We thought we were done with diet culture. It seemed like we were slowly but surely moving away from crash diets and towards healthy eating, lifestyle changes and overall fitness. But diet culture just won’t let go. It seems like our grocery stores and supermarket shelves are full of healthy foods, but when you take a closer look, they’re nothing more than junk food masquerading as a healthy snack. Let’s take a look at some of these unhealthy foods disguised as healthy.
1. Frozen yogurt
Frozen yogurt is very misleading. It’s like they said in The Good Place. It’s so human that we ruin something a little so we can have a lot more. It sounds like it’s better than ice cream and doesn’t taste as good as ice cream, but it still has a lot of sugar and because of the false “healthy” label, you’ll have a lot more. At that time, you can also have a small portion of real ice cream to satisfy your craving.
2. nuts
Nuts make no sense when it comes to health. It’s dried up, so it’s shrunk in size and now you can have a lot more of it than fresh fruit, and that just means you’re consuming more sugar than usual. Because you can eat a cup of grapes, which will be like, maybe 10 grapes. You can also easily eat a cup of raisins, but that now quadruples the calories and a lot more sugar. Nuts are only preserved, but it is always better to have them fresh.
3. Sports drinks
Sports drinks are rare, advertised as a great source of hydration for athletes, but mostly bought by teens who don’t even work out. They are supposed to contain electric light to help more efficiently hydrate those who exercise a lot and lose a lot of water. If you’re an athlete running a marathon, this is a good idea, but if you’re a normal person doing 30 minutes of light jogging, skip it. They are essentially slightly less sugary soft drinks.
4. Vegan junk food
There is a myth that if something is labeled vegan it means it is healthy, but that is not the case. All that means is that it does not contain any animal-derived ingredients, it is not inherently healthy. Vegan chocolate is still chocolate, it’s still full of sugar. Vegan burgers are still greasy burgers, except they’re packed with vegetable oils instead of animal fats. Basically, junk food is still junk food and unhealthy, even if it’s vegan.
5. Gluten-free snacks
The same logic applies to gluten-free foods. Just because it’s gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s somehow superior and super healthy. There are tons of gluten-free snacks that are full of sugar and trans fat. So if you’re looking for healthy stuff, read the ingredients, don’t be fooled by misleading advertising and misleading packaging.
