7 Foods You Think Are Healthier Than They Really Are
Apparently, in life, there exists a food Venn diagram. One side is healthy stuff, the other side is unhealthy stuff, and in the middle is the stuff that no one's really sure about.
For instance, this rather delicious-looking bacon cheeseburger with seasoned potato wedges on the side: Definitely unhealthy. No argument there.
And these really pretty apples are definitely healthy. They're so high in fiber, potassium, and good phytochemicals that they actually might keep the doctor away.
But not everything is so clear-cut, and it's not enough for us to pretend everything is healthy and eat all of it whenever we want. So the New York Times, along with Morning Consult, polled hundreds of nutritionists and a bunch of regs members of the American public to get a sense of what people think is healthy, what nutritionists think is healthy, and where we could benefit from coming closer together.
Here's a list of foods that you probably think are healthy but that nutritionists would likely disagree with you over:
1. Granola
A whole lot of Americans - 80 percent of the sample polled - think granola is healthy, but only 47 percent of nutritionists agree. So much for feeling like a sugary, non-nutritious breakfast cereal is good for you!
2. Granola Bars
Interestingly enough, the perception of granola bars fares slightly worse: 71 percent of Americans think they're healthy, and only 28 percent of nutritionists agree.
3. Frozen Yogurt
Sixty-six percent of Americans think fro-yo is healthy, while 32 percent of nutritionists are on the same page about that.
4. Coconut Oil
If Blake Lively cooks her eggs in coconut oil, it must be good for you, right? Just 37 percent of nutritionists would call the trendy ingredient healthy, but 72 percent of the public wants to believe.
5. Orange Juice
Donald Sutherland would never lie to us! Alas, while 78 percent of us trust that O.J. is healthy AF, only 62 percent of nutritionists think the same.
6. SlimFast Shake
If you're thinking of drinking SlimFasts for health reasons and not just because you're trying to lose a lot of water weight really quickly, then you're among the 47 percent of people who think the shakes are healthy. But a mere 21 percent of nutritionists would agree.
7. American Cheese
This sliced processed cheese is on a list of foods you should really think twice about eating, and actually, just 39 percent of the public thinks it's any good for health. But that's still a considerable amount more than the 24 percent of nutritionists who think it's healthy.
The good news is, there's also a list of foods that the public isn't so sure about but that nutritionists more or less agree is healthy. So if you weren't sure about wine or sushi before, you now have permission to get on board.
Healthy Foods You Should Eat More
1. Wine
2. Sushi
3. Quinoa
4. Tofu
5. Shrimp
6. Hummus
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