"Healthy" Food Traps

It's a few days after New Years. And I have noticed a whole lot of new commercials that have cropped up on TV advertising foods and services for a better, thinner, you. Although I guess the sentiment is good, many of these things aren't really that great for sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

Uh-oh, you're busted

One of the things I am seeing a lot of commercials for is the new McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal.

This seams like a nice idea, but sugar, in addition to dried fruit, in addition to the carbs in the oatmeal, combine to make a meal that is a whopping 57 grams of carbs (32 of which are sugar!). This will probably make your blood sugar spike and unless you are about to go for a run or something, you really don't need that many carbs all at once. Also, this breakfast only has 5 grams of protein. In the morning you want to start your day with more protein so you will stay full longer and also stay focused mentally. On top of all this, the list of artificial ingredients include: sodium phosphate, datem, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium citrate, carrageenan, sulfur dioxide, food starch-modified, barley malt extract, caramel color, and calcium ascorbate. Not so great!

The second thing I noticed was a bunch of Nutrisystem commercials.

I love the little leaf suggesting this food is natural.....

Nutrisystem is one of the programs, heavily advertised, that sends you all of your meals and snacks for a while so that you lose weight. Their philosophy is about using the glycemic index (blood sugar levels) to keep you balanced and full feeling on less calories. In theory, it's not a bad idea. However, there are a few real flaws with it. Number one, people who are super overweight often don't know how to cook healthy. Part of what caused the obesity epidemic in America was the fact that we don't HAVE to cook anymore. This program does not address this issue. Number two, The food in this program is low fat, high carb, and full of preservatives. Although you may lose the weight, I think it would be difficult to keep it off if you don't learn how to eat healthy on your own. Although the site claims to have a "transition program" that weens you into cooking, I doubt they work. I may sound judgmental, but I really get freaked out with the idea of having all of your meals delivered to you, frozen. This really just zaps the joy out of food and cooking.....


The last one that I see a lot is for Yogurt products like Activia and YoPlus.

Gross.....

 These products make claims that they regulate the digestive system because they have healthy probiotics that support gut health. This is true, because ALL real yogurt has these healthy bacteria. However, this yogurt does not appear to have any advantage over any other yogurt with live and active cultures. In fact, they are at a disadvantage because they are full of sugar, which feeds yeast in your intestinal tract and will actually kill off healthy bacteria in your system, totally defeating the purpose of eating yogurt in the first place. In addition, they have preservatives and artificial flavors, including sucralose in the "light" versions of the yogurts. Also these yogurts are low fat, and so you are not getting the benefits of natural dairy fat. You are much better off getting a plain yogurt without any additives and with more natural fat, and adding your own flavors with fruit.

Speaking of adding things to yogurt, I think that it would be good to mention that I think it's a lot better to add fresh fruit to things like yogurt and steel cut oats, or even as snacks by themselves, then adding dried fruit. Most people wouldn't sit down and eat 15 apricots, or 75 grapes, but when the fruit is dried it makes it much easier to eat large quantities of it. Although fruit is good for you, it does have a lot of sugar so it is important to be mindful that you don't get carried away with dried fruit.