6 “Health” Foods that Aren’t Healthy

There are so many foods that have been hyped up as some of the best health foods when in reality they don’t make the cut. Some of them should be taken off your list completely. Find out which ones I think are most overrated.

Yogurt/Dairy. The fact of the matter is that unless you’re a baby cow you don’t NEED dairy. Milk is helping baby cows grow into big strong cows. I buy organic milk every once in a while for baking/cooking and sometimes I like a bit in my oatmeal. If you like to drink milk on a regular basis I highly recommend buying raw milk from a local farm. Although cheese is delicious and I definitely struggle with keeping it out of my diet we don’t really need it either. And then there’s yogurt. So many of the popular yogurts out there nowadays contain artificial ingredients, sugar, fake sugar, toxic chemicals and even food dye. If you eat yogurt as a way to get probiotics ditch it and try fermented vegetables instead (sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled veggies). If you eat yogurt because you really love it make sure you choose an organic, grass-fed variety that doesn’t contain anything but yogurt and keep your dairy intake to twice a week if you can!

Egg Whites. Every time I see someone order an egg white omelet I want to stop them. We’ve been so brainwashed to be afraid of fat but the fact of the matter that the healthiest part of the egg is in the yolk- there’s really nothing but protein in the whites. Egg yolks are a super food, especially for fertility, pregnancy and lactation. Here’s why.

 Soy is one of the most genetically modified foods out there so unless you’re buying organic soy you can pretty much guarantee its GMO. Tofu is very overly processed and unless your soy is fermented you’re not really reaping too many real health benefits- and lets be serious, who really enjoys the flavor of tofu? Healthier versions of fermented soy include miso, natto and tempeh and they all happen to be delicious.

Margarine or Vegetable/Soy Spread. We’ve already gone over the soy but vegetable oils are terribly inflammatory and all of these spreads are man made processed oils that typically contain hydrogenated oils and trans fats and any way you cut it they are PUFAS (poly unsaturated fatty acids) which can lead to inflammation and too much inflammation leads to disease. Instead choose healthy fats like real pastured butter, coconut oil and even avocado is delicious spread on toast.

Fake Meat. There’s nothing real about fake meat. Most of them have a very long list of ingredients, some of which you probably won’t even recognize and they are all very highly processed. Most even have soy, canola oil and cornstarch which unless organic you can almost guarantee are from genetically modified corn and soy. Real meat is full of health benefits, especially organic grass-fed.

Low-fat Salad dressing. The vitamins in your salad are fat soluble- meaning they need to be eaten with fat in order to be properly absorbed. Fat-free salad dressings tend to be filled with sugar and jam packed with other ingredients that have no business in your body. Remember fat is actually good for you and it makes your salad healthier!