snacks on
the shelves of supermarkets and we mindlessly head straight to that section
picking up stuff for our guilt free snacking.
And to make matters worse, most of us end up
finishing almost the entire packet sitting in front of the television thinking
it's healthy. Think again...roasted does not mean its calorie free. There are
two options available "low fat" or "fat free". The low fat
version is the one which is deep fried but the oil is drained out and the fat
free is where there use refined edible oil to spray seasonings and enhance
flavor. One quick exercise you could do is crush some in a blotting paper and
see if it stains with oil. So, go slow on these fat free snacks which can
jeopardize both your health and wealth as they are prized high. Most of us fall
prey to the tall claims made on the front of the package without reading the
nutrition label on the back. Look out for "partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil" listed among the top three ingredients on the label. This
could have Trans fats which are harmful for health. You will also be able to
tell, by looking at the label what the company calls a portion of that food.
Prepare to be amazed: What they say is a serving and what you actually eat may
be completely different. The Nutrition Information label lists the calories;
grams of fat, saturated fat and Trans fat; and, sometimes, grams of sugar. So
if the label says a serving is a serving of chips and you eat 2 or 3 servings,
double or triple the nutrition information numbers.
Flavoured yoghurt
Most flavoured yogurts which come in a variety of
mouth watering flavours don't contain the real fruit but have added fruit
concentrate, making it high in its sugar content. They are often marketed as
health foods and are surely better than if not the best when compared to the other
processed foods available in the market.
People who have blood sugar problems could
experience a sudden increase in sugar levels with flavoured yogurt. Read the
nutrition label at the back of the flavoured yogurt content and avoid if it
contains alternative sugars like fructose, glucose, sucrose as they are not
healthy.
If you compare the nutrition label of regular
yogurt and flavoured yogurt, you will see that 150 gms of regular yoghurt gives
you approx 81 calories with no added sugar whereas 150 gms of flavoured yoghurt
gives you 130 calories with 20 grams of added sugar alone contributing 80
calories. Sugar provides instant energy and no nutrition.
Even the frozen yoghurts which are now fast
replacing the desserts with their "healthy tag" are a suspect.
Flavoured versions of yoghurt contain more sugar (by virtue of added flavour)
in the form of canned fruits, syrups containing HFCS (High Fructose Cane
Sugar),) and synthetic flavouring than plain versions. You can swap the
flavoured yoghurt with Greek yoghurt/low fat yoghurt and mix it with sum
freshly chopped seasonal fruits (not canned fruits)
Ready to eat foods
A boon to today's working women and yes some men
too who are looking for some quick and easy convenience food. You get almost
everything from ready to eat idlis, dosas, upmas, dal makhani, noodles, soups,
paneer palak etc. It's instant! Heat the contents in a micro for three minutes
and its ready to eat.
While all this looks really good and convenient,
is it really healthy? Read the food label carefully. The manufacturers need to
add fat and sodium to increase the shelf life of the product. And that's why if
you have a look at the food label above, it is loaded with sodium. If you eat
100 gms of ready to eat upma, it gives you 1300 mg of sodium which is your
requirement for the entire day. We all need some sodium, but most of us eat
about 3400 mg per day. This is more than double the amount of sodium we need.
Healthy adults need only 1500 mg of sodium per day. Healthy children need only
1000-1500 mg of sodium per day.
Choose low sodium foods. When reading food labels,
low sodium is defined as 140 mg of sodium per serving.
Cholesterol free oil
This is one of my favourites. My overweight
clients always try to justify the excess oil consumption by telling me that
they are using cholesterol free oil or the more expensive olive oil. Often hear
people say "we use only olive oil" or "But I use only
cholesterol free oil for frying, then why are my cholesterol levels high?"
Most of us are slaves to our tongues and love tasty food. And if we have cooks,
the matter just gets worse. They have no control on the oil consumption; their
only goal is to serve you tasty food.
Remember all vegetable oils are free of
cholesterol. Cholesterol is only present in non veg foods like meat, fish,
eggs, butter, milk and milk products. It is a great marketing gimmick of the
manufacturers to boost sales. Remember quantity is important. One gm of any oil
gives you 9 calories. Oils are calorie dense and hence we need to use them in
portioned amounts.
Keep this in mind when choosing oils
"heart-friendly oil should be cholesterol- and trans-fat free, low in
saturated fats and high in monounsaturated fat (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fat
(PUFA), it should have an ideal omega 6 to omega 3 acids ratio and a high
smoking point". Speak to your nutritionist who will guide you on which oil
is best for you.
