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Livescience_2013 00205.txt

#5'Health foods'You Should Avoid (Op-Ed) Katherine Tallmadge is registered a dietitian author of Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks Substitutions Habits & Inspirations (Lifeline Press 2011) and a frequent national commentator on nutrition topics. This article was adapted from one that first appeared in the Washington post. Tallmadgeâ contributed this article to Livescience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Eating healthy can be harder than you think thanks to an enterprising food industry that wants people to consume more than they need. That's because the United State's agricultural system produces twice as much food as what most people require 3900 calories per person per day according to the U s. Department of agriculture's Economic Research Service. This overabundance encourages creative marketing to unload the excess much of it characterized by cheap ingredients a long shelf life and minimal nutritional value the kinds of food with the highest profit margins. As a nutrition consultant I know that words such as low fat high fiber multigrain oegluten free and natural can confuse even the most sophisticated customers into believing what they're buying is healthful. In fact market research proves that consumers make these assumptions. What can you do? First make a habit of reading the ingredients list not just the nutrition facts panel. And remember the following products worth resisting: Reduced-fat peanut butter The oil is the healthiest part of a peanut or a tree nut containing most of the nutrients so there's no advantage to taking it out. Peanuts are technically a legume but dieticians call them nuts because their nutritional characteristics and health benefits closely match those of tree nuts.)In fact removing the oil makes things worse because it robs the peanut butter of its health benefits. Reduced-fat peanut butter has as many calories and more sugar than the regular variety said Bonnie Liebman nutrition director for the Center for Science in the Public interest. Instead: Buy regular peanut butter and eat real nuts. Eating one or two ounces of nuts daily is associated with reductions in heart disease and lower cancer risk. A recent Harvard study showed that eating nuts is associated with lower body weight too. Enhanced Water sports drinks which are diluted just soft drinks with salt are needed only during intense exercise that exceeds one hour or that occurs in extreme heat. Drinks such asvitaminwater are essentially sugary drinks combined with a vitamin pill. They are unequivocally harmful to health says Walter Willett professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard s School of Public health. Whether vitamins dissolved in water have any benefit will depend on who you are and whether you are already getting enough vitamins Some people may be getting too much of some vitamins and minerals if they add vitamin water on top of fortified foods and other supplements. A recent Iowa Women's Health Study found an association between certain commonly used vitamin and mineral supplements and increased death rates. But the worst offenders in this category areenergy drinkssuch as Red Bull Sobe Life Water and Monster Drinks. They're not only high in sugar but most also contain stimulants which may be harmful especially for people with medical conditions like high blood pressure. Instead: Drink water ideally from the tap (Eau du Potomac as it's known locally here in D c.).Water is the best drink for hydrating your body; it's naturally calorie free and contains fluoride to prevent tooth decay. And don't try to get vitamins from solely your beverages. No supplement matches the nutrients in whole foods such as fruits vegetables nuts and whole grains. Energy bars The reputation of these bars also known as meal-replacement bars is that they are healthy aid in weight loss or help build muscle. In fact they are calorie bombs: candy bars with vitamins protein or fiber added. For most of them sugar is either the first (predominant) or second ingredient. Instead: Snack on fruit or veggies for weight loss and yogurt for muscle gain. If you're hiking a long distance and want a healthful nonperishable calorie bomb try nuts and dried fruit. Multigrain foods Multigrain breads crackers and cereals often cause the most confusion for food shoppers. People see multigrain and think whole grain. That s not necessarily so. This is an important distinction because people who eat whole grains have a lower incidence of diabetes heart disease and cancers and are less likely to be compared overweight with those who eat refined grains. Note that when enriched wheat flour is listed in the ingredients that means refined flour. Instead: Be sure a whole grain such as whole wheat whole rye whole oats or brown rice is the first and preferably the only grain in the ingredient list. A great example is a cereal listing whole rolled oats as the only grain or a bread listing whole wheat as the only wheat. Alternatively consider an egg for breakfast. The huge amount of refined starch and sugar that many people eat for breakfast often thinking that this is the healthy choice does far more damage to their well-being than an egg says Harvard's Willett. Non-fried chips and crackers It's easy to believe these foods are healthful because of labels such as baked low fat or gluten free. But most are made with refined grain or starch which provide plenty of calories and few nutrients. Popchips for example are a new product marketed as healthful. But the ingredients are refined highly potato flakes starch oil salt and about 14 additional things. Pita chips made with white flour oil salt and several more ingredients are no better. To boot research shows that too much refined grains and starches increases the risk for heart disease cancers diabetes and weight gain. Instead: Try Wasa or Finn Crisp Original Rye crackers. They're 100 percent whole grain and have little sodium. If you'd like a chip try Terra Chips made with sliced vegetables or even a 100-percent whole-grain chip fried in a healthy oil such as olive or canola. Tortilla chips and Sunchips are two examples. Now that trans fats have been removed from most cooking oils the healthiest part of potato chips is the fat Willett says. And chips made of whole grains rather than potatoes like Frito-Lay's Sunchips can legitimately be considered a health food so long as you keep to the one-ounce serving size. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Her latest book is Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook In Season. Â This article was published originally onâ Livescience. com o

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