As we all struggle to eat healthy, we try to pick up the best healthy food options we see in the aisles of the grocery store.
But what we forget — which is actually the most important thing to do while buying things — is to read the labels! Just because food products have "organic," "low-fat," "all natural," "herbal," or "real fruit" written on them, it doesn't mean they get nutritionist approval.
There's no such thing as strictly "good" or "bad" food, but long-term inclusion of certain foods containing lots of added sugar, sodium or oil can lead to unintentional health conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, PCOS and more.
To improve your long-term health, check out the list below and the easy swap alternatives you can make at home.
Flavoured Yogurt
When you're out for something sweet, yogurt bars may seem the healthiest choice among ice-creams, donuts or pastries. But what people don't see are all the hidden ingredients — most flavoured yogurts contain lots of sugar, artificial flavouring/syrups, or sweetened fruit. It's no wonder they cause a spike in blood glucose, leading to a sugar crash and a grumbling stomach an hour later.
Swap it: choose an unsweetened full-fat Greek yogurt, or a coconut/almond home-made yogurt. Top with berries and a sprinkle of crunchy pumpkin seeds — this tastes delicious and will keep you full for hours.
Granola Bars
On the surface, many granola bars and energy bars look like a healthy option — chunks of dried fruit, oats, nuts, even dark chocolate. It looks like a packet full of goodness. But flip the label and check the ingredient list, and it often contains high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil.
Swap it: make home-made energy ladoos with dates, oats, nuts, seeds and coconut oil for a good on-the-go or mid-meal snack.
Baked Vegetable Chips
We all love chips! Fried potato chips are everyone's favourite but extremely high in calories, so it becomes very easy to reach for baked vegetable chips instead. Unfortunately, you're not always getting much actual sweet potato, beetroot or squash in these chips — most brands use veggie powder for colour, and even "baked" versions use a lot of oil to get crispy, plus heavy salting.
Swap it: make and bake vegetable chips at home. Slice the vegetables, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, and bake until brown and crisp.
Nut Butter
Don't get me wrong — nut butter is healthy, but not the nut butter generally found in commercial stores. It's very important to check the label. If your nut butter's label says nuts + sugar + hydrogenated oil, that's why you can't stop at just one tablespoon.
Swap it: you don't actually need to swap nut butter — just look for one that has only nuts (almonds/peanuts/cashews etc.) and nothing else. Nut butters are also very easy to make at home.
Low-fat Salad Dressing
"Low-fat" is a term people relate to "healthy," but low-fat isn't always the healthiest option. As soon as a product is made low-fat, it's often replaced with added sugar, salt and high fructose corn syrup — ending up very high in empty calories and nowhere near healthy. It's also important to understand that fats aren't bad for us — we need them to absorb and synthesise all fat-soluble vitamins.
Swap it: salad dressings are easy to make at home with fresh herbs, spices, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, chilli and lemon juice — an amazing replacement for commercial bottled dressings.
Do you have other healthy swaps for these not-so-healthy foods? Let us know in the comments below :)
