It's hard to keep up with what's considered healthy, and what isn't.
Not only is it annoying, it also makes it extremely difficult for mums to put healthy meals and snacks on the table.
Here are a few foods that are being marketed as healthy, when in fact they’re really not up to much at all. Here are six…
Raisins
Raisins and sultanas are a funny one: they contain fibre, vitamins and minerals, but they’ve also got loads of added sugar. Plus, dried fruit has more calories per volume than fresh, making it even worse. Then there’s the fact that it’s basically guaranteed to get stuck in your teeth, and you’ve got the kids’ snack from hell.
Flavoured yoghurt
While natural yoghurt does contain sugar, the flavoured varieties are far worse. In fact, they can contain more sugar than the average bar of chocolate. You can also pop a few blueberries or chopped strawberries on top of natural yoghurt if you want to give it a sweet kick.
Muesli bars
Muesli bars aren’t totally unhealthy, it just depends on which ones you get. Try to find ones that are wholegrain and have at least a couple of grams of fibre in them. Otherwise, they’re pretty useless health-wise.
Protein bars
Soybeans are the main ingredient in protein bars, and since they’re very nutritious, you’d think they were healthy. Not so. The beans have to be processed into soy protein before they’re suitable for bar use, and this means that most of the nutrients (bar the protein) are lost.
Fat-free salad dressing
These dressings have introduced sugar and high fructose corn syrup, not to mention a load of awful additives. You’re much better off making your own salad dressing. The Mediterranean choice is a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some salt. You can add some wholegrain mustard if you want to mix it up a bit.
Couscous
Couscous may be a quick alternative to rice, but it has very little nutrients – not much fibre and hardly any vitamins and minerals. Try using quinoa instead, as it is packed with protein, fibre and calcium.
Rice cakes
Rice cakes were touted as the ultimate diet food for years, but they can have a glycemic index rating as high as 91 (pure glucose has a rating of 100), making it the sort of carbohydrate that will send your blood sugar on a rollercoaster ride.
