Bad Supermarket Foods To Avoid (and Our Futureproof Alternatives)
Whether it’s the M&S on Mare Street or Tesco on Morning Lane, be wary of the following bad supermarket foods slipping into your trolley. At first glance, they might seem healthy but they can actually hinder your nutrition and fitness plan.
1. Fruit Juice
Fruit juice – regularly touted as a healthier alternative to carbonated drinks, as it’s fruit right? Perhaps it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Many are made from concentrate, and are pasteurized which lowers their beneficial antioxidants. Production of fruit juice removes important fibre content that you’d find in a whole piece of fruit, making the natural sugars more easily and readily absorbed than a whole piece of unprocessed fruit. This can spike your blood sugar to high levels.
Futureproof Alternative: stick to good old whole fruit with all the fibre intact.
2. Breakfast Cereal
Breakfast cereals are some of the worst
offenders for low nutrition value masquerading as a healthy breakfast choice. With
labels like “wholegrain”, “organic” or “natural” you might think these are good
options but more often than not they’re highly processed, with added sugars
(sugar, evaporated cane juice, barley malt, brown sugar, molasses),
preservatives (BHT and refined sources of salt), and generally don’t keep you
full for long.
Futureproof Alternative: Try something that keeps you fuller for longer, with no added sugar, e.g. porridge made with whole grain oats and quinoa, topped with fresh apricots.
3. Flavoured Yoghurts
Whether it’s almond, coconut, soya or just whole milk yoghurt, choosing the flavoured version as opposed to the plain version almost always means additional sugar has been added in the production process.
Futureproof Alternative: Go natural everytime. Add your own chopped fruit for flavour and sweetness. If you really need a more sugary boost, add a teaspoon of your favourite jam.
4. Diet Foods (and anything labelled ‘sugar or fat free’)
“Sugar-free” and “fat-free” the food marketing labels that are ubiquitous these days. Diet products are big business and they rely on these key words to make us buy. But let’s not get fooled. These foods are some of the most highly processed foods out there. We wrote on our blog last month the dangers of ultra processed foods. Many of these sugar and fat free products are manufactured with artificial sweeteners; GM forms of corn and soy; emulsifiers and chemicals that just aren’t great for your gut.
Futureproof Alternative: Go full fat and as unprocessed as possible every time.
5. Pre-packed meats
Any meat that lasts over 3 months in it’s packet is a strange meat indeed. In the manufacturing process, many have added sodium, corn syrup and sugar to bulk and add taste. Meats (in particular red meat) are one the primary foods linked to cancer and are proven to cause other health problems such as diabetes, cardiac issues and obesity.
Futureproof Alternative: visit your local butcher for the freshest, leanest and most organic cuts of meat.
7. Packaged Bread
Packaged bread (think Kingsmill, Hovis) is manufaactured in large quantities using grains, added fibres, preservatives and sodium.
Futureproof Alternative: Bake your own breads! Or try sprouted grain breads: are available in gluten-free forms without refined flours and sugars, and can be be toasted just like regular bread. Try this one from Holland and Barrat here
futureproof your nutrition
Like our list of bad supermarket foods? You’ll get personalised nutrition advice when you sign up for a Futureproof Fitness personal training plan, just get in touch to organise a taster workout and consultation.
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