Going by the name alone, you would think that every food in natural foods stores in Orlando was good health food.
Not exactly.
Natural foods stores in Orlando are great places to shop, but like any other food store, you need to be read labels. Not every food you pick up is good health food. It would be wonderful if it was that simple, but unfortunately, it’s just not.
For instance, one of the foods you might need to reconsider is granola. It has a reputation for being a good health food, mostly because it’s better than the highly processed and heavily sugars seen in the cereal aisles of most food stores. However, granola can still contain a lot of fats, and even sweeteners, depending on the brand and is usually pretty high calorie.
Granola bars are even more likely to be questionably healthy. There has to be some way to make that granola stick together to form a bar, and that way is usually some form of sweetener. It may be honey, fructose, or any kind of syrup. Pay attention to the amount of sweetener. Just because it is deemed natural doesn’t mean a whole bunch of it is good for you. Some granola bars are a little better than candy bars, so be aware of what you’re eating. It’s usually a pretty high-calorie treat.
Then there’s the candy. Okay, just because it’s made with organic ingredients, and just because it might have carob instead of chocolate, that’s not a free pass to eat as much as you want. No matter how healthy individual ingredients might be, these items are by their nature usually quite sweet and high calorie. Even in good health food, calories still count. Indulge in way too many calories of any kind, and you’re going to end up fat.
Even though you can’t skip reading labels just because you are shopping at a health food store, that doesn’t mean they aren’t a great place to shop. They have a wider variety of good health foods than most grocery stores. Just be aware of what you are buying, and don’t be fooled into thinking that every item in the store is good health food.
Be discerning about what foods you use to fuel your body!