Developing a mindset to start eating right and to finally push yourself to take extra steps towards a healthy eating lifestyle is a great way to start but all those efforts to reach your goal will be wasted if you’re not careful with what you eat. Here are some “Diet” food items that you may be familiar with:

1. Crackers

If you are a 90’s kid, then you might remember how going on a “cracker” diet was all the rage then. Crackers earned the reputation of being a health food because of that. However, if you look at the ingredients of a local pack of crackers, you will see that it has hydrogenated oils in the form of vegetable shortening. Plus, the flavored wheat variants also have artificial flavoring, which always translates to MSG-based or chemical-based flavoring.

Alternatives: Fruits are always a fantastic snack. If you really want crackers, try looking for brown rice/rice crackers that are plain or just lightly salted

2. Probiotic drinks

Here’s another supposedly healthy drink that has everyone fooled. Probiotic drinks come in small 80ml bottles. One of the reasons people enjoy it so much is because it is so sweet. Did you ever ask yourself what makes it so sweet? That’s because each tiny bottle has about 11.4 grams* of sugar, which is about 3 teaspoons of sugar! Even the light version of probiotic drinks don’t seem to be any better. Even though it’s less calories, it still has 3 different types of sugar and 1 type of artificial sweetener in a tiny bottle.

Alternatives: You are better off eating plain, unsweetened yogurt for the health benefit. If you find it too sour, you can add a bit of raw honey or an overripe mango or banana. Your body will thank you for it.

3. Multigrain chips

Yes, multigrain is good but what about the other ingredients included in the snack? A popular local multigrain snack brand has artificial flavoring plus MSG. The powder used to flavor the chips also has tartrazine and other artificial food coloring. In the European union, when a food product has these artificial food coloring additives, a warning label is placed on the package that it might cause hyperactivity, seizures, anxiety attacks, ADD, ADHD, allergies, etc. In fact, these artificial additives are banned in several European countries. Don’t fall for this fad food item just based on one healthy buzzword.

Alternatives: There are always organic chips that you can eat. Look for the USDA organic or the EU biologique seal when buying your chips. This assures that at least 95% of the ingredients used are organic.

4. Diet / ”Zero” soda

How many times have you heard someone order a diet or zero-calorie soda saying they want to be healthy? Diet and zero-calorie sodas use artificial sweeteners that are really bad for the body. Artificial sweeteners are neuro disruptors that cause migraine attacks, ADD and ADHD for kids, seizures, blurred vision, etc. You are not doing your body a favor by choosing a diet or zero-calorie soda. This doesn’t mean, though, that you should down multiple cans of regular soda. Nixing the habit of drinking sugary drinks is still best.

Alternatives: Thirsty? Drink good old plain alkaline water! Need something that’s slightly sweet? Have some real, fresh, off-the-shell, coconut water or Buko. But, be careful not to drink buko from a tetra pack or bottle. The live enzymes of fresh buko is unbeatable plus, packaged Buko drinks are either Ultra heat-treated, killing the live enzymes, or has sugar/artificial ingredients added into it.

5. L-Carnitine drinks

There was a time when people thought, that drinking bottled drinks with L-carnitine meant they can effectively lose weight without eating properly or exercising. Did you know that each standard bottle of L-carnitine drinks has quite a bit of sugar and artificial sweeteners (to mask the sugar content). Makes you wonder if the minuscule amount of L-carnitine can really induce weight loss in relation to the amount of sugar per bottle.

Alternatives: You are better off eating right and exercising instead of downing bottles of a sugary L-carnitine drink. There’s just no shortcut for long-term health and maintaining your figure.

Were you surprised? There are a lot of processed foods sold in the market claiming to be “Healthy” but with a closer look at their ingredients will prove otherwise. Don’t let your efforts and health goals be ruined by these processed foods that will only cause you more harm than good. Always look for alternatives, and you will be surprised that some of them taste just as great! Let us help you Transform your Health and make that first step in reaching your health goal. Contact us at Baron Method.