Granola Bars Are Sugar Bombs in Disguise
Walk down any grocery aisle and you’ll find granola bars marketed as the perfect healthy snack. Granola bars are often considered a healthy snack, but despite these marketing claims, many are loaded with added sugar, calories, and artificial ingredients. The truth is shocking: Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Harvest granola bars can contain up to 15 grams of sugar per serving — mostly from added sugar.
Even worse, some contain as much sugar, carbs, and calories as candy bars. Commercially manufactured granola bars, on average, contain a much sugar as many candy bars. When you read the nutrition labels, this equates to nearly 4 teaspoons of added sugar per bar – that’s more than what you’d get from some actual candy.
Flavored Yogurt Contains More Sugar Than Ice Cream
Yogurt is often touted as a high-protein, low-calorie option. But here’s what the yogurt industry doesn’t want you to know: The average cup of flavoured yogurt has 30 grams of sugar (7.5 teaspoons) — that’s as much as a chocolate bar! Many flavored yogurts are loaded with sugar, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavorings.
Most people assume they’re making a healthy choice by grabbing strawberry or vanilla yogurt for breakfast. Instead, they’re starting their day with a sugar rush that could rival dessert. Some sugar occurs naturally in the yogurt, but most is added. The health halo effect is strong with yogurt products, making it one of the most deceptive foods on grocery shelves.
Breakfast Cereal Is Basically Candy for Breakfast
Many people assume that breakfast cereals are a smart way to start their day. However, this isn’t always the case. In fact, many breakfast cereals are made with refined grains, lack filling nutrients like protein and fiber, and can be very high in added sugar. Even the ones marketed as “healthy” choices are problematic.
Take Honey Nut Cheerios as an example. Honey Nut Cheerios, for instance, is marketed as “heart healthy” but contains 12 grams of added sugar per cup. Eating large amounts of cereal like this one, particularly as part of a diet that’s already high in added sugar, doesn’t promote heart health. In fact, diets high in added sugar likely have the opposite effect. The colorful boxes and health claims are masterfully designed to make you think you’re doing something good for your family.
Multigrain Bread Isn’t Actually Healthy
You know that foods made with whole grains are healthier than those with refined flour, but labels can be misleading. “Made with whole grains” and “multigrain” may sound healthy, but often they mean a product contains only a small amount of whole grains. The rest is still refined white flour.
Many bread loaves labeled multigrain/wheat/7 grain often contain a significant portion of refined grains. This results in a lower fiber content compared to whole grains, leading to a quicker spike in blood sugar after consumption and potentially triggering cravings. Certain varieties, particularly those marketed as “honey whole wheat,” may be loaded with high fructose corn syrup and molasses, further impacting their nutritional profile.
Instant Oatmeal Packets Are Sugar Disguised as Health Food
Oats are genuinely nutritious, but the instant packets you find at the grocery store are a different story entirely. Instant oats often come packaged in individual portions with additives—such as artificial flavors, milk powder, and sugars. If you look at the flavored varieties, the first and second ingredients are oats and sugar, respectively. Right off, that tells you that it’s a fake healthy food.
The numbers are staggering when you actually look at them. Some brands and flavors may contain anywhere from 10 to 17 grams of added sugar per packet. Oats are a nutritious whole grain, but not when your morning bowl is coated in three teaspoons of sugar. You’re basically eating candy for breakfast and calling it healthy.
Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Are Ultra-Processed Junk
Vegetable protein-based products, like burgers that attempt to replicate the taste and texture of meat, have been gaining popularity over the past few years. But they aren’t all they are cracked up to be health-wise. These “meats” are filled with heavily processed ingredients like pea protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, yeast extract, canola oil, natural flavors, potassium chloride, dextrose, and synthetic vitamins in order to somewhat resemble meat.
The comparison to real meat is eye-opening. Organic, grass-fed beef will supply you with necessary B vitamins, iron, zinc, and selenium, with none of the fillers. Beyond Meat offers none of these vital nutrients except for iron (in the form of non-heme iron, the less bioavailable version of iron). The evidence for long-term health improvements with processed plant-based meat alternatives is minimal, making it difficult to recommend exchanging meat for veggie meat.
Bran Muffins Are Basically Cake with a Health Halo
They sound healthy because of the word bran, right? Don’t be fooled by the marketing. Reality check: the average donut shop bran muffin has almost 400 calories and a whopping 36 grams (9 teaspoons) of sugar — but only 4 grams of fibre. That’s more sugar than most candy bars, with barely any of the fiber benefits you’d expect from something called a “bran” muffin.
The health halo effect is particularly strong with bran muffins because people associate bran with digestive health and fiber. But most commercial bran muffins are loaded with refined flour, sugar, and unhealthy oils. You’d be better off eating a piece of actual cake – at least then you’d know what you’re getting.
Pretzels Are Just Refined Carbs with Salt
With fewer calories and fat grams than most chips, pretzels seem healthy. But nearly every brand of pretzels is made from the same basic ingredients: white flour—wheat flour that’s been stripped of its nutrients and fiber—yeast, salt, and maybe some vegetable oil or corn syrup. They’re essentially empty calories masquerading as a healthy snack.
In the low-fat era, pretzels were the king of snack foods. But now we know that their refined flour and salt are just as detrimental to heart health as fatty foods, so pretzels have been reclassified to junk food. The twist shape and marketing have convinced millions of people that they’re making a smart choice when they’re really just eating refined carbs with a hefty dose of sodium.
Spinach Wraps and Pasta Are Regular Carbs with Green Food Coloring
Don’t let the green hue fool you. The actual amount of spinach in green pasta and tortillas is trivial compared with what you would get if you added your own spinach leaves to your pasta dish or wrap. The green color is mostly for show, giving you the impression you’re eating vegetables when you’re really just consuming regular refined carbs.
Food manufacturers have mastered the art of visual deception. Eat whole grain wraps or pasta, then add actual spinach leaves to get the greens’ ample amounts of B vitamins, fiber, iron, and calcium. The tiny amount of spinach powder in these products provides virtually no nutritional benefit – it’s essentially marketing trickery designed to make you feel better about eating refined carbs.
