Don't Be Fooled by the Healthy Food Marketing Tricks!

• The health halo is a term used to describe unhealthy foods that are perceived as being healthy because of their packaging or marketing.

• Many people make the mistake of assuming that just because a food is labeled as "healthy" or "organic," it must be good for them.

• In reality, many unhealthy foods are marketed as healthy, and some healthy foods are not as good for you as you might think.

• It's important to be aware of the health halo and to read nutrition labels carefully to make informed decisions about what to eat.

• If you're unsure whether a food is healthy, ask your health coach, doctor, or nutritionist for advice.

Eating healthy is hard! It’s easy to get tricked by buzzwords and marketing, but there are some tricks that food companies use, so you don't have the full facts about their product.

For example, just because an item says "organic" or has gluten-free in its name does not mean it's low calorie or high fiber either of those things--organically grown produce can still contain tons if sugar as well! And remember: reading through labels before buying anything will always help protect your waistline more than any other single thing we know how to do these days ( besides maybe cutting out processed foods altogether).

There are a few key phrases that can help you spot a healthier product:

"Made with whole grains" means that at least half of the product's grains are whole.

"100% organic": This product is made entirely with organic ingredients.

"Low in sodium": This product contains 140 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.

"Good source of fiber": This product contains at least three grams of fiber per serving.

Do you read nutrition labels?

If not, it’s time to start. Sugar is lurking everywhere in packaged foods, even in products labeled “natural” and “organic.” We believe if you’re going to eat something with added sugar, you should know it to enjoy it! Nothing is worse than finding out that something you’ve been eating every day for years is packed with sugar.

To avoid accidentally eating more sugar than you realize, check the labels of these four sneaky sugar sources:

1. Energy bars

2. Yogurt

3. Salad dressing

4. Ketchup

If you don’t eat these foods, take a look at the nutrition labels of packaged foods you eat regularly. Can’t visualize a gram of sugar? To convert to teaspoons, divide the grams of sugar on the label by four. So if your yogurt has 28 grams of sugar per serving, you are eating 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Keep an eye out for these terms the next time you're grocery shopping, and your body will thank you!

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