Is there “healthy” food that might actually not be healthy? It seems that could be the case.
Six “Healthy” Foods That Might Not Be All That
According to an article by Dr. Emma Beckett in the BBC Science Focus magazine, not everything that seems healthy at first glance is always healthy upon deeper examination! The key seems to be how processed these “healthy” foods are. Here are the six foods she suggests taking a closer look at before just adopting them without question :
- Plant-based milks. Regular milk is minimally processed; many plant-based milks are highly processed. However, you might not be able to, or want to use regular milk, in which case, if you want “milk,” you might need to use a plant-based milk. But check out the ingredients.
- Plant-based meats. Less meat, the doctor says, is good. But again, check out the ingredients in plant-based meats. Even though there are vegetables in them, it may not be the same as eating the actual vegetables.
- Meal replacement drinks. They are supposed to have all the nutrition you need, but might lack the “bio-diversity” that natural foods would.
- Breakfast cereals. Some are great; some are junk! Look at the ingredients. Some, she says, are “more like dessert than breakfast.”
- Granola bars. Just like breakfast cereal, some are not bad, others are high in salt and sugars.
- Premium ready meals. These often have lots of salt, preservatives and stabilizers.
From the budget-friendly point of view, the more processed a food is, the more expensive it tends to be – especially when you consider nutritional value gained per dollar spent.
A Sure Way to Get Diabetes?
Of course no one wants to find out how to GET diabetes! But if we know the one sure way to get diabetes, that means avoiding whatever that is, might be a sure way to avoid getting diabetes, right?
And since we’re all about simple – AND healthy – what could it be?
Well, according to an article written by Kelly Acciardo, the one food that has the greatest possibility of leading to diabetes is refined sugar.
And that’s according to an endocrinologist.
Dr. Maria Teresa Anton, MD, of the Pritikin Longevity Center, says: “Cutting down on added sugars is a simple yet powerful step in managing diabetes risk.” Another endocrinologist agrees, and specifically mentions sugar-sweetened beverages like fruit juice and soda.
Not that you can never have anything with sugar, the article states, but don’t make it a regular habit!
So less sugar is simple and healthy – clearly. In our house, we come close to zero sugar – thanks to stevia! Stevia is not cheaper than sugar, but getting diabetes is expensive, so – maybe cheap in the long term.
Save Money by Not Wasting Food!
An article from WVIK in the Quad Cities area of Iowa/Illinois gives some great tips on how not to waste food!
They state that the average US consumer wastes a pound of food per person per day.
Some simple tips they mention:
- Shop for your refrigerator, freezer and pantry first.
- Make a shopping list based on a weekly meal plan.
- Use fresh ingredients first, and make sure they are properly stored – because they are the foods that will go bad first.
- If you eat at a restaurant, take home what you don’t eat.
Are Eggs Bad for Your Heart?
Not necessarily, according to a new study highlighted in an article from Pasco News in the state of Washington!
They took 140 patients over a 4-month study period, to see what would be the effects of eating 12 eggs per week, versus a non-egg diet – especially looking at the effect on LDL and HDL cholesterol. Those who ate the eggs had reductions in both types of cholesterol. While the reductions were not significant, they are suggesting that eating eggs does not increase blood cholesterol.
Eggs, while more expensive than they were at one time, still are a bargain, nutritional value-wise per dollar spent.
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