Supermarkets are places where you can not only find inaccurate tabloid articles but you can also be fooled by false nutritional and food claims slapped onto various food labels. Supermarkets are a trap for buying foods that will “improve your life,” when they are really just snatching some extra bucks off of you. I am sorry everyone but the truth hurts.
1. Sea Salt is Better for you than Regular Table Salt
Sea salt and regular salt differ in their sources: sea salt is from sweater, while regular salt is from a mine. However, both types of salt both contain roughly 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving, which makes them balance each other out. Sea salt has gotten a lot of hype because it is said to contain magnesium and iron, but they are in such trace amounts that it doesn’t have much of an effect. It is better to stick with regular table salt because it is cheaper and just watch your sodium content with each meal.
2. Energy Drinks are not as Bad for You as Soda
Energy drink favorites such as Red Bull, Monster and Full Throttle attempt to boost your energy with herbal extracts and vitamins. What makes energy drinks equally as bad is that they contain the same number of calories of pure sugar, and in some cases, even more than in regular sodas. The only proven and significant energy boost comes from the caffeine. If you are looking for a real energy boost without the sugar spike, then just opt for coffee.
3. Diet Soda is Harmless
More and more research has found adverse effects of artificial sweeteners used in diet soda, like aspartame and sucrolose. They are said to lead to hard-to-ignore food cravings as the day progresses. Some studies have even linked diet soda to weight gain. If you are looking for a sweet beverage, choose carbonated and flavored water instead.
4. Natural-Labeled Foods are Healthier
The FDA doesn’t put much effort into controlling and regulating the use of the word “natural” on nutrition labels. For example, 7UP advertises that it is made with “100% Natural Flavors” when, in reality, the soda is sweetened with a an unnatural dose of high fructose corn syrup. “Corn” is natural, but “high fructose corn syrup” is not because it is produced from various chemical reactions. Unfortunately, most buyers fall into the trap of paying the high prices for “natural” foods that are essentially common junk food.
5. Chocolate is Bad
Cocoa is a plant-based food that contains flavonoids that increase blood flow and release endorphins. It actually contains stearic acid, a healthy kind of saturated fat that is known to increase your good HDL cholesterol. Here’s the chase: Look for dark chocolate which has more cocoa then sugar, in comparison to milk chocolate, which is concentrated with large amounts of fat ant sugar.
6. Granola is Good
The confusion with granola is that oats are good for you. Oats are different than granola, though. Granola contains high sugar amounts, processed oats that lose their bran and sperm and are cooked in oil. Granola simply provides more calories than nutritional benefits. It is better to choose non-fat milk and a low sugar cereal instead.
There you have it: fact over fiction.