“Diet-friendly” Foolers

Many products can mislead the everyday consumer to thinking they have a healthy product.  Here are some snacks that have successfully disguised themselves as “diet-friendly” foods, but don’t let them fool you!

Granola-Granola is often considered a healthy whole-grain snack. While many variations contain rolled oats, nuts and seeds, many are high in calories and loaded with sugar.

Solution: Watch your portion sizes and go for the mixes that do not contain candied nuts or chocolate.

“Fat Free” Products- Fat provides flavor and texture to foods. By reducing or removing the fat from these products, the overall product is altered. In order to make up for this loss of taste, many products replace the fat with carbohydrates and salt. 

Solution: Stick with simple homemade dressings, like oil and vinegar, and, if you’re out, ask for them on the side to control how much you’re using.

Pretzels- These low-fat snacks are a high carbohydrate source that does not provide our bodies with many nutrients and are often very high in sodium. For instance, you’ll get an entire day’s worth of sodium in one cup of Rold Gold pretzels.

Solution: Stick to nutrient-dense snacks like almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds. Just keep an eye on the serving size if you’re watching your weight.

Spinach wraps and pastas: The amount of spinach in these wraps and noodles is trivial to what you would get if you added spinach to your wrap or pasta. Although the color may look nice, try going for a whole grain option instead.

Solution: Use spinach as a topping to add color and nutrition to your dish.