Healthy Junk Food

Watch the video to find out what Dr. Susan Jewell calls healthy junk food and why 1 apple a day keeps the doctor away.

In the video Dr. Susan correctly addresses that the more fibers you add in your diet, the more you body will get rid of LDL cholesterol also known as bad cholesterol (bad, as it contributes to cardiovascular diseases like strokes and heart attacks).

In front of her you see some food items that she is going to recommend to add to your daily diet. You immediately see bananas and other items in a fruit basket. However the first item displayed are deep fried Original Vegetable Chips from the brand Terra… which she accidentally labels as healthy junk foods. She quickly stumbles that actually it isn’t junk food but that it is really healthy for you.

Lets show some nutritional values of 1 serving of the food items Dr. Susan is talking about (thanks to http://caloriecount.about.com):

• Terra Original Vegetable Chips : 28 gram has 3.0g of fiber (and 0.5g saturated fats!)
• 1 banana of about 118 grams has 3.1g of fiber
• 1 cup chopped carrots of 128 grams has 3.6g of fiber
• 1 golden delicious apple of 102 grams has 5.1g or fiber

As you notice, the doctor ordered the food from low to high fiber content, with her so called healthy fast food having the lowest amount of fibers per serving.

Also be aware that when the doctor says you need to eat white rice in stead of brown rice, make sure to look for products that are labeled with "whole grain". Again always read the labels: as the food industry does fool you by adding brown colorants in order for you to believe you are not eating unhealthy white food.

For those who love to eat bread but have troubles reading the small print: take 2 different breads of the same size: the heavier of the 2 most likely contains more fibers. Better still: buy whole grains and a breadmaker, so you know exactly what goes into your daily dose of bread.

When you really need to snack on something that resembles crunchy junk food, try healthy air popped popcorn: 3 cups air popped popcorn of about 24 gram has 3.5g of fiber. A healthy daily intake of fibers ranges between 25 and 30 grams.