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Slide 1 of 11
10 Foods That Look Healthy But Aren't
Marketing says yes. The data says no.
Swipe →#9
Veggie chips
Score3.5/10
Vegan
5Low-FODMAP
5DASH
4Zone
4Anti-Inflammatory
4GLP-1 Friendly
4Mediterranean
4Keto
3Paleo
2Whole30
2Carnivore
1
Potato chips with a vegetable on the bag.
Usually potato starch with vegetable powder coloring. The veggie content is marketing, not nutrition.
#8
Bread (gluten-free)
Score3.2/10
Vegan
5Low-FODMAP
5DASH
5Mediterranean
4Anti-Inflammatory
4Paleo
4Keto
2Zone
2GLP-1 Friendly
2Whole30
1Carnivore
1
Gluten-free doesn't mean healthy. It often means worse.
Take the wheat out, and manufacturers replace it with rice flour and sugar. Diabetics do worse on it.
#7
Protein bar (Quest)
Score5.5/10
Keto
8GLP-1 Friendly
8Zone
8Carnivore
5Vegan
5Low-FODMAP
5DASH
5Anti-Inflammatory
5Paleo
5Mediterranean
4Whole30
2
Candy bars with a gym membership.
Most are glorified chocolate bars with added protein powder. The ingredient lists are brutal.
#6
Low-fat yogurt (flavored)
Score2.6/10
DASH
6GLP-1 Friendly
5Mediterranean
4Anti-Inflammatory
3Keto
2Carnivore
2Low-FODMAP
2Zone
2Vegan
1Paleo
1Whole30
1
Dessert sold in the dairy aisle.
A single cup can have 25g of sugar — more than a Snickers. The protein doesn't cancel it out.
#5
Dried cranberries
Score3.0/10
Vegan
5DASH
5Anti-Inflammatory
5Mediterranean
4Paleo
4Whole30
2Low-FODMAP
2Zone
2GLP-1 Friendly
2Keto
1Carnivore
1
Candy the wellness industry convinced you is fruit.
Sugar content rivals jellybeans. Most commercial versions add more.
#4
Agave nectar
Score2.5/10
Vegan
9Paleo
5Mediterranean
2DASH
2Zone
2Anti-Inflammatory
2GLP-1 Friendly
2Keto
1Carnivore
1Whole30
1Low-FODMAP
1
Fructose in a fancy bottle.
Diabetic-friendly on the label. Liver-destroying in reality. The 'natural' branding is doing heavy lifting.
#3
Coconut oil
Score6.0/10
Keto
10Whole30
10Paleo
9Low-FODMAP
9Vegan
8Carnivore
5Anti-Inflammatory
5Zone
4Mediterranean
2DASH
2GLP-1 Friendly
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86% saturated fat, sold as a superfood.
The marketing miracle of the 2010s. The science never agreed.
#2
Orange juice
Score4.1/10
Vegan
9Whole30
9Mediterranean
5DASH
5Anti-Inflammatory
5Paleo
4Low-FODMAP
2Zone
2GLP-1 Friendly
2Keto
1Carnivore
1
All the sugar of soda. None of the fiber of fruit.
Marketed to parents. Rejected by diabetes researchers. Low-scoring across nearly every framework.
#1
Granola
Score2.6/10
Vegan
5Paleo
5Mediterranean
3DASH
3Zone
3Anti-Inflammatory
3Low-FODMAP
2GLP-1 Friendly
2Keto
1Whole30
1Carnivore
1
Breakfast cereal cosplaying as health food.
Most commercial granola has more sugar per cup than ice cream. Every diet except maybe a kid's birthday party says no.
All 10 Fake-Healthy Foods
See scores for 1,000+ foods →Prefer to scan? The full list is below.
The 10 Foods That Look Healthy But Aren't
They're marketed as health food. They score badly across almost every diet we measured. Here are the 10 biggest gaps between what marketing tells you and what the data says.
Health halos are expensive. Granola has more sugar than ice cream. Coconut oil is 86% saturated fat. Smoothies are candy in a cup. Here's what the 11 diets actually say.
Top 10 Fake-Healthy Foods
Ranked by the gap between marketing and data.
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More Foods Not What They Claim
Other foods your grocery store would rather you didn't compare to the data.
Condensed milk (sweetened)
dairy
All 11 diets avoid
Brownie batter (raw)
snacks-processed
All 11 diets avoid
Eclair
baked-goods
All 11 diets avoid
Egg nog
eggs
All 11 diets avoid
Tiramisu
baked-goods
All 11 diets avoid
Churros
baked-goods
1 caution10 avoid
Nutella
condiments
1 caution10 avoid
Garlic bread
fast-food
All 11 diets avoid
Corn syrup
sweeteners
1 caution10 avoid
Cinnamon roll
baked-goods
1 caution10 avoid
More Rankings
Explore how every food scores across 11 diets.
