What you think is healthy... isn't

The constant onslaught of information, usually from large corporations, governments, etc., as to what is healthy quite often isn't.  My beloved friend Mary Jo, who I have often mentioned here, asked me the other day if honey is really a healthy option.  This got me thinking, there are lots of products that are sold to us as healthy but really aren't.

Honey is a perfect example of this; it is a natural product made be bees and flowers - mother nature in her pure state.  As I said last week sugar is the new tobacco and honey has around 53% fructose.  Each teaspoon has nearly 4g of fructose, which means it can exacerbate pre-existing insulin resistance.  However, raw honey has antibacterial properties, while processed refined honey lacks many of these beneficial properties.  It is extremely difficult to find raw unprocessed honey on sale in any store.  In America, 75% of the honey on sale in supermarkets may be ultra-processed to the point that all  inherent medicinal properties are completely gone.  Nearly all "fake" honey is made in China.  The Food Safety News (FSN) tested 60 jars which all came back negative for pollen which is a clear sign of ultra-processing.

The FSN has stated:

"The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies.  The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others have also ruled that without pollen, there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources."

For example; the FSN discovered that 100% of honey sampled from drug stores (Walgreens, Rite-Aid, and CVS Pharmacy) were absent of pollen.  76% of honey samples bought at grocery stores such as TOP Food, Safeway, QFC, Kroger, Harris Teeter, etc., were absent of pollen and 77% of honey from big box stores such as Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart and Target, were also absent of pollen.

So your honey needs to come from a reliable source and for it to be raw and organic for you to receive all the beneficial properties that honey has to offer.

Other examples of the not so healthy foods are:

Agave Nectar - like honey, people think it is a good natural sweetener, but it has a much higher concentration of fructose than regular table sugar or even high fructose corn syrup!

Low-Fat and No-Fat foods.  I have often written about these.  If you remove the fat from foods you also remove the taste.  Taste has to be replaced with something otherwise no one will want to eat these products.  So, large amounts of sugar and salt are added to replace the lost taste.  You also need to remember that the human body needs some fat to absorb fat-soluble vitamins.

Fruit Juice, another sugar bomb.  Fruit has high concentrations of fructose, but it also has high amounts of fiber.  When you eat the whole fruit, the fiber content stops the fructose being released quickly into the blood stream and therefore causing a blood sugar spike.  Eating the whole fruit means that the sugar is released more slowly over a longer period of time.  Making juice - even fresh, means you remove the fiber and all you have left is sugar water that is flavored.

Butter got a bad rap for years because it is a saturated fat that we were told was really bad for heart health.  The government (The McGovern Report 1977) told us that we should be using vegetable fats instead.  So, America and then Europe turned to vegetable oils and margarine to replace butter and other fats.  This was just the beginning of what is now a huge heart disease and obesity problem.  Their insistence on changing to vegetable fats only made heart disease statistics worse.  Margarine, for example, is just a whole mix of chemicals with some oils added.  Take a tub of margarine and leave it in the sun and watch what happens.  Margarine is the closest thing on the "food" list to PLASTIC.

Protein Bars, granola bars, "health" bars... they may be high in protein and low in carbs but they are full of artificial flavorings and made with a whole host of chemicals.  If you need quick energy reach for a handful of raw nuts.

Cholesterol Lowering foods, like Danacol, etc.,  these boast a nutrient called phytosterols, which have been proven to lower cholesterol in humans.  However, there is "some science" that suggest the phytosterols can actually contribute to weakening the cardiovascular system and even contribute to heart disease - the jury is still out on this one!

Sports drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, etc... do not just replace electrolytes after your workout, they are also packed full of sugar.  So if you really want to rehydrate afterwards, just plain old water is great o coconut water (not more than 1 per day).  Sports drinks should only really be used by professional athletes with high intensity training sessions.  I run between 8 and 10 km every day and never use anything other than water after a run.

Gluten-free diets are really in vogue at the moment.  Celiac Disease is a real and terrible disease that needs a specific gluten free diet, in 2015 gluten intolerance without celiac disease was finally recognized officially.  I know many people who have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance or celiac disease and most peoples' initial reaction is to try and substitute everything with gluten for gluten-free foods.  After all, who can live without pasta or bread or biscuits or cake?  Well, guess what?  You can!  Now I do get it, a person has just been told they can no longer eat all those things they have grown up on, and the desire is to find something to replace them with.  But just think for a minute... gluten free cake is still... cake.  Just because a package has been stamped with the gluten-free logo DOES NOT MEAN IT'S HEALTHY.  Chances are it will be full of sugar, salt and chemicals.

The one thing you can do to be sure you are making healthy choices is to eat REAL FOOD; whole fruits, fresh vegetables (and frozen - they are just as good and often conserve their vitamins and minerals), fresh, preferably organic meat, poultry, fish and eggs.  If you are vegetarian/vegan, the same applies, make it REAL and you'll be just fine.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com