THE EMPTY PROMISES The benefits of these health shop favourites have been exaggerated

Bottled teas are no match for a fresh cup. “Ready-to- drink green teas degrade polyphenols to nonexistent levels,” says Goggins. Brew and cool your own. Though purported to aid weight loss when soaked to form an appetite-supressing gel, the seeds were shown to have no such effect in a 12-week study in “The cooking process depletes much of broccoli’s nutrient sulforaphane,” says Goggins. Instead, he advocates sprouting the seeds to enjoy the full disease-fighting effects. Sprinkle them over your next brunch. To be labelled a “source of protein”, your snacks must derive only 12% of calories from the stuff: less than a bag of nuts. If your soy- coco-spirulina bar has more grams of sugar than it does of the big P, you’re better off with a Snickers. “An apple browns within minutes when cut,” points out Hodges. But pre-sliced packaged fruit is often treated with preservatives and loses most of its nutrition when exposed to air. Hit the frozen aisle instead.