Your Health Food Might Be Overrated!
By Sara Butler
Health foods are often surrounded by a lot of hype. They’re not necessarily bad for you in correct portions, but they’re also not the health boon that many people try to make them out to be. Drinking juice every day isn’t a magic bullet to total health and wellness. You have to look at your overall nutritional picture in order to truly gain lasting and sustainable health. Here are a few health foods that get a little more credit than they probably deserve. This can be a good addition to your diet, but they’re not miracle workers!
Yogurt
Yogurt can be very good for you, and the active cultures it contains are really good for your gut too. The problem lies with the added sugars to many yogurts, which makes it really important to read the nutritional labels of your favorite packaged yogurt. It’s probably best to steer clear of flavored yogurt or any yogurt that comes with a candy topping!
Egg Whites
Egg whites are healthy and actually good for you, but do you know what is better? The whole egg. Many people believe that the yolks of eggs contain too much cholesterol to be healthy, but that’s a nutritional myth that needs to be forgotten. Whole eggs contain a ton of essential vitamins and minerals that are really good for you, plus they’re relatively low in calories. So go ahead and eat that whole egg!
Low Fat Nut Butters
Nut butter is good for you, but it’s also incredibly calorie-dense and high in fat. So, it would make sense to try and swap out the higher fat version for a lower fat variety, right? Not so fast!
The monounsaturated fat in nut butters, such as peanut butter, is actually really good for your heart. Plus, the fat in these butters help to keep you feeling satiated for longer. What you really need to look for is a butter that has no added ingredients. The closest you can get to just ground nuts and a little salt, the better.
Brown Rice
Not to be a nutritional downer, but brown rice isn’t as healthy as you want to think. Of course, brown rice has more fiber, iron, Vitamin B1, and Vitamin B3 than its white counterpart, but it’s still high in calories. If brown rice is a staple in your diet, you should go for long-grain varieties that take up to an hour to cook because they’ll be less processed.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.