Food & recipes

So you think you’re healthy?

Should we be calling time on cereal bars, smoothies and low fat yoghurts? Nutritionist Dr Carina Norris reckons so…

Should we be calling time on cereal bars, smoothies and low fat yoghurts? Nutritionist Dr Carina Norris reckons so…
Some of the food we think of as ‘healthy’ isn’t as innocent as it seems. Just because something’s got oats in, doesn’t make it ‘wholesome’. Reduced-fat products can still be packed full of calories and sugar, and low-sugar foods can be high in calories and fat. And then there’s salt – many products we think of as healthy, such as wholemeal bread and cereals can be laden with it. Here are some of the manor culprits:

Flapjacks

They look healthy thanks to all those oats, but they’re also packed with fat and sugar – take a look at the calorie content if you want a shock, it can be as high as a main meal, especially if there’s a chocolate topping!

Health tip: Make your own using a small amount of unsaturated olive spread, and less sugar (sweeten with mashed banana or dried fruit). Or look for a low-sugar cereal bar with plenty of unrefined grains.

‘Diet’ cereal bars

Some clock in at less than 100 calories, and may be fortified with vitamins and minerals. But they’re generally based around refined carbohydrates like puffed rice, and sugar and sweeteners, so they give you a quick burst of energy but don’t sustain you for long. If you’re hungry, they often just don’t hit the spot, and you end up eating more.

Health tip: Sandwich two oatcakes with a tiny bit of honey for slowrelease energy with a hint of sweetness.

Salads

Salads may seem a great choice if you’re trying to lose a few pounds, but many pre-prepared salads are full of hidden calories, from mayonnaise, coleslaw and oil-based dressings. A bowl of some prepared salads can contain 300 to 400 kcals and 30g of fat.

Health tip: Ask for the dressing by the side, or make your own and use fat-free or low-fat dressings – this will also give you a chance to make some interesting combinations using vegetables and fruit that are in season.

Smoothies

Ready-made smoothies, and made-to-order smoothies from a juice bar, will help you hit your 5- a-day target, but they’re not always as virtuous as they sound. Some can be as high as 350 calories and contain as much as 80g (that’s 16 teaspoons) of sugar. Most of this is natural (not added) sugar, but you still need to consider your teeth and waistline! Some may be made using fruit ‘concentrates’, or – particularly at juice bars – have added cream, full fat milk or ice cream.

Health tip: It’s much better to eat the whole fruit – then you get the benefits of all of the fibre it contains. When you buy a smoothie, check the label for the calorie, sugar and fat content. At a juice bar ask for a small glass and insist that fresh fruit, low-fat natural yogurt, and low-fat milk are the only ingredients. Try a juice or vegetable drink topped up with water. Or make your own smoothie using fresh fruit in season, frozen fruit or fruit tinned in juice, skimmed milk and a little low-fat yogurt.

Breakfast muffins

Muffins often masquerade as healthy by adding the word ‘breakfast’ and saying they contain fruit, grains or seeds. But beware. They may be slightly better than a doughnut or a Danish pastry but many are still high in sugar, fat and made with refined white flour. A coffee shop or supermarket muffin can hit 500 calories and contain 55g of sugar – that’s 11 teaspoons.

Health tip: Read the label and look for the muffins made with wholemeal flour, and with the lowest sugar and fat content. Or make a batch of wholemeal muffins and pop them in the freezer. If you’re tempted to make savoury muffins to cut down on the sugar make sure that you don’t pile in the cheese or the calories will rocket; instead use ‘strong’ flavoured cheeses in small quantities. Make your muffins in cupcake cases instead of muffin cases to cut the calories.

Low-fat granola

Even the low-fat version of this popular breakfast choice may have only 10 per cent fewer calories than the regular version – and will still be packed with sugar. In addition people are often tempted to increase the amount of cereal in their breakfast bowl if they think they are making a ‘low-fat’ healthy choice. A recent study at Cornell University found that people ate 49 per cent more granola when they thought it was low-fat!

Health tip: Buy low-sugar, low-salt, wholegrain cereal and sweeten it yourself by adding fresh fruit.

Enhanced water

Some bottled and flavoured waters are advertised as containing vitamins and other healthy ingredients like herb extracts, but often these aren’t all that’s added. Some brands also contain sugar taking your drink from zero calories to as much as 125 calories. Plus, you’d be better off getting your vitamins from real food such as fresh fruit, with all the other health benefits it provides.

Health tip: Chill tap water and add a dash of fresh lemon juice or a slice of lemon to make it more appealing. Or mix fresh orange juice with chilled water for a vitamin C boost.

Low-fat yogurt

Although low-fat natural yogurt is rich in protein and calcium and can be an important part of a healthy diet, some brands have large quantities of added sugar. They can contain several teaspoons of sugar (sometimes as fructose or sucrose) or have sweetened fruit at the bottom. Also be wary of traditional Greek Yogurt – it can contain up to 10 percent fat.

Health tip: Check the label and choose the yogurt with the least sugar (be aware that some contain artificial sweeteners). Try sweetening low-fat natural yogurt with a sweet fruit like chopped pear, pureed mango, mashed banana or crushed blueberries, or add a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup. If you buy Greek yogurt choose fat-free or low-fat.

Soup

Soups are a good way of helping you towards your five-a-day. But some can be high in salt and be a lot higher in fat and calories than you may expect. Don’t just assume because it’s soup it must be good.

Health tip: Go for tomato, vegetable, bean and lentil-based soups and give the creamy soups a miss. Check the label for the salt content, and if it is a meat or chicken soup, or contains cheese, look at the fat content. Try making your own vegetable based soups – the combinations are almost endless, it’s quick and easy, and you can make a batch to freeze for later.

Crème fraiche

Crème fraiche might sound like a healthy alternative to cream but it contains a similar amount of fat to whipping cream, unless you buy reduced-fat crème fraiche.

Health tip: Choose reduced-fat crème fraiche or – even better – use natural yogurt.

Rice cakes

Rice cakes have a high glycaemic index (GI) so they cause a quick and short-lived rise in blood sugar, leaving you soon feeling hungry again and hunting for another snack.

Health tip: Choose oatcakes or wholegrain crispbreads, which have a lower GI, so keep you feeling full for longer. Or spread your rice-cakes with low-fat cream cheese – this reduces the GI of your snack.

Coleslaw

Cabbage and carrots are healthy but when they’re covered with mayonnaise they can pack a heavy calorie and fat punch. Some portions can contain 21g of fat.

Health tip: Look at the labels and choose the low-fat option. Or make your own dressing with half low-fat mayo and half low-fat natural yogurt.

Breakfast cereals

Cereal can be an excellent breakfast, but choosing them is fraught with pitfalls. Many are high in sugar, either added or through the addition of dried fruit which is naturally high in sugar. Some cereals are also high in salt. Added nuts are high in fat. Although these are ‘healthy fats’, they also pile in the calories, so portion control is key.

Health tip: Choose plain wholegrain cereals – bran flakes, oats, wheat bisks, shredded wheat – and add your own fruit and nuts so you can control the calories and sugar. Always check the salt content, and go for ‘no-salt’ if possible.

Bread

Bread can be confusing. Wholemeal bread is healthiest because of its high fibre content, but all bread can be high in salt. And if you eat a lot of bread in a day you can easily exceed the daily recommended maximum salt intake of 6g a day.

Bread sold as ‘brown’ may not be made with wholegrains and have a much lower fibre content than wholemeal bread. Multigrain bread can be made mainly from refined grains such as white flour, which has been stripped of its fibre and many other nutrients (though white flour must by law be fortified with certain nutrients).

Health tip: Always check the labels before you buy bread and go for loaves with the highest fibre content and the lowest salt that you can. Look for ‘wholemeal flour’ as the first item on the ingredients list. Try making your own wholemeal bread and adding an interesting mix of wholegrains or seeds – you can control the salt content too.

Smoked fish

Although we’re recommended to eat two portions of fish a week to help protect against strokes and heart disease, research suggests that smoked food increases your cancer risk. Also, smoked fish is high in salt, which may increase blood pressure. A 100g of haddock contains 0.3g of salt but smoked haddock has 3.1g of salt per 100g.

Health tip: Opt for unsmoked fish, and try to eat at least one serving of oily fish each week.

Instant iced tea

Tea may be refreshing and packed with antioxidants, but some bottles, cans or mixes of iced tea are packed with sugar. A 500ml bottle can have more than 200 calories and contain 59g of sugar.

Health tip: Make your own black or green tea and add lemon and a little honey to taste, then chill. Try some of the berry and fruit teas which are slightly sweet without the need to add sugar.

Remember!

Beware the titchy portions trap! The nutritional information on packaging generally given per 100g and per portion, but check that the amount you’d normally eat isn’t more than a portion. For example, many healthy looking cartons of fresh soups say they serve two, but many people would happily polish off the lot, possibly consuming nearly half their daily salt intake at a sitting.

Top tip

Drinks labelled as ‘juice drink’ usually have sugar added. Instead opt for pure fruit juice and dilute it with water if you want a long drink.

Article by

Carina Norris

Registered Nutritionist

Registered nutritionist Carina Norris is an author and health journalist. She was the nutritionist for Channel 4s Turn Back Your Body Clock, and her 12 books include You Are What...

Discover more

Article by

Carina Norris

Registered Nutritionist

Registered nutritionist Carina Norris is an author and health journalist. She was the nutritionist for Channel 4s Turn Back Your Body Clock, and her 12 books include You Are What...

Discover more