Our blog

5 Deceptively Healthy Food That Can Ruin Your Diet

We knew it was too good to be true! With “lite” and “natural” plastered on every box in the grocery isle, its hard to tell what actually is diet friendly and what isn’t. We at Lichi have identified five of what we think are the most deceptive of all “healthy snacks”

1. Energy bars

Energy bars are full of fiber, which can make you feel full, but they are also loaded with calories. That’s fine if you replace a meal with an energy bar every now and then, but let’s be honest, most of us carry them in our purses as snacks. At an average of 300 calories a piece however, you  might as well just snack on a candy bar.

If you have the urge to snack, try having a granola bar instead!

2. Salads

We see the word “salad” and we think healthy right? Not even… Panera’s popular Fuji Apple Salad is, at a whopping 580 calories. You might as well eat a cheeseburger! And that doesn’t even compare to Quiznos’ Honey Mustard Salad, which topples the scales at 685 calories!

A salad is always a healthy option, but think logically. If you douse the salad in cheese, bacon, and creamy dressings, you are obviously detracting from the actual “salad” part of your meal.

3. Reduced Fat Anything!

Just because it has less fat that the original, doesn’t mean its good for you. Even though those potato chips are advertised as a “healthier” option, you have to take into account what they are touted to be “healthier” than. For example, Harvest Grain Cheddar Flavored Multigrain Sun Chips are 140 calories a serving, and a serving size is 1oz. That’s about 8 chips. How many do you eat in a sitting?

Beware of words such as Fat Free, Reduced Fat, Low Fat, Sugar Free, No Added Sugar and Diet. Use your common sense; if it tastes too good to be true, it probably is.

4. Frozen Yogurt

Yogurt is nutrient-rich. Live and active cultures are beneficial for the intestines and immune system, but not all frozen yogurts are created equal. Some contain live, active cultures, others do not. And unless specifically labeled, many frozen yogurts contain nearly the same amount of fat as a reduced-fat ice cream, as well as the same number of calories.

5. Sports Drinks

These are for athletes, so they must be good for you, right? WRONG. Just because they may have medical-sounding names doesn’t mean that they have any real nutritional content in them. Both Vitamin Water and Life Water contain 32.5 grams of sugar per bottle, so you might as well follow up a workout by eating a full sized bag of Hershey Kisses. And Gatorade, that old standby, is a whopping 316 calories per 12 fluid ounces.

Our advice? If you are thirsty, drink water!