From The Straits Times    |

While some of us take the following food and drinks for granted as being healthy choices, it is never smart to neglect their nutritional information labels which may reveal otherwise. We consulted Jing Fang, the Nutritionist Manager of Marie France International, and she cleared up some myths about these 6 so-called healthier alternatives.

 

Salads
Salads are usually the food of choice for dieters and are relatively healthy – only if they contain the right ingredients. Salads that just contain greens may lower the number of calories you’re consuming, but they won’t be a good source of vitamins that the body needs. For a salad with high nutrient density, aim to include a mix of lean protein (such as poached salmon, prawn, chicken breast meat, and boiled egg whites), different kinds of vegetables and legumes or beans. Some salad dressings contribute a lot of fat and calories – for example, a tablespoon of French and Caesar’s dressing contains 9g of fat each, and 7g for Thousand Island dressing. Healthier options would be balsamic vinegar, olive oil dressing and Japanese dressing.

Energy Bars
Some brands manufacture candy bars masquerading as their healthier energy bar counterparts, and are high in refined carbohydrates such as syrup, sugar and refined starch plus low in protein. When picking out energy bars, choose those that contain ingredients that are high in protein, such as nuts, low fat milk solids, yogurt, and others such as dried fruits and whole grain cereals. 



Make sure that you don’t eat the same bars as meals and for snacking.
Nutritional guidelines for energy bars as a meal: Less than 350 total calories, less than 10g total fat, more than 15g total protein and less than 30g total carbohydrate.
Nutritional guidelines for energy bars as a snack: Less than 100 total calories, less than 5g total fat, between 5 – 10g of total protein and less than 15g total carbohydrates.

Flavoured Yogurt
Yogurts are a good source of calcium and protein, and help to prevent urinary tract infections. However, some flavourings contain a lot of fructose, which contributes to really high calorie counts. Check the nutritional information label to make sure that the total carbohydrates of the yogurt is less than 10g per 100ml, and that fructose is not added. A better option would be natural plain yogurt, which you can add fresh fruit or whole grain cereals to if it’s too sour.

Fat-free muffins
Fat-free does not mean calorie-free – so don’t be fooled into scarfing down a whole bag of fat-free muffins. Calories in fat-free muffins come mainly from the carbohydrates. Choose muffins that are high in fiber and contain bran, in order to reduce the glycemic index of the carbohydrates (which indicates the rate that carbohydrates are broken down and released as glucose into the blood stream), ensuring that your body’s blood sugar levels would not increase too rapidly.

Fruit Juice
Processed juices are a poor substitute for fresh fruit or freshly squeezed fruit juice. They undergo pasteurization under temperatures of 65 – 95 degrees Celsius, in order to kill certain bacteria, but this also lowers the vitamin content of the juice. The fibre content of processed juice, as shown on the nutritional information, is also greatly reduced, sometimes even down to zero percent. Instead, drink a moderate amount of freshly squeezed juice with some of the fruit fibre and pulp.

Diet Soda
While labelled as a diet drink, diet sodas have not been proven to help weight loss when drunk as a replacement to regular soda. While they do not contain any sugar and calories, carbonated drinks comprise artificial sweeteners, caffeine, sodium and sodium benzoate. Too much sodium in the human body can lead to high blood pressure, fluid retention and weight gain. It also leads to thirst, which may lead to you needing to drink even more diet sodas, which is potentially harmful, considering each can has an average of 50mg of sodium. Your body only needs around 500mg of sodium daily, but anything between 1000 – 2300mg is considered a moderately healthy amount.

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