Kathy Kolasa: Skip expensive "healthy" foods for fruit, vegetables

Dear readers: I have spent more time in the grocery store lately because the Pitt Partners Penny Pinching Healthy Grocery Store tour I sometimes volunteer to lead focuses on eating healthy on a budget,

I am, more than ever, price-conscious of foods and drinks labeled as “healthy." So, I am taking some extra time to look at new products being marketed in this way.

I have returned to an old habit I had when working and seeing patients at ECU Family Medicine. I used to think of the grocery store as my “library” and would regularly look at the ever-changing products on the shelves.

Things really have changed in the last 10 years since I officially retired. It is true that if you buy only food marketed as “healthy” you are correct in saying eating healthy is expensive. Consumers have been told a good rule of thumb is to shop the perimeter of the store. Not necessarily anymore. High-price, low-sugar sodas are found in the produce section, high-priced alternative proteins are in the meat section and other high-priced “healthy” sounding drinks and foods are in the dairy section.

But as the tour leaders of the penny-pinching tour show participants, you can eat healthy on a budget. If you or your group are interested in a free tour sponsored by Pitt Prevention Partners, contact Devette Thomas at dmthomas@ecuhealth.org for times and places of future tours.

Several areas of the store are really changing. I have written about plant milks before. To make sure they give you the calcium, vitamins A and D of cow’s milk read the Nutrition Facts label. In the produce section, we are finding alternatives to high-sugar sodas. The beverage companies are responding with a range of new kinds of drinks including what they are calling “gut healthy” soda. These low-sugar drinks have less than two teaspoons of sugar and added prebiotics — or dietary fiber, usually inulin. There also are probiotics because they have had food microbes added. And some drinks have added both probiotics and prebiotics.

Are they worth the $2.35-$2.75 a can? Inulin usually is used in the amount of 2-9 grams. It comes from foods like onions, asparagus, wheat, chicory root, Jerusalem artichokes, agave and leeks. It is poorly digested and feeds your healthy gut bacteria. Inulin can taste sweet, so the makers can say they have not only added fiber but it also has less added sugar and still tastes sweet.

Studies found that that when adults consumed 5-20 grams of inulin a day over a period of weeks, their gut had higher levels of Bido bacteria as measured in their stools. Yes, it is measurable, but it’s not clear if this benefits health. The bacteria that gobble up the inulin also give off gas. Some people are more sensitive than others to negative GI effects.

If you like the thought of drink tasting like raspberry lychee or orange squeeze, or ginger lemon or pineapple mango soda, you might try one for a treat, but water is still your best beverage — from the tap.

Soda makers have realized we are teaching consumers to pay attention to the added Sugar line on the Nutrition Facts label. When it comes to lower sugar sodas and juice blends, they may have less added sugar, but the total sugar is still high because juice stripped of its flavor and may have been blended in. and for most adults and kids that’s no better than added sugar. For kids the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies younger than 1 year have no juice, little kids from 1-3 years have no more than 4 ounces of juice a day, kids 4-6 years old have no more than 6 ounces and youth older than 7-18 years old have no more than 8 ounces.

I noticed the wording on one can of a kombucha drink called “bubbly probiotic tea for a happy gut. You might ask, do they work? Remember that kombucha tea is a fermented drink that requires added sugar to feed the bacteria to make it a probiotic drink. If you are watching your calories or carbohydrate intake, be sure to read the label. The nutrients vary greatly from one product to another of even the same brand. Read the labels carefully for calories, carbohydrates and allergens.

There have not been a lot of studies done on the healthfulness of kombucha or cleanse products and scientists say there is no evidence of health benefit and the possibility of creating a risky electrolyte imbalance with too much use. Your doctor might remind you, that the body naturally cleanses the toxins through the liver and kidneys. You don’t need a cleansing product that might cause you nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities or infection.

The bottom line for today is save your money to spend on fruits, vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned or dried, beans (dry or canned without salt or meat), grains, nuts and seeds to eat “healthy.”