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Consider yourself warned!
Not all food at the health food store is healthy! In fact, much of it can be classified as organic junk food. You can always tell healthfood store newbies as their shopping carts are typically loaded up with these types of foods which 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 almost 20 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.
#1 Protein Powder
Protein is a very fragile macronutrient. When you separate it from its whole food source it will easily be denatured. Denatured foods are toxic and allergenic to the body as digestive enzymes do not work well on them and the food ends up only partially digested. Undigested food rots in the gut and is the perfect food for pathogenic yeasts and bacteria to thrive upon which rapidly leads the body down the path to autoimmune disorders.
Whey protein is especially fragile and cannot be powdered or dried even at low temperatures.
For more information on the dangers of protein powders and other high protein foods, check out the linked article.
Do yourself a favor – if you need a protein boost, skip the protein powder and eat grass-fed steak, some pastured poultry, or an egg instead!
#2 Soy Milk
Soy milk is not an ancestral food nor was it ever considered of value in traditional Asian societies. Soy milk health benefits are basically ZERO. It is a modern invention – a cheap, mass-produced product “fortified” with an undigestible form of calcium as well as synthetic Vitamin D2 which has been linked with hyperactivity, coronary heart disease, and allergic reactions.
Soy milk is loaded with sugar to cover up its awful beany flavor. Even versions labeled as “original” or “plain” are full of sugar as unsweetened soy milk is highly gag-worthy and completely unacceptable to the consumer. Manufacturers fool the consumer with the amount of sugar in soymilk by using stealth sweeteners such as barley malt and brown rice syrup.
I took a look at an unsweetened soy milk yesterday at the health food store and it had the ominous “natural flavors” in the ingredients list where artificial sweeteners typically lurk. For example, the artificial sweetener Neotame is permitted even in organic foods with no labeling required.
The most insidious aspect of soy milk is its devastating impact on the thyroid gland. Soy is one of the most goitrogenic (thyroid suppressing) foods on the planet and those who drink soy milk are at great risk of developing thyroid problems or even becoming hypothyroid.
Interestingly, Dr. Harry Miller, the man credited with popularizing 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!
#3 Organic Canned Soups
Canned soup even if organic is never a healthy food choice. Most organic soups are nothing but water, sodium, and MSG. Organic bouillon cubes are no better and the tetra packs of organic chicken or vegetable broth should be avoided as well.
Anything that is in the store that is soup related is going to have MSG in it. Organic MSG is still MSG and will produce the same damaging effects on the neurons in your hypothalamus. Remember that the hypothalamus is the Master Controller of the endocrine system, so if you don’t want your metabolism screwed up – possibly permanently – then avoid canned soup of all kinds as this is a very big source of this toxic ingredient.
If you don’t believe me, just read the label of your favorite organic soup and then read the list of MSG pseudo names. I have yet to find any organic soup brand that doesn’t have at least one and usually several more of these MSG aliases in them.
Note: Since this post was written, a few brands of organic soup have appeared on the market that appear to be free of MSG. But, canned food is nutritionless, usually packed in toxic BPA or BPS cans and not in any way health-promoting, so it’s not worth buying anyway.
If you want a decent bowl of soup, you must make your own.
#4 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 and even exposure to light and air hastens their rapid breakdown.
With this in mind, how then could 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 which sit for goodness knows how long on store shelves until the unwitting customer buys them in hopes that these magic pills will somehow reduce their chances for cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory conditions as so cleverly marketed.
Fat chance.
#5 Gluten-Free Foods
Healthfood stores in my area seem to all be expanding their gluten-free sections lately. Even grocery stores are adding gluten-free aisles.
Gluten-free went mainstream this past summer when Chelsea Clinton requested a gluten-free cake be served at her wedding reception.
Don’t be fooled by the hype. Gluten-free foods are not healthy and are not any better than regular store-bought processed versions. Gluten-free processed foods are made for folks who aren’t ready or are unwilling to switch to Real Food but are very allergic to regular processed foods. Moreover, they are ridiculously expensive and nutritionless to boot.
If you are allergic to gluten, it is much better to work on your gut health by buying and traditionally preparing Real Food rather than the band-aid approach of buying gluten-free processed foods. Once you rebalance and rebuild your gut so that beneficial bacteria dominate rather than the pathogens that are in control in the gut of a gluten-intolerant person, you might be delighted to find as my husband did that gluten no longer causes symptoms or immunity issues!
I hope this list helps you become a much savvier health food store customer. Don’t fall for the highly processed organic junk food. Buy organic produce and one to three-ingredient foods such as nut butter or traditional sourdough bread at your health food store and you will be 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 and empty your wallet!
The Weekly Comment Spotlight
How funny! I was just talking about how if “organic maraschino cherries” were made with rice syrup, someone would undoubtedly tout them as “healthy!”
Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!
Darn! I didn’t know that about organic broths, thanks for the info!
I know .. such a bummer. A lot of the time I spend in the kitchen is making homemade broths, soups, and sauces because you simply can’t buy good ones.
That’s good info. I just looked up the Kroger-brand organic chicken broth, and 1 cup contains no protein, no vitamins, and 570mg of salt. That’s 24% of the daily recommended value. You’d be much better off just drinking water.
You are so right about the gluten free foods.
When we first went gluten free we would attend gluten free fairs. My husband and I always had “hangovers” after them from all of the sugar and refined flour.
Once I even needed to pull off the road after attending one of these fairs in order to get some whole grains into my body as I was having trouble driving.
People w/ celiac disease or intestinal issues need to build up their digestive systems with healthy foods — not with gluten free processed foods. That being said, there are a few companies trying hard to put out whole grain gluten free products. They deserve to be applauded for their efforts. I prefer to make my own, but at least they are doing their best.
It is misleading and may be damaging to many to tell people that once they get their gut health in order they can let go of being gluten free. They can try, but that won’t work for most of us who have no choice. At the least there should have been a consideration that this will only work if celiac or gluten intolerance is not a medical issue for you. And being a genetic medical issue for many there are severe consequences when eating gluten even in small amounts. Many of us can’t go back!
I agree Cherrri
It is a tad presumptuous to assume people who are gluten intollerant are simply the product of a destitute menu.
As a family we grow our own fruit, veg and herbs, eat only local, pastured ethical meats, dairy and eggs, forrage for local wild foods, including seafoods and sea vegitables and gluten and carbs are off the menu for reasons completely asside from gut function. MTHFR, histadelia and Autism spectrum do not do away with gut health innitiatives as our gut health is now for the long term well cared for.
It would be neglegent when gluten and carbs cause siezures to pretend that if a bout of pro and prebiotics is adhered to all will be well and have breads .. even long ferment sour dough.
The pain of breads and cakes and gluten rich (even home made from the best of intentions is not worth the pretension that if my gut is well I can do this .. I can’t, he cant .. we all cant
All great tips but I must say…. the Omega 3’s have helped my autoimmune and inflammatory issues. If I miss a day, I hurt like you can’t believe. They have changed my life and I do see benefit from them.
Try a non rancid form of omega 3’s like fermented cod liver oil. The fish oils at the healthfood store are all rancid and I am not convinced they have more benefit than harm.
Can you site your sources for this comment please, Sarah?
There are much better options for autoimmune conditions than rancid oil, which accelerates the aging process. Look up “lipid peroxidation”.
“In experiments that last just a few weeks or months, there may not be time for cancers to develop, and on that time scale, the immunosuppressive and antiinflammatory effects of oxidized fish oil might seem beneficial.”
In energy medicine, we seek to restore balance between the Sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and Parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous systems. There are various techniques and technology that work really well. Donna Eden’s book is packed with exercises and routines that make a powerful difference in all types of conditions.
Edgar Cayce frequently said that “mind is the builder, physical is the result”. He recommended the vibrations of carbon steel to harmonize the body’s energy systems, which complements everything else people do for themselves: diet, energy balancing exercises, attitude, etc.
-James
I needed to hear this, specifically about the GF products. I have a child recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance and I kept wondering why people (who were normally anti-processed foods) were touting all of the processed foods my child could eat.
Ughhh add “organic agave syrup” and “organic expeller Pressed canola oil.”
My mother buys the latter of those two. It’s so weird because she’s such a whole foodie in every other sense but refuses to give up her canola oil because the organic expeller pressed part of the equation and Indian people using rapeseed oil puts her mind at ease. There’s no changing some people’s minds!
I’m confused about the Fish Oil supplements one. I’ve read previously on your site that you were giving your son cod liver oil to reverse a cavity. In your recent Vitamin D article (the fish roe one) there was a link to the Weston A Price site and their list of cod liver oil brands by country – which included Green Pastures fermented cod liver oil and Carlson’s capsules if that was not available. Is cod liver oil (liquid or capsules) considered a Fish Oil supplement or are you referring to something else?
Greern Pastures oils are not heat treated. That appears to be the big difference. It’s also quite expensive, though.
In the past I have used Solgar brand fish oil (no burpy fishy aftertaste) and had no problems. It is made in the UK and, to my current knowledge, is no longer available in the US because of gubment regulations. I guess it was good stuff and our leaders don’t want us to know about good stuff! Solgar is a very reputable company and if their fish oil is ever available again, I’ll be using it because I can hardly tolerate cod liver oil. Makes me gag – sorry, it just does. It can be flavored however you wish, but it still burps up as fish – and I HATE fish. I’ve never liked eating fish and I don’t like taking the liver oil or skate oil either. But that’s just me. I know it’s healthy though.
The cod liver oil I use cannot be bought at the healthfood store (Green Pasture Products) and it is fermented ..not industrially processed like all the plain fish oil supplements at the healthfood store.
I buy Carlson’s. I used to buy Nordic Naturals but they molecularly distill it. I feel like Carlson’s is a good option, since it’s not processed much at all. What’s your take on this Sarah? I would like to switch to GP, but have been waiting due to the expense.
Thanks for the clarification!
Another good post. I wonder, though, if Omega 3s are so heat-sensitive, should we only eat raw fish? How is is that studies show a benefit from fish oil, when most of it has apparently been heated?
Not all fish are high in omega 3’s. Those that are are (like salmon) best seared and not cooked to death. Eaten as sushi is probably the best way to go but then you have the risk of parasites potentially (though the risk is small) and so seared might be a good compromise.
Freezing the salmon before eating it raw will take care of parasites
Just some details about freezing fish from fda.gov:
“Freezing and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours is sufficient to kill parasites. FDA’s Food Code recommends these freezing conditions to retailers who provide fish intended for raw consumption.”
I’m also a bit confused on the Omega-3 part. We take cod liver oil daily. Isn’t that supposed to be good?
Hi Drea, the answer depends on the brand. There are only a few cod liver oil brands that are decent. The best of the bunch is Green Pasture Products which is fermented and not heated.
I disagree over the fish oil as well its like every thing in this world you get what you pay for, if you buy the cheep fish oil caps in the supper market or chemist goodness knows where its comes from and what process it has under gone but you can buy high end supplerments that are the real deal you just have to pay more for them.
I fear that an eletist “The cod liver oil I use cannot be bought at the healthfood store” attitude may well put people off doing the best they can. Even with an abundant source of pristine water and forragable and fishable coastline I am unable to eat seafoods due to phobic horror so supplimenting is my only option. With omega 3’s potential for reducing inflamitory response, diabetic potential and leptin and insulin resistance I would encourage anyone to just do the best they can …..
I put your article on my facebook page and my cousin responded with this: “Gluten free foods are not healthy and are not any better than regular store bought processed versions.”…I think this author has no idea what an allergy to gluten entails and completely skips over the reason some people have to eat glute…n free: Celiac Disease. There aren’t too many alternatives and the choices that are available require research to see what is sufficient enough to make up for the loss of nutrients that gluten contains. A gluten allergy person’s “real food” is corn, rice, quinoa, flax, etc. based. Not everyone gets to live in a perfect world (like the author) and eat gluten every day without fear of becoming sick from constant gluten exposure.”
He’s obviously passionate in his response.
What is your response???
My son is allergic to wheat – different from gluten allergy, but gluten free foods are by default wheat free. So we spend a lot of time in the gluten free aisle at the store. And about the only thing I buy in the GF aisle is rice pasta and flours for baking.
The gluten-free foods Sarah is talking about are the granola bars, cookies, breads, snack-type foods, etc. – the GF version of mainstream processed foods. But people think they’re better because they’re GF. If you a have gluten allergy, then yes, you have to avoid the mainstream things. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the GF products you buy are healthier. The total ingredient list and how its made is what determines whether a product is healthy, not whether or not it contains gluten.
I just had to add to this. Sure, GF processed foods are still processed foods, but like Rebecca’s friend wrote, it is HARD to have Celiac’s disease. It’s not an allergy (as Rachel acknowledges), and no matter how gradually you build-up, if you have Celiac you will never be able to safely eat gluten. And that’s tough. My niece has it, and her symptoms were quite severe. (Diagnosed at 2 1/2, and she would not have lived another 6 months without a diagnosis.) For a 7 year old girl who has always had to be different, in a culture where food a real part of socializing, it’s nice to be able to give her the occasional pre-packaged GF snack.
I agree with the main point here, which is that any processed food is unhealthy and being GF doesn’t change that. But I think I understand Rachel’s friend’s “passion.” It’s not enough to just eat real food and teach your body to tolerate gluten. With Celiac, it just won’t happen.
(Full disclosure, I am getting tested next week and suspect I have it. So I guess I’m a little sensitive this week!)
Eating corn, rice, quinoa, flax will only make a person allergic to gluten worse. These foods don’t heal the gut. Heal the gut, don’t treat the symptom which is what celiac people typically do by eating gluten free foods all the time. Tell him to read the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome
Again, a gluten or wheat allergy is not Celiac’s disease. The latter is not an allergy. My niece had eaten nothing but breastmilk. As soon as she started solid foods–not junk, my sister’s extremely healthy–her gluten intolerance manifested itself. Please be careful here. It’s hard enough to have to deal with Celiac without being, in a roundabout way, blamed for having it.
Celiac is an autoimmune disease as are allergies.
Allergies are an autoimmune response, but they are not a disease.
Allergies are most indeed autoimmune disease just the same as celiac. An allergy to gluten can progress down the path to celiac if unchecked and the gut is not healed. Both can be healed. Autoimmune disease like celiac is not a life sentence which is why this gluten avoidance thing that celiacs follow is important but distracting from the main issue of poor gut health. If celiacs do not take steps to heal their gut they will become victim to even more autoimmune disease … autoimmune disease is a domino effect. One begets another then another then another. Fixing the root of the problem instead of simply avoiding gluten is very important.
I truly love most of your information, but this is not the first post to make a molehill out of gluten sensitivity/Celiac Reminds me of AMA misinformation. Allergies can result in death. Gluten sensitivity can result in death. Celiac, one subset of gluten sensitivities, can result in death. GS w/o CD can manifest in so many different ways and is not limited to gut malfunctioning. These can all be life threatening autoimmune responses, but these are so very different. Until you understand the difference between an allergy (immediate response) and a sensitivity (delayed response), please DO NOT claim it’s caused/cured solely by gut flora. Allergies can resolve, but not always. It would be easier, not less dangerous, to test for allergies. Food sensitivities are inherently a delayed reaction which may take days, weeks, months, or even years to determine the culprit because modern medicine is completely ignorant of this deadly and mostly “it’s in their head” misdiagnosed disease. Please learn more about gluten, ahem glue, before adding to all the misinformation about the ill effects of gluten. In my opinion those with GS are responding appropriately when their immune system encounters a manmade genetically altered protein.
Both are autoimmune problems, but have different mechanisms. Maybe that’s where we’re all getting confused?
Allergies create a histamine response that can effect that body in different ways. So ranging from breathing problems, skin reactions, behavioural issues (due to brain inflammation), etc.
Celiacs destroys the small intestine and can actually result in the affected person starving to death because they can’t absorb nutrients anymore.
So yes, both autoimmune (abnormal immune responses), but they “work” on the body differently.
More of my cousin’s passionate response. 🙂
‎”Organic MSG is still MSG”. False statement. There is no “organic MSG”. Organic soups would have no MSG in them since there would be no food additives (MSG) in said soup.
I didn’t mean to start a war. 🙂 LOL
MSG is a naturally occuring substance in bone based broths as well as other foods that naturally contain the amino acid glutamic acid. If you eat soup, you eat MSG. Now, homemade soup made from organic, homemade bone broth will not have the massive amounts of MSG that canned soups will have, but MSG can, in fact be legally called *organic* because it can be produced from fermenting organic sugar beets, organic sugar cane or organic molasses.
All I can say is CLUELESS. Tell him to read the labels! Organic soups most certainly have MSG in them – he obviously didn’t even read the post thoroughly to see what I had to say about that.
While I would never eat canned soups, I was just curious about what was in them and decided to read some labels. Here is Amy’s Organic Tomato Soup:
Ingredients : Organic tomato puree, filtered water, organic cream, organic evaporated cane juice, organic onions, sea salt, organic black pepper.
I can’t see where the MSG would come from. There were quite a few others like this. The Vegan “No-Chicken” Noodle soup (not organic), however, was really creepy. There were many chemicals and I think there were three different forms of soy. Ick!
I have the Amy’s Organic Vegetable Soup and Amy’s Organic Alphabet Soup, neither of which has MSG, just a simple ingredients list. Maybe the author does not have Amy’s soups in her area?
There is an Amy’s soup ingredients list for a different flavor below which does have MSG in it. This one does look ok though. But, sugar in soup? I wouldn’t buy it for that reason alone and it’s listed before the onions even so it wouldn’t be insignificant.
After the big initial scare about MSG, a lot of studies were done. Very few people have any kind of adverse reaction to MSG; it’s not anything most of us should be worried about.
Monosodium glutamate is a common amino acid bonded to a sodium ion. That’s it. Neither of those are harmful unless if taken in large doses… in fact, they are both vital for life function.
Rats fed MSG get morbidly obese. I would suggest reading “Excitotoxins” by Dr. R. Blaylock. The naturally occurring form of MSG is NOT the same as the manufactured MSG. Not by a long shot.
regardless of sensitivity or not MSG is a known appitite increaser .. I am quite fat enough so avoiding something that tells my body it needs more food regardless of metabolic requirement is just good sense.
MSG as a trace nutrient would not be my concern but the fact that it is a byproduct of just about any protein, oil or fat processed food product when any kind of hydrogenising process is used means that the process food diet menu is very must overloaded with a chemical that will tell our pure brains to eat more … whether we need it or not
Sarah, what about Vital Choice Salmon and Krill oil capsules? Them too even though Vital Choice is mentioned in our WAPF Shopping Guide? How about Green Pastures CLO capsules? Okay, or not? I sure agree on all the others and loved what you said about the “newbies!” I see these young moms with their carts just loaded with processed organic junk, lots of kiddie foods all prepackaged with great advertising gimmicks to hook the kids just like regular commercial junk.
Thanks!
Green Pasture Products is the only one I would take as it is unheated. From what I understand, the krill oil is processed using high heat.
Thanks! I will ask Vital Choice about their salmon oil and let you know.
I so thought you were going to say things like “organic milk” and “omega-3 eggs” and all those other fancy terms for foods that really aren’t that much better than store-bought. Buy them from a FARM!
Shopping at a health food store is really even more of a minefield than a regular grocery store. At least in a regular store you KNOW it’s junk. But at a health food store a lot of people figure, “If they’re selling it here, it can’t be TOO bad, right?” Wrong. There are exceptions, of course (anything that’s fresh; a FEW snacks, like Larabars), but generally — ehhh.
If you’re gluten-free and craving pasta…buy yourself some spaghetti squash. It’s cheap. It’s slowly growing on me and my kids seem to really like it. And way, way healthier than any form of pasta you can buy.
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. I think there are even more “traps” at the healthfood store than there are at conventional grocery stores! Mostly because people are lulled to sleep thinking that everything in a healthfood store is automatically healthy…. Argh.
There are actually very few items I purchase at our local “natural” food store. I either go farm fresh, or order my grains/legumes/etc in bulk from Azure Standard.
The other day I saw a guy with an entire cart FULL of soy milk! It was all I could do not to rush over to him and say “Stop buddy! You’re confused!” 🙂
thank you for the information. and i think we can learn alot from the comments also. i also agree, that unfortunately, not everything in “an organic food shop” is organic. u still have to read your labels.
Nice article Rachel.
Agree on all the listed items, and would also add organic milk near the top of the list. The UHT pasteurized milk is such a waste, and when I check the organic milk nowadays, that’s all I see.
I remember buying it when I first started towards eating real food. It’s funny looking back now. It’s raw from the farm or nothing.
Awesome you are spreading real info around! I’m amazed at how many people think this type of food is healthy! 🙂 Thanks!
Are there citations for any of these claims? How can we blindly take your word for what you say?
I have quite a few links to additional info in the post plus a source for the soy info at the bottom.
Thank you for saying that about the Gluten Free foods!! People think they are “healthy” just because they are gluten free, when in fact it’s just refined food like all the other problem foods in a regular super market. Trying to go gluten free by using these products doesn’t help any health concern improve. And, of course, like anything else, there are some exceptions, but if people don’t know they need to read and understand ingredient lists they won’t know the difference. Knowledge about what we are putting in our body and making sure it is real food, not fake food, is so important. Thanks for imparting your knowledge : )