Are you doing health wrong?
Most likely – but it’s not your fault.
Companies claim that some foods are better than others or that this specific habit boosts overall wellness, but these claims are often misleading or outright wrong.
A lot of so-called healthy things are bad for you, but those hyping them would lose money if you knew the truth. They push misleading advertisements and twist research to make you buy stuff that’s not as good for you as they claim.
So-Called Healthy Things That are Bad for You
We’re bringing you the truth. We scoured the internet to find the best examples of so-called healthy things that are bad for you.
Our list includes “healthy” food options, habits, activities, and practices that aren’t as good for you as you think they are.
That’s not to say you can’t enjoy them – just be forewarned that they aren’t as healthy as they appear.
Fruit Juice
Fruit juices are branded as a healthy alternative to soda, but they aren’t as good for you as they want you to believe.
A lot of fruit juices contain loads of added sugar. A cup of Ocean Spray cranberry juice contains 23 grams of added sugars, and while that is less than a soft drink, it’s still not “good” for you.
Even juices with no “added” sugars burst with sugar. Pom Wonderful, a “healthy” pomegranate juice, has 34 grams of sugar per serving.
In addition, most of these juices offer very little in nutritional value. The only benefit is usually vitamin C, but you can get that without all the sugar.
Acai
People call acai a superfood, but is it really?
The fruit hails from Brazil, but there, they recognize that it’s a dessert.
It wouldn’t be so bad in America, as the fruit itself isn’t inherently unhealthy. But when was the last time you bought a pack of acai berries to eat whole?
You’re probably eating them in bowls bursting with added sugars and syrups, which kind of cancels out the health benefits.
Sports Bars
Sports bars are relatively healthy things that are bad for you when used incorrectly. The problem is that people see “sports bar” and automatically think “healthy,” forgetting that active people need far more calories than sedentary people.
Sports bars are great for hikers, bikers, and those always on the go. But if you sit at a desk all day eating sports bars, you’ll probably gain weight.
If you aren’t very active, don’t swap your healthy breakfast for a sports bar.
Breakfast Bars
Notice I didn’t say to swap your sports bar for a healthy breakfast bar. That’s because those are nearly impossible to find.
Most breakfast bars are terrible for you. Sure, they’re convenient, but they’re typically loaded with sugar and so processed they’re barely even recognizable as food.
Complaining
When did venting become healthy?
People will complain about every aspect of their life, then say they’re “just venting” and it’s “good for you.”
It’s OK to vent occasionally, but that’s because we’re human, not because it’s healthy. In fact, recent studies show that venting can actually make you feel worse.
Stop complaining and calling it healthy. Take action to fix the problem instead- that’s the healthy option.
Health Obsession
An obsession with wellness becomes one of those healthy things that are bad for you when taken too far.
Don’t get us wrong, you should care about your health, and you should absolutely try to improve. But it can be dangerous without balance.
Anything taken to such an extreme that it isolates you from society, harms your relationships, or impacts your ability to do anything else is unhealthy – even activities that we’d call healthy in moderation.
In the worst cases, it can lead to mental illnesses like anorexia.
Healthy Pregnancy
When we hear “healthy pregnancy,” we typically think the mother is fine and healthy, but that’s not the case.
The term “healthy pregnancy” usually has nothing to do with the mother at all – it’s about the fetus. It means that the fetus will gestate to term and likely not suffer any medical issues.
Pregnancy, by definition, is not healthy. Even the healthiest pregnancies can have negative impacts on the pregnant person.
And yes, pregnancy is a natural process, but people tend to conflate natural with healthy, and that’s so untrue it needs its own heading.
Natural
Nature does not care about whether something is healthy or not.
Parasites are natural. Diseases are natural. Cyanide is natural. Plenty of natural things are toxic and dangerous.
Meanwhile, surgery and vaccines are life-saving yet unnatural. Heating and cooling technologies save millions of lives every year, yet you won’t find them in nature.
Healthy things that are bad for you might be natural or synthetic. “Natural” has no real meaning regarding health and wellness.
Vaping
Vaping is healthier than smoking, but that doesn’t make it healthy. It’s still a bad habit that’s harmful to your health.
A lot of younger people avoided cigarettes, but picked up a vape instead. They’re still inhaling dangerous chemicals, and it’s even worse because they think it’s okay.
Since vaping is still relatively new, especially compared to smoking, the potential long-term health effects are unknown.
If you haven’t started yet, please don’t.
Sports Drinks
Sports drinks may have electrolytes, but they’re also jam-packed with sugars. Like the aforementioned sports bars, these drinks are healthy things that are bad for you when not used correctly.
People swap soft drinks for sports drinks, thinking it’s healthier, but they’re still loaded with unneeded sugar.
They’re great for dehydrated athletes after a tough run, but not ideal for everyday use.
Fat-Free
The fat-free craze caused more harm than good. The tag on most items is misleading at best and definitely doesn’t mean “healthy”.
Most “fat-free” items simply replaced the fat with sugar, which kept the food tasting good but made it worse for you.
We actually need fat as part of a balanced diet. Of course, you shouldn’t only eat fat, but why opt for fat-free dairy products when fat is the reason to eat dairy products?
Sugar Free
After society realized that replacing fat with sugar wasn’t really healthy, a new craze was born: sugar-free.
Companies replaced regular sugar with all sorts of alternatives. Unfortunately, there’s evidence linking various artificial sweeteners to cancer.
The worst sugar alternative is high fructose corn syrup, but at least nobody pretends that’s healthy.
Toxic Positivity
Positivity is awesome – I think we should all strive to be more positive all the time. Being genuinely positive impacts your overall health and wellness for the better.
But positivity is another one of those Healthy things that are bad for you when taken too far.
Enter toxic positivity, the attitude that life must be rainbows and butterflies all the time. It’s a rejection of half the human condition, which isn’t actually healthy at all.
What is Really Good for You Then?
Calling out all these healthy things that are bad for you brings up a really important question: if all this stuff is bad for you, what’s actually good for you?
I’m not an expert, nor am I a nutritionist. But I think the healthiest foods are real, whole foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and eggs. Any “healthy” activity can become problematic without moderation.
My key to a happy, healthy life is balance. Sometimes I’ll eat an unhealthy snack, but my generally healthy diet balances it out. I’ll sit around playing video games sometimes, but I’ll also go for walks and hikes.
Enjoying your life by embracing some of the bad things but balancing them out with the good is, in my opinion, what’s actually good for you.