How can a food be pointless, you ask? There are actually a few ways: 1) When healthy food is processed into junk food 2) When it has no nutritional value whatsoever 3) When the big hype around all comes down marketing!
Food companies and execs know how to lure the public into pointless foods with proper marketing, and have even managed to turn some of the healthiest foods into processed junk! Does peanut butter and jelly really need to be packaged together? No, in fact, it’s more expensive for you to buy it this way, and less healthy, too.
If you’re still not sure what constitutes a food as pointless or not, here are the the top 5 from Eat This, Not That to avoid – meaning they not only serve no nutritional value, but they are just plain pointless as well.
Worst Supermarket Lunch: Smucker’s Uncrustables Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly Sandwich – 210 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated), 9 g sugars.
Smucker’s turned an old classic into processed junk food with this atrocity. Sure, it’s a quick and easy lunch to grab on the go, but how long does it take you to spread some peanut butter and a little jelly on a slice of whole grain bread? When you make your own PB&J you can control how much peanut butter and jelly you’re consuming, and you can use organic, no-sugar-added jelly and peanut butters. Uncrustables are loaded with hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and plenty of empty calories.
Worst Supermarket Snack: Yoplait Original 99% Fat Free Harvest Peach (6 oz, 1 container) – 170 calories, 1.5 g fat (1 g saturated), 26 g sugars.
All yogurt is not created equal! With 26 grams of sugar in just one 6-ounce container, this is not a healthy snack by any means – that’s more sugar than you’ll find in a Twinkie! Stick to protein-packed Greek yogurt or look for yogurt sweetened with only fruit or fruit-derived sugar.
Worst Supermarket Treat: WhoNu? Nutrition Rich Chocolate Cookies – 160 calories, 7 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 14 g sugars.
Marketing cookies as a health food is not cool! These cookies are advertised as being an “excellent source of calcium, iron, and vitamins A, B12, C, D and E” with “3 grams of fiber and 20 essential vitamins and minerals,” when all they really are is processed junk with some nutrients added in. Don’t be fooled by WhoNu’s marketing tactics; these are not a health food! Stick to desserts that are actually healthy, like fruit!
Worst Supermarket Breakfast: Kraft Original Bagel-fuls – 200 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 2 g fiber.
Okay, these don’t even look good! And how difficult is it to spread a little cream cheese on a bagel? Even then, it’s not the healthiest of breakfasts, but at least it’s fresh! These Bagel-fuls are processed and filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce. Stick to the real deal.
Worst Supermarket Drink: Tropicana Twister Cherry Berry Blast (8 fl oz) – 110 calories, 0 g fat, 25 g sugars
This “juice” contains absolutely no real fruit juice, it’s just loaded with fake food dyes and sugar! Plus, its serving size isn’t small enough for a single serving, but isn’t large enough to be considered family-sized; It contains 2.5 servings, which you’re likely to finish and means you’ll consume nearly 300 calories and more over 60 grams of sugar!! Make your own fruit juice instead, or avoid it all together and eat the fruit!