An article hit my inbox today from Men’s Health that covers a topic I think about often. There is an ocean of false advertising being shown to the public that allows corporations to sell sugar water as a “vitamin drink” or a bar of sugar and fat as a “nutrition bar”. These products make us unhealthy, lower our quality of living and can potentially kill us. The worst part is that while we swallow them up like morons we’re being laughed at by the corporations pocketing the profits.
A few years ago I started working with a personal trainer who opened my eyes to what is actually healthy vs. what I thought was healthy. I honestly thought I was eating healthy. I avoided fast food and desserts and ate what I believed to be good for me.
My diet consisted of a lot of yogurt and frozen berries, turkey sandwiches, turkey wraps, cheese, baked chips, “healthy” chicken pizza, etc. Luckily after a few weeks of training he broke it down for me on a piece of paper that outlined what a healthy diet looks like and it changed my life.
Several days later when I came to work out he looked at me and said “you look different”. I told him I had eaten only items on the piece of paper he gave me. He laughed and said “well you can see it”. I looked very different, a lot of people mentioned it… and it only took a week of eating correctly for the initial change to happen.
Since that time I’ve become very cautious of what I eat (causing great frustration to waiters and waitresses everywhere) and I also keep an eye on foods that are marketed as being healthy that are actually horrible for you.
The article today only featured drinks, and a lot of them are obviously unhealthy drinks like a Milk Shake… but some of them are marketed as health alternatives to soda, products like Sobe or Arizona Tea. The same problem exists with supposed “health foods” like granola bars (sugar bars) and “power bars” (candy bars).
It’s nice to see some actual numbers associated with the products and it’s eye opening to see the sugar equivalent products that are also included. I mean, who knew that having a bottle of “Peanut Power Plus Grape Smothie” (sounds healthy right?) was like eating 20 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?
Here are a few of the most shocking drinks from the list, taken from Men’s Health
Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)
150 calories
0 g fat
33 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 2 Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars
Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape (large, 40 fl oz)
1,498 calories
44 g fat (8 g saturated)
214 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 20 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
SoBe Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)
240 calories
0 g fat
61 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 4 slices Sara Lee Cherry Pie
“Green Tea” that is like eating four slices of Sara Lee Cherry Pie! It’s incredible… “ANTIOXIDANT WATER” that has the same amount of sugar as 2 ECLAIRE BARS… and a “Smoothie” with the sugar equivalent of a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. If it weren’t so sad it would be funny.
Some of my other favorites come from Starbucks… it’s amazing how a simple morning coffee has turned into a drink with the sugar equivalent of 8 scoops of ice cream.
It makes me sad when I see people who are attempting to get into shape ordering these Starbucks drinks… I mean if you’re going to be getting all those calories, sugar and fat… why not just have a chocolate cake for breakfast?
You also have to be careful in restaurants. I read an article recently that showcased a Chicken Salad that packed a whopping 1,347 calories, 28 g saturated fat and 1,994 mg sodium. You might as well eat a large pizza and enjoy it.
The bottom line is that we are humans and humans have brains… (or at least we used to) and our brains are capable of making decisions. Some of us decide to eat like sh*t and be overweight and are fine with it… and for those people it’s fine, hats off to you. What saddens me is the vast majority of people that want to lose weight and are making an effort to get healthy who are ultimately tricked into consuming food that makes them sicker and fatter.
Our society blindly expects products to advertise the truth when in reality almost all advertising is some sort of a lie meant to make the product feel better to consumers. Almost all of it. I mean, could Sobe sell a bottle of Green Tea if they advertised that it like this “Drink Sobe! It’s like eating half a cherry pie!” I don’t think so… so they market it as being able to help you “center your mind” or speak about the green tea that’s included and pow, our heads think “I want to be centered and green tea is healthy” and you drink it… and you get fatter… and they get paid. Welcome to reality.
Don’t be a sheep. Read labels. Get healthy.
Have you ever been tricked into eating / drinking an unhealthy product? Post in the comments.
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