The top 5 fake health foods to avoid ever buying even if they are certified organic and prominently displayed at a health food store with the label emblazoned with marketing buzzwords.
Consider yourself warned! Not all products at the health food store are healthy!
In fact, much of it can be classified as organic junk food.
You can always tell health food store newbies as their shopping carts are typically loaded up with these types of foods.
This pattern of behavior likely indicates that they have only recently made the transition from grocery store junk food and are simply replacing one type of highly processed boxed food with another.
Having shopped at health food stores for over 30 years and seen many a food fad come and go, here is my top five list of supposedly “healthy” foods that are anything but nourishing to you and your family.
Protein Powder (all of them are bad!)
Most people do not realize that protein is a very fragile macronutrient.
When you forcibly separate protein from its whole food source in a factory, it becomes denatured.
This is the case even when done at low temperatures. For example, the simple act of drying and powdering whey protein is denaturing!
Denatured foods are toxic and allergenic to the body. This is because digestive enzymes do not work as effectively on them. This results in an incomplete digestive process for protein powder.
Undigested food rots in the gut and is the perfect food for pathogenic yeasts and bacteria to thrive upon. Over a period of time, this leads the body down the path to autoimmune disorders (most of the immune system is in the gut!).
To reiterate this important point…whey protein is especially fragile and cannot be powdered or dried even at low temperatures.
For more information, this article includes additional details on the dangers of protein powders and other high protein foods.
Incidentally, I don’t recommend bone broth protein powder either. They do not offer the same healing benefits as homemade bone broth.
If you need a protein boost, go for Real Food! Skip the processed protein powder and eat a grass-fed steak, some pastured poultry, or an egg instead!
If you must have a powder to add to your smoothie, choose a third-party certified glyphosate-free collagen powder (such as this brand).
Plant-Based “Milk”
Soy milk and other types of alternative “plant-based” milk are not ancestral foods. Nor were they ever considered of value in traditional societies, contrary to modern claims.
Not only are there zero health benefits from soy milk, but commercial alternative milk brands are almost without exception completely toxic due to the processing and packaging.
These products are a quintessential modern fake food invention…a cheap, mass-produced product with an undigestible form of calcium and synthetic Vitamin D2.
Unnatural fortification of processed foods is linked with hyperactivity, coronary heart disease, and allergic reactions. (1)
Packaging is another very serious problem with alternative milk. Drinking them risks ingesting microplastics from the thin plastic lining hiding inside the tetrapaks.
The leaching occurs from the boiling hot liquid sealed in to sterilize the cartons for ultra-long shelf stability.
The horrible taste is covered up with sugar, “natural flavors” with solvent residues, and/or innocuous-sounding alternative sweeteners allowed under USDA Organic. (2)
Perhaps the most concerning aspect is the devasting impact of these beverages on the thyroid gland. Soy is one of the most goitrogenic (thyroid-suppressing) foods on the planet. Ingestion of endocrine disruptors from the microplastics and solvent residues is also a risk to this delicate gland. (3)
Interestingly, Dr. Harry Miller, the man credited with popularizing gag-worthy soy milk in China in the late 1930s which then spread to the rest of the world, specialized in goiter surgery in his medical practice!
Canned (and Tetrapak) Broth and Soup
Canned soups and broths even if organic are never a healthy food choice. Most brands are nothing but water, sodium, and MSG.
Organic bouillon cubes are no improvement and the tetra packs of organic broth should be avoided as well due to the same packaging issues described above for plant-based milk.
Anything that is in the store that is soup-related will usually have MSG in it.
Organic MSG is still MSG. The same damaging effects occur on the neurons in your hypothalamus.
Remember that the hypothalamus is the Master Controller of the endocrine system.
Thus, if you don’t want your metabolism messed up, then avoid canned soup of all kinds as this is a very big source of this toxic ingredient.
To get a sense of how big this problem is, just read the label of your favorite organic soup and then read the list of the dozens of MSG pseudo-names manufacturers use to fool consumers. (4)
There are a few brands of organic soup that appear to be free of MSG with no offending names on the ingredient list. However, I am skeptical that this is truly the case given that regulations allow unlabeled MSG in certain situations (same situation as unlabeled transfats).
Even for soup and broth brands that seem to not contain MSG, the packaging continues to be an issue. BPA or BPS cans are not safe nor are microplastic-laden tetrapaks.
If you want a decent bowl of soup, embrace the fact that you probably need to make it yourself unless you have a local business that makes it from scratch. Consider one of these healthy soup and broth recipes to get you started.
Fish Oil Supplements
Fish oil is a very delicate oil highly subject to rancidity due to the high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega 3 fats can never be heated. Even exposure to light and air hastens their rapid breakdown to a rancid state.
With this in mind, how could plain fish oil supplements be anything but unhealthy given that they are all processed at extremely high temperatures?
They are then packaged in capsules or bottles that sit for goodness knows how long on store shelves until the unwitting customer buys them.
The best type of marine oil is virgin cod liver oil from sustainable and clean waters. The delicate omega-3 fats are completely unheated and raw. In addition, natural vitamins A and D are present for a legitimate health boost.
Krill oil is marginally acceptable if low-temperature processed.
For those allergic to fish and seafood, these alternatives to cod liver oil are worth considering.
Gluten-Free Foods
Gluten-free went mainstream in 2010 when Chelsea Clinton requested a gluten-free cake at her wedding reception.
Since then, the gluten-free boondoggle has continued to expand with some health food stores dedicating entire aisles to products certified free of this loathed plant protein.
Don’t be fooled by the hype.
In most cases, gluten-free processed foods are a crutch for those who are very allergic to processed foods but aren’t yet ready to switch to Real Food.
The mark-up on a product that is gluten-free is also quite ludicrous, especially given how high in carbs and lacking in nutrition they are!
If you are allergic to gluten, it is much better to work on your gut health by focusing on a legit traditional diet (from sourcing to preparation) rather than the band-aid approach of buying gluten-free processed foods.
Once you rebalance and rebuild your gut (aka, “heal and seal”) so that beneficial bacteria dominate rather than the pathogens, you will likely be delighted to find that food sensitivities that you had before are greatly minimized or even completely resolved!
Conclusion
I hope this list helps you become a savvier health food store customer.
Beware of falling for the siren song of highly processed organic junk food marketing with faddish buzzwords.
Stick with organic or (even better) local produce grown in rich soil and minimal ingredient foods such as sprouted nut butter and traditional sourdough bread.
If you are allergic to wheat, prepare nutrient-dense gluten-free dishes at home (here is my recipe for gluten-free flour blend with no gums).
This simple change will put you far ahead of the pack and well on your way to loading your pantry and refrigerator with foods that will really enhance your health and not just give you a false sense of security.
(1) Not Milk and Uncheese: The Udder Alternatives
(2) Neotame: USDA Organic’s Dirty Little Secret
(3) How Common Chemicals Are Harming Your Thyroid
(4) MSG Aliases
“You can always tell health store newbies…” please enlighten me pretentious one
thank u for the advice…
Thanks for the great post!!!
I am extremely reactive to MSG, and I can tell you that there are organic soups and broths without it. Also, if you are proficient at reading labels, there are gluten free products that are healthy to be found.
@Liz that’s great news … yes even fairly recently I couldn’t find a single box or can of organic broth or soup that didn’t have MSG in it.
since we have a severe soy allergy in the family, I am actually very wary of organic food
Sarah,
I am looking at Dr. McBride’s book now. It’s a book I respect on many levels, especially because it contains a good model for healing the gut. However, after reading your article and the comments I reached for it, mainly because I do not remember it saying celiacs disease could be cured, only that the gut could be cured and that many people with GAPS issues could heal their guts and return to eating grains, gluten and other forbidden GAPS foods.
The index has one reference to celiac’s disease, which it says is mentioned on page 13. The quote, “There has been a substatial amount of research linking schitzophrenia with digestive abnormalities similar to coeliac disease.” I’ll reread it, but if you can refer me to the discussion specifically on healing celiacs, in the sense of celiacs patients being able to eat gluten again, I’d be interested.
Incidentally, the definition of celiac was narrowed in recent history to such an extent that people with certain body types (the obese for instance) were never screened. This is a GOOD explanation for the increase in diagnosis, because we now know that a majority of celiacs patients are overweight or obese.
Sarah
After looking around some more, it appears that she may have backed off of some of the statements in articles (and perhaps in the book) about curing celiacs, at least according to a few posts where people were angered over her claim to cure celiacs. My book is printed in 2010 and I can’t find any statement saying celiacs will be cured in the sense that they can go back to eating grain. Gut healing, yes.
Her website, however, contians this page which seems to indicate she believes you can heal celiacs. She says, “People, who used to be diagnosed as celiac, after following the diet for a few years, can eat ordinary bread and pasta and any other gluten-containing foods.” . It is interesting to note that the official means of diagnosing is to look at the intestinal villi and measure their degredation–a severe flattening of the villi is celiacs, anything short of that is not. The test is not actually a genetic test (though there is one to see if you have the gene–which may or may not be triggered.) And, the “cure” of villi that are now healthy and can digest some gluten may not mean you are not susceptible to further damage if you begin to expose yourself anew after gut healing. Her method is to heal the gut back to normal, which can take years–according to her book. But, I’d be hesitant to assume that celiacs folks (especially genetic carriers) could maintain normal intestinal villi after repeated introduction of even soaked/sprouted grains and homemade whole grain gluten containing foods. She simply doesn’t offer evidence for it.
Sarah, I am glad you went and read that (I’ll have to check out her website, too).
The problem is, that it takes YEARS after completely healing the gut for your villi to be destroyed again to the point of ‘officially’ having Celiac disease again. Did she do any follow up, let’s say, over a ten or more year period, to see if those going back to gluten after being healed, are still healed?
The official thinking was for a very long time, that children who ‘used’ to have Celiac disease were cured as teenagers, because they didn’t appear to react to gluten any more.
Now they call that the ‘honeymoon period’….. somehow, maybe due to the body changing, those kids really don’t react. But then, usually in their twenties, they start having ‘IBS’ symptoms, depression, fibromyalgia, asthma………… and when somebody finally clues in and has them tested, what do they find? You guessed it……. full blown Celiac disease is back!
Meaning, once a Celiac, always a Celiac. If you were once diagnosed, you simply should NEVER go back to eating gluten on a regular basis, period. You might get to where when going out you don’t have to freak out about possible cross-contamination. But you should never purposely eat gluten again.
That is my two cents worth on the subject. I have been actively reading and studying about gluten intolerance for eight years now (since I found out I have Celiac disease), and this is my opinion…. not based on one single book, but reading probably at lease twenty books, a thousand articles, and talking to other people like me, and by observing my own family members, too.
“…… at least”, not “….. at lease”
Here are the ingredients in my box of Pacific Natural Foods Organic Vegetable Broth: filtered water, organic carrots, organic tomatoes, organic celery, organic onions, organic garlic, organic leeks, sea salt, organic bay leaves, organic parsley, organic thyme. That’s it. That’s all of them. Your article had me worried for a minute, but there’s no hint of MSG in there at all. Maybe some things have improved since this was written in 2011?
I’ve been considering the GAPS diet, but I’m wondering, it calls for cutting dairy, does that also include raw dairy?
You do have to cut out all dairy for a time. The GAPS book by Dr. Campbell-McBride, and the GAPS Guide book and website by Baden Lashkov tell you everything you need to know. They both have blogs too, with a lot of additional FAQ’s. I think the protocol is that you have to give up every bit of dairy for a certain number of weeks (6?) and then add it back in a specific order, starting with raw milk yogurt – homemade.
Thanks Sarah – you often explain things I’m trying to share with my friends ever so much better than I can!