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Dietician’s honest take on 4 ‘overrated healthy foods’, including brown rice
How do you decide what food is healthy and what is not? A dietician discusses in detail four foods that are assumed to be “healthy” but lack essential nutrients.
Processed foods are generally considered unhealthy. Studies have found that consuming them regularly reduces your lifespan However, some of them are marketed so well that we are convinced they are nutritious.
Dietician reveals 4 ‘overrated healthy foods’
Registered dietician Abbey Sharp, popular for debunking myths about foods, takes on four foods we often eat thinking they are healthy; in truth, they don’t provide any essential nutrients.
For the unversed, most issues that occur in our body and mind are the result of a lack of important micronutrients. While low iron levels cause dark circles, a deficiency in vitamin C contributes to joint pain.
1. Fruit Snacks
Fruit snacks consist of different kinds of real assorted fruits that are naturally thought of as nutritious. However, “there’s no real standard for how much fruits needs to be added,” says the dietician.
The fiber is stripped of the real fruits during processing, which is an important carb derived from natural produce. Even though the dietician herself feeds her children fruit snacks, she would treat them no different than gummy bears.
2. Halo Top Ice Cream
Halo Top is a popular brand that sells “light ice cream”, meaning they are low in calories for large portions.
The dietician argues people shouldn’t eat an entire tub of it just because it’s low in calories while ignoring its little nutritional value.
She always considers including full dairy and full fat in her diet, rather than the low-calorie ice cream rich in sugar alcohols and multidextrous fiber – highly processed carbohydrates.
3. Veggie Straws
Abbey points out that the product’s label convinces people that it’s a “healthy option”, while Veggie Straws are nothing but a highly processed snack made of potato starch and flour.
She also notes that the other vegetables mentioned on the label “merely just supply color”.
4. Brown Rice
She recognizes that her opinion about brown rice is the “most controversial” of all the foods she mentioned. Despite the hype, brown rice has a “very negligible difference” when it comes to fiber and protein.
As foods rich in fiber and protein are more effective in weight loss, people tend to pay more for brown rice, although it adds almost the same value as white rice.
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), a top food writer and blogger, a TV and radio personality, and a YouTuber. She holds a B.A.Sc. in Nutrition Science from Ryerson University alongside Dietic certification from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
