The USDA’s position is that a healthy food item should deliver no more than 480 mg of sodium per serving, but plenty of presumably wholesome products do just that. Among the offenders: Annie’s Organic Alfredo Shells and Cheddar (670 mg per serving), Garden Burger’s Flame Grilled Soy Burger (500 mg), Quorn Garlic & Herb Chik’n Cutlets (570 mg), Yves Classic Veggie Brats (840 mg), and even Newman’s Own Organic Marinara Sauce (550 mg). To guard against your digestive system resembling the Great Salt Lake, two bits of advice: (1) as much as possible, prepare your meals yourself and from scratch, and (2) when buying packaged meals and snacks, ignore the front of the packaging and read the nutritional facts on the back, particularly the sodium number.<\/p>\n Being heavily salted isn’t the only way in which healthy foods<\/a> can turn out to be not completely so. The fact that certain food items are generally “good for us” does not mean in every single case and in any given amount. A few examples:<\/p>\n Fruit juice:<\/strong> A great idea if it’s 100% actual juice from fruits, but read the ingredients list, since a lot of fruit beverages are laced with high-fructose corn syrup or other sugars and can be as little as ten percent pure fruit juice.<\/p>\n Nuts:<\/strong> Better than almost any other crunchy and salty snack option, but bear in mind that nuts, even dry-roasted, are little fat grenades. One ounce of almonds, for instance, packs 170 calories and 15 grams of fat, so you’d be wise to limit yourself to around a quarter of a cup a day.<\/p>\n Olive oil:<\/strong> or sunflower oil or avocado oil or nut-derived oil, all of which, however healthy they are compared to palm and corn and other varieties, still deliver 500 calories per quarter cup, so be very stinting; one tablespoon per evening meal is a recommended limit.<\/p>\n Soup:<\/strong> It may be Grandma’s answer to a host of maladies, and an essential comfort food, but it can also be a subtle haven for huge amounts of salt and fat, especially your cream soups. The closer to bouillon, the better.<\/p>\n Energy bars and beverages:<\/strong> These come at the end of the list because that’s where dessert is on the menu, and way too often that’s what these products amount to. Check the energy bar’s ingredients, and if a whole grain isn’t first and sugar isn’t nearly last, it’s really just a candy bar, and to hell with it. Energy drinks, usually just sugar and caffeine with flavoring, should be avoided unless you’re actually going to be burning a huge amount of energy.<\/p>\n (By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)<\/p>\n From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News<\/a> (REF3076322B7)<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nToo Much of a Good Thing Means Just That<\/h3>\n