“100% natural, organic, low-fat,” are some buzzwords we automatically assume as healthy and consider as must-haves when trying to lose weight. We look for them everywhere, on supermarket aisles, online grocery stores, because they seem to have a health halo around them with multiple benefits, especially those that come with the “low calorie” and “low fat” tags. Food companies tend to cash in on this hype and attach such fancy tags to their products to appeal to the consumers. The “halo effect” was originally coined in the 1920s by Edward Thorndike, a reputed psychologist, who associated “halo effect” with a person based on their appearance and dressing style rather than their behavior. The food industry takes inspiration from here and markets their products with glorious tags to give an impression that their product is good and healthy without much evidence to back their claim. In this post, we have 14 such foods with a health halo around them, but then they aren’t exactly good for weight loss.
What is Health Halo Effect?
To assume a food product/ingredient is healthy, often falling for the heavily-advertised claims, without no concrete evidence to prove its benefits, and overestimating its health benefits, defines a health halo effect. People pick such products without much thought, automatically assuming it’s the best bet for them, and often indulging in overconsumption of such food.
14 Foods with Health Halo That Aren’t Exactly Good For Weight Loss:
1. Packaged Fruit Juices: Most of them claim to have 100% real fruits, with all the nutrients from the fruits retained. But not only do these juices lack fiber (absolutely needed for weight loss), they also might have preservatives and artificial flavours in them with high sugar content that can actually lead to weight gain. Reading the ingredient list will reveal the whole story and the real truth.
2. Pink Salt: Experts say the benefits of pink salt over regular salt is definitely overhyped with detoxifying, cleansing, and antioxidant properties attributed to this variety of salt, and most of them aren’t research backed. Falling for these claims can lead to overconsumption, but we would like to warn you that too much salt, no matter what variety, can raise the risk for high blood pressure. Do consume salt in moderation.
3. Greek Yogurt: Food companies promote the high probiotic content of yogurt, but flavoured Greek yogurt may also have artificial colour, added flavour, and of course heaps of sugar.
4. Packaged Cereals: It’s alarming the rate at which people are replacing traditional breakfast with low-calorie packaged cereals, which are processed food, most likely made with refined flour and added sugar. Same goes with muesli with dehydrated fruits that often have artificial colors to make them appealing, and also added sugar, corn syrup – all of them bad for weight loss.
5. Baked chips: Chips are bad for weight loss, whether they are baked or not.
6. Margarine: Made from vegetable oils and marketed as a “low-calorie, low fat” replacement for butter, it’s completely unhealthy, whether you want to lose weight or not.
7. Multigrain Bread: Okay, so it claims to have the goodness of grains, but is it primarily made from refined flour? Do read the ingredients list to be completely sure.
8. Granola: Everybody thinks granola is healthy, but this popular breakfast option that is store bought, may have a good amount of sugar and other sweeteners with high calorie content. It’s better to switch to traditional Indian breakfast dishes that are full of nutrients, low in calories, and are filling at the same time. For example, idli, dosa, dhokla, poha, etc.
9. Protein Bar: We often pick up protein bars to reward ourselves for working out hard in the gym and to supply the body with protein, but you are just putting back all those calories that you burnt during exercise with the high sugar content in the bars.
10. Gluten Free: There is no point in going gluten free if you do not have wheat intolerance or celiac disease. Gluten-free products are wrongly marketed as stuff that can boost weight loss, but there are no studies done to support this theory.
11. Brown Bread: Most often, the brown bread that you pick for easy breakfast is just colored version of your regular bread. Even if it’s not colored, there’s a high chance that the brown bread has a certain percentage of white flour, sugar, and salt.
12. Low-Fat Something: Many times when fat is removed from a product, salt or sugar is added to make up for the loss of flavour, to compensate for the lack of taste once the fat content has been ripped off. It’s better to pick full fat because it’s a much healthier option.
13. Sugar-Free Candies: They may have artificial sweeteners which actually may cause imbalance in the gut flora and if the gut is not in good health, weight loss becomes an extremely difficult process. Natural sweeteners like honey and stevia leaves are much better options because they are not processed or refined and get metabolized by the body in a natural way.
14. Peanut butter with salt and sugar: Sure peanut butter is a rich source of protein, but only when it’s homemade and not bought from the store because if you read the ingredients list, certain brands do add sugar, salt, and oil and market it as “healthy.”
Summing up, before picking any food, do read the ingredient list and nutrition facts mentioned on the packaging. Also, it’s important to practice portion control and count calories even with the healthiest of foods. Most importantly, eating the right kind of food and the right dieting techniques will lead to weight loss, and Rati Beauty diet is the perfect option to shed extra pounds and lose inches as well. Download the Rati Beauty app for more details.
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