Imposters BY CHRISTY BARONI • PHOTO BY ROB KAUFMAN
Healthy intentions beware! There are foods masquerading as healthy options that are anything but healthy. Reading labels is an important first step, but what exactly are you reading? What should you pay attention to be sure you are making a choice that is actually beneficial to your overall health? I am going to share with you 4 common food items that are leading you astray, along with some truly healthy alternatives that you can sink your teeth in to instead. Wheat Bread. When you are reading a bread label, if you see “bleached” or “unbleached enriched wheat flour” as one of the first ingredients you are not getting all the benefits of the whole grains advertised on the front of the package. A healthy and affordable alternative is a sprouted grain bread which can be found at many local grocery stores and farmer’s markets. The most popular is Ezekiel Bread due to its amazing taste and texture along with rich nutritional benefits. Made up of wheat, barley, soybeans, and lentils it’s actually a complete protein source and is packed full of fiber. Energy Bars. It says “energy” on the label so that must be a good thing, right? Many brands of energy bars are packed full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup and each tiny bar can contain upwards of 300 calories a piece. This combination could mean not only an energy crash a few short hours later, but also increased hunger shortly after. The best option in this area is actually to choose a whole food 52
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option. Nothing is as easy to grab-and-go as an apple or a banana paired with a handful of cashews or almonds. Turning to a whole food instead of a packaged processed food is always a better choice for on the go snacking. Agave. Agave is not a health food. It is a sweetener, and sugar by any other name is equally as addictive as any other sweetener. Your journey to a healthy lifestyle should include a reduced reliance on sweetener of any kind, including agave. There is zero nutritional benefit to using agave as a sugar substitute, and agave is actually more calorie dense. “Fat Free” foods. This one is my favorite. And by favorite I mean the one that irks me the absolute most. We started to idolize the fat free craze when coronary disease became directly linked to dietary fat. But the missing link is that sugar and trans fat are likely the true culprits, which are commonly found in hydrogenated oils and processed additives like stick margarine, butter substitutes, baked goods, etc. Good clean dietary fat is actually a very heart healthy option and can be found in avocados, extra virgin olive oil, and whole eggs.
So now that you have a better eye for nutrition labels, you can make the healthiest choice during your next trip down the grocery aisle. Christy Baroni is the Nutrition Specialist and a Coach at Conviction Training Facility, the Original CrossFit Hilton Head. She is a military spouse, a mother of two, a competitive athlete, and is dedicated to helping people fine tune their habits to create the body and life of their dreams. For more healthy living ideas, recipes, or to create your own nutrition plan visit her at ConvictionTraining.com or contact her directly at (843) 290-5803 or Christy@ConvictionTraining.com.