Foods that are all-natural are always the best. You want to fill your body with healthy things, not load it up with artificial flavors and preservatives. The 17 foods on this list often claim to be natural, but they are often not. Double-check these foods before buying them to make sure they fit into your natural diet.
Note: The content of this article is not medical advice.
Breakfast cereals
We don’t need to name brands, but there are many that label their breakfast cereals as natural. From raisin bran to muesli and even oats, there are numerous breakfast cereals that people choose specifically because of their supposed nutritional value.
Sadly, such foods are only labeled natural and are actually loaded with preservatives and additives that can be detrimental to us.
Iced teas
Do you know those packaged iced teas that aren’t only labeled natural but also come with slogans along the lines of ‘made fresh with love/ generational recipes”? Such claims on their part are exactly what makes this discovery disappointing.
The only thing natural in most iced tea is the tea; the rest of the beverage is just sugar, water, and a bunch of additives and artificial flavoring.
Nut butters
You might want to show her this if your mom made you eat nut butter instead of chocolate spreads because they’re healthier. While nut butter is healthier in general, it isn't natural and often contains loads of unwanted ingredients unless it is made with 100% nuts.
Most “natural” nut butter contains sugars and added preservatives that besmirch the label and lower their nutritional value. Make your own pecan butter, walnut butter, or pistachio butter, you will love it!
Veggie burgers
Okay, this food literally had one job, and it managed to fail. Veggie burgers were introduced to accommodate food preferences in a healthy way, but unfortunately, they’re one of many foods that are misusing labels like organic and natural.
Natural veggie burgers may indeed contain organic vegetables, but they’re often seasoned with harmful flavors and additives that refute the whole point.
Granola bars
You may not be willing to hear this one, but if you’ve chosen some granola bars specifically because it said it's natural, you’ve been tricked. Yes, granola bars can be healthy, but most contain additives that dispute their own label.
Commercial goods go through unhygienic and unnatural packaging, so with granola brands that use natural ingredients, you can’t guarantee they were made naturally.
Trail mix
The number of times we’ve picked out a bad food just because it’s labeled natural is insane. You’d think trail mix is as plain as it could get, but it’s too lying about being natural.
Many trail mixes are seasoned with artificial flavorings, which tone down their naturalness. Combine that with poor packaging, and you’ve got a natural liar.
Bottled smoothies
We should just stop buying bottled products altogether because anything bottled and labeled natural is just a big scam. Bottled products are often loaded with preservatives to keep them fresh, so let’s not trust these.
Some bottled smoothies contain fresh ingredients, but they also rely on additives and preservatives that erase their original purpose.
Gluten-free foods
Okay, here’s the thing. Gluten-free foods shouldn’t be lying about labels because they’re made to accommodate people with gluten allergies. But you should know that foods that claim to be natural may just be claiming they have one natural ingredient.
Such is the case with gluten-free foods. Even if the ingredient in particular is natural, the food may be finely processed and loaded with unhealthy nutrients.
Rice cakes
Rice cakes have great potential to be natural because all they need is to shape mashed cooked rice, right? So color us surprised when we find out they’re not the nature-loving delights we thought.
Rice cakes can be natural, but they’re often seasoned with particular dips that use artificial flavors or additives. This brings down their quality in terms of the label.
Flavored nuts
What could be more natural than a bag of organic nuts packed safely in a bag? We’ll tell you a lot of things. Flavored nuts may be natural in terms of dry fruit, but where they get their flavoring from is a different story.
Most packaged nuts get their delightful taste from high-sodium additives and artificial flavoring, which can be very dangerous and refute the whole point.
Deli meats
Not all processed meat is bad, but deli meats are among the ones you should definitely never trust.
Deli meats contain unhealthy components like certain chemicals added to preserve their shelf life. These can be dangerous, so it’s best to buy directly from a butcher.
Energy bars
Energy bars started using the ‘natural’ label after they became popular with dieters, and that should tell you all you need to know. While there are some honest brands offering natural energy bars, you really can’t trust the food.
Energy bars are made to survive for longer periods, so they’re typically injected with harmful preservatives and additives, which reverse their naturalness.
Honey
Honey may be one of the most natural things out there but a lot of the honey in the grocery store may be deceiving. Some fake honey may actually contain corn syrup, a very unnatural food.
Because corn syrup has a texture very similar to honey, it is often mixed into the honey to make it cheaper. Do not buy it! It actually tastes cheaper and is definitely not natural.
White Bread
You would think that bread would be a natural food. But think again. Grocery store bread is full of preservatives, artificial flavors, and tons of added sugars. It is almost unrecognizable as real bread.
Go to a local bakery or try your hand at making your own bread instead. You will be glad you did!
Olive Oil
You probably think that olive oil is made from pure olives. Unfortunately often times it's not. Many olive oil brands out there add waxes, sterols, and alcohol to the mix to increase shelf life and also cut costs.
Make sure you pay the higher price for the best quality, well-known oils that really are natural and not complete fakes.
Ice Cream
Ice cream is just milk, sugar, and eggs, right? You may think that is all that goes into ice cream but the stuff you find in the store has a much longer list of ingredients, most of them being completely fake.
Ice cream has lots of chemicals added to make it the right texture and also prevent it from spoiling. Be sure to read the label on your favorite ice cream before assuming that it is all-natural.
Yogurt
Yogurt may seem like a very natural product, made with mostly milk. But most flavored yogurts have artificial flavors and lots of added sugars.
If you want a natural yogurt, look for one that is unsweetened and made with real fruit. Natural yogurts do exist! You just have to look for them.
More for You
14 Foods People Don't Really Like. Why are we all pretending to like these 14 foods? Nobody really likes them or finds them remotely appetizing. We all just think that we are supposed to like them. So we eat, fake smile and still feel hungry afterward as we can only stomach a few bites of these gross things. So, can we all stop it? Can we all go back to eating foods we truly like and ditch these nasty things? Let's do it together!
This article was originally published at Spatula Desserts.
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