health food

Healthy Snacks You Think Are Healthy!!

A bowl full full of healthy cereals, a handful of dry fruits and the various low sugar content energy bars. Well, which of these do you follow to keep yourself healthy and away from high calorie content? Here are the real health checks about these so called healthy food that most of us prefer eating. Read them to stay healthy, in real sense.

High-fibre cereals with sugar

Everyone wants to get a little more fibre in their diets. And so, why not add a bowl of your favorite high-fibre cereal to your breakfast? Isn’t that the first thing most of us do in the morning?

Really? Careful! Many of these high-fibre health claims come with the surprise of high-sugar content! Check the ingredients. Added sugar comes in many forms, including corn syrup, white or brown sugar, honey and evaporated cane syrup, as well as natural sugars from dried fruit. Do not forget the colored and flavored cereals. They too are high on sugar and flavorings.

sugary health cerealImage Courtesy: medicalnewstoday.com

A high fibre diet has been shown to protect again heart disease and the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, a big sugar load in the morning can increase your blood sugar and these cereals are definitely not the answer.

Energy bars

Energy bars were originally developed to give athletes a convenient source of fuel during a long workout. But over the time, they have become an on-the-go snack for everyone. Nowadays, these bars are often filled with chocolate, high-fructose corn syrup, and artery-clogging saturated fat. You might as well eat a candy bar then.

energy bars

Image courtesy: betterenergybars.com

If you can’t resist one, then look for a bar that has the sweetness coming from dried fruits and not added sugar.

Trail mixes

Dried fruit and nuts offer extended energy and it may seem like the healthiest choice to make while shopping in the supermarket, but it’s actually not so.

trail mixesimage courtesy: popsugar.com

These pre-packaged and processed trail packs are high in calories as the dried fruits are drenched in sugar and the nuts in salt. Without realizing one handful alone can set you back 300 to 400 calories or more while you may still end up considering that it’s the healthiest snack you could be having.

Frozen yoghurt

Compare it to an ice-cream and it seems so much better. But in terms of calories and simple sugars, the two treats are closer than you may think as the sugar and fat laden toppings often catches up to the ice-creams counterparts.

frozen yoghurtImage Courtesy: baileysfroyo.com

The serving cups are often too large. But it’s full of gut friendly bacteria right? While regular yoghurt contains live active cultures that can keep your digestive tract healthy, most frozen yoghurt sold at super markets and retail stores have been so processed that it kills the beneficial live cultures.

So, now that you know which one is healthier, what will be your choice for a healthier body, healthy food or natural food?

Image courtesy: mnn.com

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