Health Food Imposters

As you may have noticed, the reputation of some foods seems to change as often as the weather. Last week in Daily Health News I talked about foods we once shunned, but now embrace as good for us -- certain fats, coconut oil, whole eggs and even coffee come to mind. Then there's the flip side. The grocery store aisles now abound with foods purported to be healthy, but in fact are junk disguised in wholesome packaging.

A prime example of this from recent history is margarine. It was introduced as a healthy alternative to butter, but regular readers of Daily Health News are well aware that many margarines are loaded with trans fat, and may be far worse for you than the rather innocent butter it replaced. (It's possible that an exception is the plant sterol-enriched margarines recently brought to market, but we don't know enough about them yet, so the jury is still out on their health value.) And what about some of the other staples of the health-food industry? Are they really as "good" for us as we've been led to believe?

I had a long conversation with board certified nutritionist Jonny Bowden on that topic, and here's what I learned...

ARE BREAKFAST CEREALS AND MEAL-REPLACEMENT BARS
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

The claim of many cereals to be "whole grain" is wholly misleading. Labeling laws let marketers flash "health benefits" if they are carefully worded. "The fact that something started as whole grain doesn't mean much if all the nutrition has been processed out of it," says Bowden. "Many cereal labels today say made from whole grains. The truth is they're made from flours and cereals manufactured from whole grains, which raise blood sugar almost as high as other processed ones. These 'whole grain' cereals have been processed to the point where they have around 2 g or less of fiber per serving, which is minimal." In Bowden's opinion, whole grain cereals with less than 5 g of fiber per serving are no better than the less righteous cereals they replaced.

"Additionally, many cereal- and grain-based breakfast products are loaded with sugar, some have trans fat, and most also have additives," said Bowden. He advised reading the label carefully. Strive to find brands with about 10 grams of protein (or close to that), no hydrogenated oils and no more than a couple of grams of sugar per serving. This doesn't mean you have to give up this convenient food category altogether. For example, the Atkins Advantage bars meet that criteria, as do a few -- very few -- others. "There are also good bars that have more sugar than three grams," he added, "but those are specialty whole-foods bars, such as Omaga Smart... Bumble Bars... and LaraBars, made from nothing but real fruit, spices and nuts." All of these are healthy. Most other energy and meal replacement bars have very high sugar and belong in the candy aisle. As they say -- "if it's too good to be true, it probably is!"

Soy has been a health darling of recent years, to the extent that it has become the primary source of protein in many protein-enriched products. However, the bloom is off that rose. "I don't think soy is the worst thing in the world for you," Bowden said, "but I think it's been way oversold as a health food." The healthy kind of soy is that which is traditionally fermented, like miso and tempeh, or minimally processed, like edamame. "Those are the soy products that have real health benefits," says Bowden, adding that other soy products (such as those in some meal-replacement bars) should be enjoyed in moderation. (For more on the good, bad and ugly of soy see the Daily Health News article from October 24, 2005.

"Farm-raised salmon is another problem," said Bowden. "Nutritionists have long urged everyone to eat salmon for its high content of omega-3s and because it's such a wonderful source of protein and vitamins. But that is not actually true of farm-raised salmon (versus wild salmon), which encompasses most of the Atlantic salmon we eat. These fish are farm raised, kept in pens, fed antibiotics, artificially colored and often contain far fewer omega-3s than their wild cousins." Bowden suggests looking for wild Alaskan salmon, which is preferable to the farm-raised kind. "If you can't get it in the supermarket, try a company like Vital Choice ([www.vitalchoice.com] 800-608-4825), which will ship the highest quality wild salmon and other fish directly to your door," he says. A good rule of thumb: The colder the water the fish lives in, the more omega-3s it will likely have.

Neither is Bowden a fan of canola oil. "The presence of canola oil in the marketplace is a triumph of marketing over science," he told me. "Canola oil is a highly processed oil that needs to be deodorized at high temperatures, which frequently creates trans fat," he said. "In addition, the omega-3s in it are easily damaged by heating." If you want to use canola oil, stick to cold-pressed organic canola oil and use it for dressings, but not for cooking.

I bet most of us have already figured out that yogurt -- a major health craze a couple of decades ago -- is not all that healthy in the drinkable and squeezable and high-sugar forms that are available today. Call it wishful thinking, because I thought I already knew the answer... but I asked anyway. What about frozen yogurt? "Its only resemblance to real yogurt is that they're both white," he laughed. "Seriously, it can be a delicious dessert, but don't fool yourself that frozen yogurt is healthier than ice-cream. In fact, the non-fat kind is often filled with aspartame, which can be a problem for many people," he told me. Why not go ahead and eat the ice cream, and get the highest quality you can find? "Just eat it less often," he suggested.

Another great pretender? Commercial fruit beverages, especially many of the kinds marketed and conveniently packaged for kids' lunches, are nothing but sugar water. "You are far better off drinking water and flavoring it with lemon or cherry or berry juice concentrate, which are high in antioxidants. Or, if you really want the juice, dilute it with water in a 1:4, solution so you take in less sugar," Bowden said. Healthy exceptions to the "no juice" rule are 100% juices made from cranberry and pomegranate, which do, in fact, contain plenty of important and desirable nutrients. If you don't mind paying a premium, you can also choose from an ever-growing selection of "healthy" juices sold in specialty and health food stores, made of better ingredients (organic and with less or no added sugar, chemicals or "fruit juice fillers").

It's easy to be fooled by the advertising claims made for many products. Be skeptical, and smart. "The healthiest foods are the ones that are minimally processed and closest to the state in which they were found in nature. If you could hunt it, fish for it, pluck it or gather it, chances are it's the real thing, not a health food imposter."

From: Bottom Line's Daily Health News.

Source(s): Jonny Bowden, a board-certified nutrition specialist, a nationally known weight loss coach and author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What You Should Eat and Why; (Fair Winds). Contact him at [www.jonnybowden.com].