There’s a great big world out there, and it’s easy to be fooled. Companies continue to study their potential consumers and know how to manipulate them into their products. They follow all of the latest trends, from new diets to whatever is the latest “superfood” (remember when everyone was eating kale?). And they know how to get to you through your taste buds. In a way, it’s like they’re using our cravings against us! Even worse, they disguise their products as “healthy” alternatives or “perfect additions” to whatever diet we choose to follow. From gluten-free goods to a whole host of vegan products, these companies are smart and will do anything to make a profit. For those of us that are simply trying to stay healthy, this can be a big problem! We are now bombarded with more imposters disguised as real, healthy foods. And it’s time to know the truth! In today’s post, I’ll be opening up the curtain and exposing these foods for the frauds they really are.

There’s no time to waste- let’s start right now!

Anything “Free of…”

Red flag #1: Anything that says “free of…” or “low…” is most likely a healthy food imposter. These include labels like “low sodium”, “low fat”, “low carb”, “low sugar”, “free of sugar”, “free of salt” and “fat-free”. Why are these so bad? Firstly, they’re still a highly processed food. They contain refined table salt that’s been stripped of most of its minerals and packaged with anti-caking agents. [1] It may include preservatives, thickeners, and flavor enhancers like MSG that all have questionable reputations for disrupting appetite. [2]

Second, they’ll often compensate for the “free” or “low” ingredient in question. If it’s low in sugar, it will usually contain artificial sweeteners or “alternatives” that mimic the effects of sugar and cause just as much damage. Sucralose may potentially cause disruptions in the microbiome (aka, the gut) and inflame the liver (at least in animal studies). [3] Sugar alcohols like xylitol- even my beloved erythritol- can be a problem for people with sensitive stomachs or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
If the product is low sodium (salt), it will have other ingredients that are used to bring back flavor into their product (otherwise it’s too bland). The same thing happens with fat. Look at margarine, the so-called “healthier” alternative to butter. Except it just so happens to contain a highly inflammatory type of fat known as trans fat! [4]

Don’t trust anything that claims to be free or low in something. Brands are still including low-quality ingredients that can affect your health!

Belonging to a Specific Diet

Vegan, paleo, keto, carnivore, vegetarian, flexitarian… what do all of these diets have in common? Two words: whole foods! Animal and plant-based foods that come from nature (and not a factory) don’t come with an ingredient list. If you think that a boxed product with the name of your diet on it is good, then it’s probably no good. Unless you’re willing to do your due diligence and research the product’s ingredients, you’re most likely getting duped by sneaky companies.

Anything that claims to be an “X-diet friendly” product should also be scrutinized. Once again, turn over the box and look at the label. You may find that there’s really no difference between something like a Paleo Protein bar and a regular granola bar. The granola bar may have a bunch of sugar and carbs, but the paleo bar may have just as much because it includes high amounts of honey or dates. So, the bar is technically still paleo, but when it comes to sugar and carbs, it’s not too different than what you’d regularly find at the store.

The same thing goes with keto. I admit that I enjoy the bars from Perfect Keto (the ingredients are clean, the taste is SO GOOD), but I know better than eat them all of the time (they’re just a nice treat to have every so often). Just like you shouldn’t eat pizza or cookies every day, you shouldn’t do the same even if it happens to be keto or vegetarian or whatever diet you’re eating. It’s the principle of eating these foods all of the time that’s the problem. You still have the bad habit of consuming processed foods in your brain and are forgetting to include real foods and meals made from them!

Replacements

Another type of food imposter are replacements. Meals. Meat. Protein. You can’t compare the level of nutrition found in a piece of steak or a cup of beans to a mock meat substitute. Vegans and vegetarians, I hate to throw you under the bus, but the meat substitutes have got to go. Turn back the box and READ the ingredient list. Modified food starch. Textured soy protein (which is not GMO-free!). Added ingredients like fillers and flavors to create “bulk” and “taste”. If I wanted a veggie burger, I’d have made one from scratch using ACTUAL vegetables! Not something that barely contains any nutrients and is just there for taste.

With meal and protein replacements, it’s the same thing. They’re loaded with ingredients that are designed to make you addicted, which causes more harm than good. They’ll include things like carrageenan, which is a controversial type of food product that is used in animal studies to create inflammation. While the National Organic Standards Board had voted to ban it, the USDA still allows companies to use it. [5] Time will tell before it’s removed. And yet, after hearing about the potential side effects and original use, do you still want to put it in your body? One last thing- notice how a lot of these shakes and powders have to include extra vitamins and minerals? It’s like reading the supplement facts for a multivitamin. Unless I’m extremely malnourished, I’d rather have real food that didn’t have to go through a machine!

Nothing can replace nature! There’s more to nutrition than vitamins and minerals. There’s fiber, enzymes, antioxidants and phytonutrients, all of which are hard to replicate in a lab. What makes these kinds of foods superior to what nature designed?

Over to You

Now it’s your turn. What do you think about the current crop of imposter foods? Have you ever read the label and been shocked at what was in them? Let me know your thoughts down below! If you want, I can do a follow-up post and list even more foods that are out to trick you!

Sources:

[1] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/different-types-of-salt#table-salt
[2] https://www.cbc.ca/life/food/preservatives-might-be-messing-with-our-eating-habits-1.4314490
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5522834/
[4] https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/butter-vs-margarine
[5] https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/carrageenan#safety