1. Crackers

If you are a 90s kid, then you might remember how going on a “cracker” diet was all the rage then. Crackers earned the reputation of being a health food because of that. However, if you look at the ingredients of a local pack of crackers, you will see that it has hydrogenated oils in the form of vegetable shortening. Plus, the flavored wheat variants also have artificial flavoring which can almost always translate to msg-based or chemical-based flavoring. There’s nothing healthy about those things.

    2. Probiotic drinks

Here’s another supposedly healthy drink that has everyone fooled. Probiotic drinks come in small 80ml bottles. One of the reasons people enjoy it so much is because it is so sweet. Did you ever ask yourself what makes it so sweet? That’s because each tiny bottle has about 11.4 grams of sugar, which is about 3 teaspoons of sugar! Even the light version of probiotic drinks don’t seem to be any better. Even though it has less calories, it still has 3 different types of sugar and 1 type of artificial sweetener in a tiny bottle. You are better off eating plain, unsweetened yogurt for the health benefit. If you find it too sour, you can add a bit of raw honey or an overripe mango. Your body will thank you for it.

    3. Multigrain chips

Yes, multigrain is good but what about the other ingredients including in the snack? A popular local multigrain snack brand has artificial flavoring plus msg. The powder used to flavor the chips also has tartrazine and other artificial food coloring. In the European union, when a food product has these artificial food coloring additives, a warning label is placed on the package that it might cause hyperactivity, seizures, anxiety attacks, ADD, ADHD, allergies, etc. In fact, these artificial additives are banned in several European countries.

    4. Diet/”Zero” soda

How many times have you heard someone order a diet or zero calorie soda saying they want to be healthy? Diet and zero-calorie sodas use artificial sweeteners that are really bad for the body. Artificial sweeteners are neurodisruptors that cause migraine attacks, ADD and ADHD for kids, seizures, blurred vision, etc. You are not doing your body a favor by choosing a diet or zero-calorie soda. This doesn’t mean, though, that you should down multiple cans of regular soda. Nixing the habit of drinking sugary drinks is still best.

    5. L-Carnitine drinks

There was a time when people thought that drinking bottled drinks with L-carnitine meant they could effectively lose weight without eating properly or exercising. Did you know that each standard bottle of L-carnitine drinks has quite a bit of sugar and artificial sweeteners (to mask the sugar content). You are better off eating right and exercising instead of downing bottles of a sugary L-carnitine drink.