As living standards improve, people are paying more and more attention to nutritious and healthy eating. As someone who values health, you might refuse obvious junk food like french fries, hamburgers, and cola. But when faced with words like "high-fiber," "non-fried," or "sugar-free" on packaging, you let your guard down. In fact, some foods are disguised as healthy but are secretly harmful! Come and see if your snack drawer also contains these hidden junk foods!
1. High-Fiber Coarse Grain Cookies
Healthy Appearance: The quickest way to get more coarse grains and dietary fiber.
The Truth: High in fat, with calories comparable to braised pork. The better the texture of a high-fiber cookie, the more suspicious it should be. This is because the dietary fiber content and a coarse texture should be directly proportional. Those of us accustomed to refined rice and white flour already find a 3% high-fiber food scratchy, yet these high-fiber cookies can have a fiber content of over 10% while still being comfortably smooth to eat. This is surely thanks to the oil.
If you read the nutrition label carefully, you'll find that the fat content of these cookies is usually over 25%. That means eating 100 grams, or about 6-7 cookies, is the equivalent of consuming 25 grams of fat. This is because the fiber softens after absorbing oil, and the more saturated or trans fat is used, the more pronounced this softening effect is, resulting in a crispier and tastier cookie. While you intend to supplement your dietary fiber, what you're consuming is a large amount of fat, and even trans fat, which is clearly not a good trade-off.
2. Ready-to-Use Soups
Healthy Appearance: Concentrated, essence-based soup stock for a quick, high-quality broth.
The Truth: At best, it's just a condiment. Without even considering whether it's made from fresh ingredients, to ensure it arrives at your door reasonably fresh, various additives are necessary. Even if no preservatives are listed, many components in food additives serve the same purpose, just skirting the regulations. Moreover, for a small soup cube to create a large, flavorful pot of soup, it must be high in salt and MSG. Additionally, to maintain a smooth, thick consistency when diluted from a small piece to a large pot, fats and maltodextrin are essential.
Furthermore, the ingredient list often includes items like pork bone powder, chicken powder, or beef powder, which have even more complex compositions. Even if concentrated broth is listed first, we inevitably consume too many unidentifiable substances. This is especially true for products that don't even contain a trace of concentrated broth and are instead made by mixing various chemical components. So, using it as an emergency condiment occasionally is fine, but if you want a nutritious soup, it's best to make it yourself.
3. Non-Fried Snacks
Healthy Appearance: Baking instead of frying means lower fat content.
The Truth: Still high in salt and aluminum snacks. Don't think that "non-fried" means you can eat them without restraint. "Non-fried" is just a marketing point. While this method might reduce fat content, it doesn't magically transform the food into something healthy. For example, starchy foods, regardless of the processing method, can easily produce the carcinogen acrylamide when cooked at high temperatures.
Even with a non-fried process, the flavor of these snacks mostly comes from salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), sweeteners, and other additives. They also often contain leavening agents like potassium aluminum sulfate or ammonium aluminum sulfate. When you let your guard down because they are "non-fried," the high sodium content alone increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, long-term, large consumption of these leavening agents can lead to excessive aluminum in your body, damaging the nervous system and manifesting as memory loss, impaired vision and motor coordination, and in severe cases, dementia.
4. Sugar-Free Foods
Healthy Appearance: Absolutely no sucrose added.
The Truth: No sucrose doesn't mean no sugar or low calories. Many foods labeled "sugar-free," such as cookies and drinks, indeed do not contain added sucrose as per regulations. Instead, they use high-intensity sweeteners like aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, or cyclamate. These substances are hundreds of times sweeter than sucrose. Although the amount added is small and doesn't add calories, they are still chemical substances, and consuming too much is not good for you.
For instance, there have been reports that excessive intake of aspartame can have side effects on memory and mood. Additionally, sugar-free grain products, while free of sucrose, contain large amounts of starch and derivatives made from starch, such as dextrin and maltodextrin. Their glycemic index and calorie content are no less than that of sucrose.
5. Brown Rice Crips & Granola Bars
Healthy Appearance: A high-energy snack made with whole grains.
The Truth: 7 brown rice crips = 2-3 bowls of rice. Words like brown rice, whole grains, and dietary fiber can be tempting. But did you know that to give whole grain foods a wonderful texture, key ingredients like vegetable oil, palm oil, sugar, maltodextrin, and salt are indispensable. If you read the ingredient list carefully, you are sure to find them.
Moreover, their fat content is often quite high, generally between 25% and 45%. Some products add hydrogenated vegetable oil or creamer (trans fats) to make the texture even softer and more palatable. A comparison found that eating 7 brown rice crips or granola bars is equivalent to consuming 2-3 bowls of rice.