I was thinking about this today as I munched on some moreish banana chips. What are some foods that *seem* healthy but really aren't.
I nominate banana chips, and caesar salad!!
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I was thinking about this today as I munched on some moreish banana chips. What are some foods that *seem* healthy but really aren't.
I nominate banana chips, and caesar salad!!
yoghurt balls...
I know lots of people think museli bars and commercial yoghurt are healthy...
I think lots of people think commercial fresh strawberries are healthy... They are toxic time bombs they are sprayed within an inch of their lives. I always feel sick when I drive past the farms around here and they have pick all you want for $10 - and kids are eating them unwashed... :cry:
Breakfast cereals - if there was truth in marketing most of them would be in the confectionary aisle.
Aaah yes cereal. Thhat does my head in. I have yet to find one that has no sugar. They are so choc full that you're right Pony they should be in the confectionary aisle... Grrrrr
I was going to nominate breakfast cereal and muesli bars too. Have you eaten Corn Flakes lately? I can't taste the 'corn' for sugar!
Roll ups and fruit sticks are another pet peeve of mine.
dried fruits ...
fruit juices ....
"health" waters ...
I only buy Weet Bix, Vita Brits and Porridge. They're the only ones with no added sugar. The other brands of wheat biscuit type cereal have sugar. Even the organic labelled Vita Brits have raw sugar added.:
We don't have cereal apart from rolled oats - I just personally can't come at feeding my kids sugar for breakfast. I think those companies have a lot to answer for. My kids think I am mean for not feeding them "iron man food". I have tried to explain that iron man is on a sugar high.....
I'm the same Inanna. I refuse to allow my kids to go to school hyped up on sugar. i dn't care how 'uncool' I am. I do buy a small pack of Coco Pops as a treat on school holidays though.
The weet-bix are pretty salty. The kid's one has heaps less salt but we eat heaps so we finish those tiny boxes really fast.
Hot chips...well they are a vegetable...:rofl:
Roll Ups are a pet peeve of mine
Commercial yoghurt
Philadelphia Cream Cheese - people seem to think that because it has way less fat than butter you can use 6 times as much of it?? lol
:yeahthat: Lime - and the fact that philly cheese barely resembles a food....
Roll ups, fruit sticks, muesli bars, those 'fruit' lollies, fruit juice poppers, colour cordial pop top drinks, custard cups - yogos, etc. Basically the majority of things people pack in their children's lunch boxes! rice bubbles, coco pops, any breakfast cereal that's not rolled oats, weetbix or maybe sultana bran. Even rice crackers can be bad if you eat too many.
My personal loves that I know arent' helathy - soy crisps, mmm, could eat the whole bag in one go, but full of fat!
The key is modertion - but parents need to be very careful of the amount of sugar and additives they feed their school children daily.
I was never allowed coco pops or fruit loops as a kid - in fact, only recently (i'm 33) did I taste a dry cocopop - didn't like it either. I was allowed to have nutrigrain, rice bubbles or cornflakes though, all options I will not give to my children (i don't think!):
The only cereals I buy are cheerio's, nutri grain (odd occasion) & kids weetbix. Not sure if the cheerio's are as good as they say they are, but I agree with the sugar for breakfast thing. A friend of mine was shocked when she found out thats all they get. :dunno: Her child is 6 & at the dentist every other month for something new. Says alot.
TBH, I can't think of any others off the top of my head. I hate juices & cordial. Only buy one a week & the kids get one a day.
Oh I know. Nutella! I hate the advertising for that stuff! Seriously...chocolate for brekky? Go for it kids. Great idea :rolleyes:
I have a vendetta against lunchbox crappolla too. It's disturbing how much sugar, additives & chemical is in lunchbox... :hug:
Doubt my kids will ever get fruit loops while in my house. DD2 is allergic to some food colourings...no thanks!:
Fruity Bix. Do you know that the wild berry fruity bix have as much sugar as Coco Pops??? Yep, its true, as I shocking found out while munching on a bowl of them! But SHHHHHH don't tell Shel. I'm always on at her about my cereal choioces being healthy and her's being unhealthy!!!!! Oh dear! LMAO!
Fruit loops and roll ups are a huge bug bear of mine. GRRRRR, neither of them resemble ANY type of fruit I know of. Actually, neither even TASTE like a fruit. :shakehead:
BJ - nutrigrain was listed as one of the highest on the sugar content list - just thought you might like to know.
Lol, doesn't suprise me. As I said, its not often I buy them. Will take sugar over food colourings any day. DD2 climbs the walls after something yellow.:
Nutrigrain has colouring too: E150 Caramel
You probably know but in case you don't I thought I'd let you know. It upsets me how these companies get away with all the crap in food and unwary consumers buy their products. Disregard if you knew...
ETA: I am an unashamed food nazi
lol. Its better to know. You can probably tell I go for the ones that look less exciting, but probably aren't.
I understand. :hug: That is why threads like this are so good. Because many people are sucked in by the advertising of "healthy, organic (organic can also have loads of sugar - albiet of the organic kind), light, no artificial sweetners (usually means loads of sugar which they term a natural sweetner)... etc etc.
They reel us in - and prey on the bet that Mamas are always trying to choose healthy options for our kids so we are more likely to buy "natural etc etc...
^ ITA, I hate it when junk food masquerardes as a healthy choice.
Personally I don't mind feeding my children the odd bit of junk but I like to be clear about what is wholesome and what isn't.
Exactly. I don't mind some junk foood now and then either - but I want my kids to know what is junk and what is not. I have found it really helpful to take them and show them the packets etc so they know. Also whenever those current affairs shows have expose`s on sugar/fat/additive hidden content in staple food shows I make it compulsory viewing for them all! :lol:
The last time I checked Cheerio's they had the colouring 160b(annatto), the one that hypes up DD1. Would be interesting to see if it is still being used now that Uncle Tobies has taken it over.
Magarine, and low/fat low sugar stuff.
My DH is trying to convince me we are better off having the low fat plant sterols margarine. Little does he know the crappola they put into that stuff! I refuse and use either butter, avocado or whole egg mayo if I need to.
And he's also sucked into the ohh, it's low fat/no sugar, must be better! He drinks diet drinks thinking they are better than the full sugar stuff. I would rather have a huge sugar hit than drink the artificial stuff. But I rarely have it in the house, DH buys it when he's working.
:yeahthat::
Lilias - you're a woman after my own heart... :)
My thing would be drinks like Coke Zero... people think they're being healthy - but are consuming a whole lot of chemicals and goddess-knows what (who can actually point at a natural ingredient that is in coke zero??? - not me!).
I hate the marketing aspect of these food items personally...some people don't take the time to read the labels, or don't understand them etc - so they see 'healthy' or '99% Fat free' written on the packaging and think they're getting a *healthy* food item..
As you've all identified they're either loaded with colourings, sugars, salts etc.
Oh God!!! I didn't know half of this!! I'm so ashamed. I thought I was feeding my DD "good" foods but I'm filling her with sugar. Going to have a huge raid out of my cupboards in the morning. I'm so sick of thinking I'm doing the right thing only to find out I'm being lied to!! GGGRRR!!!
Ooh, this has turned into a cereal and roll-up dissin thread! LOL
No one has said "apricot delight"...sold in the health food aisle :o!
I *love* MILO too, but I suspect that aint really healthy either...
Milo - the evil fruit of Nestle`s loins... :lol:
I love milo!
I think the point of the thread is to make people aware of what is falsely labelled as 'healthy', it doesn't mean we can never ever have any of it. It just means that we are pinged that they are indoctrinating people into thinking that we are being healthy feeding it to our children. Most of these things we mentioned would be fine if they were used as treats only and not part of our main meals.
Re the sugar - good way to tell is to read the nutrition panel, in individual serve column. It will list carbohydrates (which includes sugars) and sugars. 5 grams of sugar = a standard teaspoon (roughly).
So, to use Nutrigrain as an example, a 1 cup serve contains only 20 g of carb, but fully half of that 9.6 g is sugar (2 teaspoons). So you're not getting much healthy carb for the amount of sugar you're eating (and virtually no fibre), and because there's no fibre in it, it's not very filling so many people eat far more than 1 cup in a sitting.
Reminds me, I bought a clear spring water drink today, thought it was like one of those very minimally sweetened/flavoured ones, but then read the label and it had 25 grams of sugar!! :doh: Looked exactly like the competitor's product that has less than 10 g of sugar.
What annoys me most? That people assume just become something is healthy for some, that it is for everyone.
My DD's have multiple food allergies, so you try to find something healthy without oats in it... or milk.... or almonds.... or bananas..... those are my children's allergies. We have to make most things ourselves. We also have intolerances to soy, apple juice and things high in the natural salicalytes. So alot of "healthy" food isn't actually healthy for us.
I have to make heaps of food myself and don't buy "packaged" foods. I may buy the occasional snack, but I tend to use a little handbook called "The Chemical Maze" to try and keep the kids safe from nasty additives and chemicals.
In saying that, I don't mind adding some zucchini slice to DD's lunch box, one that I've made.... I also put in plain rice crackers and hummous, carrot sticks... stuff to snack on that is healthy.
Milo has been made using GMO for years now
What's GMO??:
I'm with you Liviam - I though yoghurt and fruit juice were healthy! :wall: I work 40 hours a week, do parties on the weekend, plus church 3 times a week - where the hell am I supposed to get time to make my own snackfoods from organic ingredients?!
It's a conspiracy I tell ya :(
Genetically modified - not sure what the o is - oats maybe?
Yep, i personally hate 'diet' products too. Aspartame is evil an i will not feed it to myself or my children! The fact that it is only seen as 'safe' at the current consumed level but not in bigger doses does not sit well with me.
LeSnacks are another so called healthy snack.
Baby Yoghurt filled with sugar is another pet peeve of mine.
Sunflower- There are lots of alternatives. My DD has issues with Soy. Most processed food has soy in it, so we have a lot of fresh fruit and veggies as snacks. i also make muffins and biscuits. I have a 5 min muffin recipe i'd be happy to share, so quick and easy. Anzacs are super quick too.
Yoghurt can be healthy. Just choose carefully.
Plain potato chips with just salt added are a 'sometimes' food around here. At least they don't have all the added crap.
Don't get me wrong, we eat junk no and then too, but try and avoid it when we can.
GMO- Genetically Modified Organism.