5 Foods That Are Much Less Healthy Than You Think

There are several "healthy" foods that are not as good for you as you may think. Food manufacturers advertise these products as effective for delivering lots of nutrition, helping you lose weight, keeping your mind sharp, and offering other physical and mental health advantages. Unfortunately, all the advertising tricks in the world don't change the chemical composition of a food item.

If something is unhealthy for you, it is simply unhealthy. Avoid the following 5 foods which are not as healthy as you thought they were, and your mental and body-based fitness efforts will receive a boost.

1 - High-Fiber Snack Bars and Protein Bars

The key here is reading labels. There are some energy bars, protein bars and high-fiber snack bars which are very good for you. Start reading food labels. Find those that don't contain sugar, salt, added flavors and a long list of ingredients that end in -ite, -ate and -ose.

You also shouldn't eat an entire day's worth of fiber, roughly 25 g, in a single snack bar, as this can have a dramatically negative effect on your digestive system if you don't eat fiber throughout the day.

2 - Low-Fat Foods

I bet there are some low-fat foods you like a lot. They taste delicious, don't they? Well, think about this for a second. If the fat is removed, and fat provides incredible flavor, where is your flavor coming from? The answer is, in most cases, incredibly high doses of unhealthy, refined sugar. Your body needs healthy fats in moderation, which means enjoying guacamole or hummus instead of a fat-free food product.

3 - Orange Juice

Did you know it could take as many as 5 to 7 oranges to make a single glass of orange juice? Unfortunately, when you drink the juice you get all of the calories from all those oranges in one beverage! It's why even 100% juice is jam-packed with tons of calories.

The natural sugar in all of those oranges can additionally cause a blood sugar spike. The natural fruit sugar (fructose) which gives many fruits their sweet taste tricks your body into gaining weight by not letting you realize when you are full. Avoid orange juice and drink a glass of water instead.

4 - "Health" Drinks

There are plenty of drinks touting amazing health properties. If they've got more than 3 ingredients, you probably should skip them. No matter how the ingredients are disguised, and manufacturers are very good at disguising empty calories and simple carbohydrates like sugar, if there is a long list of ingredients, your healthy drink is probably anything but.

5 - Store-Bought Vegetable Patties

When you make your own vegetable patties and black bean burgers, you know exactly what you are putting into your body. Unfortunately, many of the frozen, processed vegetable patties you find in the frozen foods section of your local grocer have more fillers and binders than healthy vegetables. A lot of so-called healthy vegetable patties are extremely high in sodium and sugar as well.

Avoid the 5 foods which are not as healthy as you thought they were, and your mental and body-based fitness efforts will receive a boost.