Four ‘healthy’ snacks that are anything but
A peek at ingredient list shows treats sneak sugar, calories into your diet
Just because a food is labelled “healthy,” doesn’t mean it is. Ditto calling something vegan or carb free. Look beyond the labels at the ingredients to see which foods are the real deal and which are just a gimmick.
Here’s a cheat sheet of four foods that you might think of as healthy snacks that are really not.
Veggie chips
Alas, puffs that claim to contain vegetables just don’t cut it. Look at the ingredients and you will often find potato flour, cornmeal and rice flour as the mainstays. All that starch means bigtime calories.
If you are looking to splurge, just go ahead and treat yourself to potato chips or pretzels. The veggie chips are almost as bad for you.
Bottom line: If you really want to be healthy, stick with actual veggies. Crunch yourself silly with carrots or bell pepper slices or cucumber wedges. Throw in some hummus and make it a hearty snack. Fruit snacks Sure, there might be a smidge of fruit in there, but there’s usually also a cornucopia of corn syrup, gelatin, modified corn starch and a host of artificial flavours, as Today.com cites.
Bottom line: You can get way more vitamins and fibre if you stick with real fruit. Maybe mix up a fruit salad with fresh blueberries, apple chunks and banana? It’s not as convenient, certainly, but it is actually food. Vegan cookies Vegan cookies are a prime example because many are chockfull of refined sugar and refined flour and are totally lacking in fibre and other nutrients. Portion control is the key. One brand of vegan cookie actually has the nerve to claim that a serving is one-half of a cookie. That means that one 4.25-ounce vegan cookies is actually two servings.
Bottom line: If you really want healthy vegan cookies, bake up a batch at home. Throw in some whole foods, such as almond butter, rolled oats and chia seeds and jazz it up with a little bit of cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla. Trail mix Trail mix varies widely depending on who makes it, as Time magazine puts it. Many brands contain dried fruit that’s been drenched with sugar and then treated with artificial preservatives. Then they throw in candy-coated milk chocolate orbs and such. This style of trail mix packs a hefty 200 calories into a golf-ball size serving with little nutritional substance.
Bottom line: If you crave healthy trail mix, you might have to DIY. Start with a base of nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans or pistachios) and seeds (pumpkin or sunflower) and then give it some zing with unsweetened chunks of dried fruit (chopped dried figs, plums or dried cherries.) Chocolate-lovers may want to toss a little dark chocolate into the mix.