Life> no use

Some 'health food' simply isn't

By Dana Carpender
Updated: 2006-08-09 11:30

I have written in the past about foods that I feel have gotten a bad nutritional rap they don't deserve: eggs, beef and pork. Now it's time to tackle some foods that have somehow entered the public consciousness as "healthier alternatives" when, in fact, they are nothing of the kind.

Have you been eating these not-so-healthy foods?

Rice cakes: Made of highly processed puffed rice, rice cakes list precisely zero vitamins and minerals on their nutrition label. Despite being made of whole grain, they have no fiber and a glycemic index of 82, far higher than table sugar. If you choose a flavor like apple cinnamon, caramel corn or chocolate, you'll get added sugar, too. All of this adds up to a blood-sugar disaster with no redeeming nutritional value.

Polyunsaturated vegetable oils: Remember how safflower oil, corn oil, soy oil and all the other polyunsaturated oils were pushed at us as "heart healthy"? Notice there aren't any ads for them on TV anymore? It turned out that loading our diets with the omega-6 fats in polyunsaturated oils predisposed us to ailments ranging from depression to arthritis to asthma to cancer and — irony of ironies — heart disease. Stick to minimally processed monounsaturated fats like extra-virgin olive oil or butter.

Yogurt: Specifically, sweetened, flavored yogurt. Yes, you'll get some calcium and a little protein, but the familiar "fruit on the bottom" yogurt contains sugar and high-fructose corn syrup in generous quantities. You'll get 25 to 30 grams of sugar in a 6-ounce serving. Blended fruit yogurts and custard-style yogurts are even higher in sugar. It takes no more than a minute to spoon plain yogurt into a bowl or snap-top container (if you want to take it with you) and stir in a little vanilla or lemon extract and a sprinkle of stevia/FOS natural sugar-free sweetener. (Get this at your health food store.) Add a handful of berries for great taste and even better nutrition.

Organic cane sugar: Oh, please. It's refined sugar. If you insist on eating organic sugar, have an organic cigarette with it.

Granola bars: Think of these as cookies or candy and you'll be closer to the truth. Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey Crunchy Granola Bars list sugar, malt, honey, brown-sugar syrup and high-fructose corn syrup. That's five kinds of sugar, and these are some of the best granola bars out there. Varieties such as "chewy chocolate chip" or M&M-laced bars are even worse.

"Wheat" bread: If the ingredient label reads "wheat flour," that's refined flour. "Unbleached flour" is also refined flour. If the bread is 100 percent whole grain, the label will say so in great big letters. Avoid all soft, squishy bread and all bread with corn syrup and/or hydrogenated oil.

Fruit juice: Fruit juice is a refined food: The fiber is removed. One cup of orange juice has 110 calories, 25 grams of sugar and just gram of fiber. Without fiber, that sugar will be absorbed straight into your bloodstream, causing a blood-sugar rush and crash. Eat an orange instead and you'll get just 65 calories and 12.5 grams of sugar, with 3.5 grams of fiber to buffer the sugar's absorption into your bloodstream.

Ensure: If there is one thing that makes me want to throw things at the television, it's the ads for Ensure telling us how nutritious it is. Have you read the ingredient list on this stuff? It starts, "Water, corn syrup, sugar, corn maltodextrin..." In other words, the most prevelant ingredients in the stuff are water and sugar. Ensure also contains soy oil and corn oil, great sources of those omega-6 fatty acids we talked about. You'll get 40 grams of highly processed carbohydrate with less than 1 gram of fiber and just 9 grams of protein. Do yourself a favor and make your own protein drink. Here's how.