You might’ve come across many food items that claim to be healthy, and are even endorsed by celebrities as being so. These foodstuffs may even have the support of your parents and elders, and always seem to have the recommendations of almost everyone.
But, how true is this healthiness? Let’s find out, in the second part of our #deBUNked series
Flavored Water (with Added Vitamins and Minerals)
You pick up a bottle of a clear-looking liquid. The label is minimalist-ic and attractive. You catch the words “healthy”, “water”, and “apple flavored”. You proceed to grab a couple more and stuff it in your basket. Congratulations. You were tricked into buying three bottles of unhealthy water. Behind the facade of health, rejuvenation, and immortal youth, this bottle contains less hydration, and more calories. The added bonus of vitamins and minerals don’t make up for the fact that the product is just a soft drink, albeit minus the soda. The intended servings may only show a small amount of calories, but the actual beverage is packaged with multiple servings in mind. So, multiply the contents with the calories, and you realize what you’re drinking is just glorified sugar water. On the other hand, most of the vitamins are fat-soluble, so good luck having your body assimilate that. If a healthy drink is what you really want, just stick to water, the real Elixir of Life.
Egg Substitutes
Egg substitutes have always confused me. Why do they exist? Most people may not be aware of them, but egg substitutes are ready made replacements for beaten eggs, processed using egg whites. In its production, the egg is stripped of its egg yolk, and in essence, also removes its saturated fat and cholesterol. But, the yolk also contains useful nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin A and D. In order to make up for the loss in nutrients, egg substitutes are usually fortified with extra vitamins and minerals, but they also end up having artificial coloring, flavor and other additives added to improve the texture. A normal egg is always recommended; egg yolk isn’t actually that bad, one a day is perfectly fine. But, if you’re concerned about your cholesterol, you can refrain from eating the egg yolk, and instead have two egg whites.
Sandwich Bread
These bread slices may seem like a tasty and healthy alternative to house your cheese-and-avocado omelette, In reality, these don’t even count as legitimate bread. Real bread has a short and easily comprehensible list of ingredients; whole grain flour, salt, and yeast. Sandwich breads, and other types of packaged breads, contain a lot of extra additives, which makes them a much more processed and saturated variant of whole grain bread, but sans the whole grains. If you want to cut back on the calories, ditch a slice, and go for an open-faced sandwich, and if you’re buying a whole loaf of bread, have your baker cut it into extra-thin slices for you.
Low-Fat Salad Dressing
It may sound healthy, but nonfat salad dressings are the worst offenders on this list. One glance at the content will show you that the dressing is just virtuous, flavored sugar water. Instead of going for these processed dressings, make your own vinaigrette. The natural oils will help you with taking out the fat-soluble vitamins in the vegetables. If flavoring is your objective, then you can always use spices, radishes, cheese or even herbs.