Swap this Stuff! • 10 'Health Foods' that are bad for you.

A lot of the time things we thought where healthy actually aren't. Turns out for years we've been eating foods which aren't part of a balanced diet and no one told us. Here are 10 things you should avoid after eating all this time.

1. Toast - Yes I know it's yummy and delicious and tastes great with so many toppings and is perfect for a quick snack in the evenings but really bread is just no good. It may be promoted as being the bees knees, but really it's just... The same applies to rolls and buns an other bread like products. Why? Although we need carbohydrates for energy to keep us going, white breads and thick soft rolls are hard to digest and break down from the lack of nutrients our body needs for growth and repair.
2. Potatoes - You're probably thinking 'but they're a vegetable aren't they?' Yes they are, but they are also a big part of the carbohydrate family. That jacket potato covered in cheese and butter for dinner? Try something lighter for easy digestion and more nutrients than fatty cheese toppings. 
3. Pasta - Yes seems stupid doesn't it that something we thought for so long was the key to staying slim, turns out it's why your abs aren't smooth as the lasagna sheets you use to make your stodgy Italian dish. White pasta should be swapped for a small handful of brown pasta as an accessory to your salad. Bulgar wheat is a lighter approach that makes a healthy alternative to your evening meal.
4. Orange and Apple Juice - All fruit juice is a waste of calories that indulges your GDA for sugar in one sip at breakfast! If you want to enjoy that refreshing fruity feeling over your cereal opt for a home made smoothie, it had less acid, more nutritional value and can be adapted to your daily mood!
5. Ice Tea - Again a sugar explosion in a bottle, that 'healthy caffeine alternative' to an espresso on your coffee run in the morning can be made at home using green tea (an excellent weight loss aid and health boost) goji berries and lemon. If you don't like the citrus zing of lemon but want the refreshing feeling that it can provide try cucumber instead.
6. Calorie Controlled 'Low Fat' Portioned Meals - So it's under 300 calories, it's supposedly lower fat that the regular brand and is in the 'healthy living' section of your supermarket. Does that mean it's good for you? No. The meals you can pick up to be convenient are full of preservatives and sodium and frozen vegetables that by this point have lost all nutritional value, the 15 minutes it takes to heat up you could be enjoying a home prepped or simple home meal with out the added sugar and salt!
7. Pre-made Fruit Salads - It says it's part of your 5 a day and it's fruit so it looks pretty healthy, but really that juice that tastes so nice at the end of your lunch sized pot is a sugary syrup that adds nothing but unnecessary sugar and calories to your cocktail of fruits. Why not just have a banana and orange instead? 2 of your 5 a day and tastes the same!
8. Pretzels - Another marketing trick by those health companies to get you to buy a product faking to be better than a packet of crisps. These snack sized shapes from the 1990's don't fill you up because of the white flavour they are made from, which quickly makes you want to over eat, due to the sugar that's transferred quickly into the bloodstream. Best to avoid any of these tiny 'nibbles' that are pit stop snacks between meals. Just have a bottle of water and a piece of fruit!
9. Frozen Yogurt - Another alternative that's really not that much different, of course having less fat than ice cream is a bonus for your body but it shouldn't become a part of your usual eating habits. The high amounts of sugar and toppings that most seem to justify adding to it because it's 'healthier than ice cream' is just over loading on your sugar requirements.
10. Granola Bars - Those tasty chocolate chips and sweetened processed fruits that are added to give this snack it's flavour isn't doing your health any favours. If your on the go have some almonds and an apple that your body can digest and use for you through out the day! The same calories but more fulfilling without high fructose corn syrup added to it!