Written By: Tania Tarafdar | Published : October 5, 2015 1:04 PM IST
While many packaged foods may read natural , the labels on them can be quite misleading. Most foods that claim to be natural are often loaded with artificial sugars, artificial food flavours and preservatives. Well-known dietician Neha Chandna lists out a few so-called natural foods that contain a lot of artificial ingredients.
Bottled fruit juices
Whether it is orange, mango or cranberry juice, the packaged juices contain only a small percentage of real juice. Other ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, corn starch, preservatives and artificial flavours are added to enhance their colour, texture, taste and shelf life. Additionally, during manufacturing, these fruit juices undergo a heat treatment in which the naturally occurring antioxidants and vitamins are destroyed.
Low- fat dairy
Milk naturally contains plenty of fats. The fat from milk cheese and yogurt are filtered to get the low-fat version of them. Although the fat is removed from the dairy products, other ingredients are added to boost their taste. Most low-fat yoghurt brands contain added sugar, artificial sweeteners and many colour extracts.
Vegetable oils
Vegetable oils like sunflower oil or canola oil are touted to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and improve overall health. But these oils are extracted from genetically modified crops which are heavily treated with pesticides. Further, the oils are also treated with chemicals to separate different parts of the oil and improve their colour.
Cold cuts
The cold cuts of meat or fish you find in the supermarkets and grocery stores may be convenient, but they contain a host of unnatural ingredients. The meat is usually bound together using fillers, non-meat additives and a lot of sodium. So it is always a better idea to go for whole cuts of poultry and meat that are fresh and natural.
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