Just because the label says it’s good for you doesn’t mean it is. Here’s how to read beyond the marketing hype.

Take a moment and consider this logic(n.逻辑): 1. Fat-free foods are healthy. 2. Skittles(一种彩虹糖名字) are fat-free. 3. Therefore, Skittles are healthy. Make sense合理,有意义)?Of course not. But it’s exactly the type of reasoning that food manufacturers want you to use.

You see, in our example, we started with a false premise(n.前提). That’s because the term “fat-free” is often code for “high-sugar” — an attribute that makes a product the opposite of healthy. Case in point: Johns Hopkins University researchers recently determined that high blood sugar is an independent risk factor for heart disease. So high-glycemic(高血糖) foods — those such as sugars and starches(n.淀粉) that raise your blood sugar dramatically — are inherently (adv.内在地,固有地)unhealthy.

Unfortunately, faulty food logic is far less obvious when you’re shopping outside the candy aisle(n.走廊). Why? Because making healthy choices isn’t as simple as knowing that beans are packed with fiber(n.纤维), or that fruits are loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants(抗氧化物). After all, manufacturers often add ingredients, such as sugar, that can instantly turn a good snack(n.小吃) bad. As a result, many of the products that you think are wholesome(adj.有益健康的) are anything but.

Yogurt with Fruit at the BottomThe upside(n.优点,优势): Yogurt and fruit are two of the healthiest foods known to man.The downside(n.劣势): Corn syrup(玉米糖浆) is not. But that’s exactly what’s used to make these products supersweet. For example, a cup of yogurt contains 36 grams (g) of sugar, only about half of which is found naturally in the yogurt and fruit. The rest comes in the form of “added” sugar — or what we prefer to call “unnecessary.”

标签上写着健康并不意味着真正健康。本文教你如何看食物标签上商业宣传背后的东西。

看一下这个逻辑推理：1.无脂食品是健康的。2.彩虹糖是无脂的。3.因此，彩虹糖是健康的。这是正确的吗？当然不是。但这种推理方式正是生产商所希望的。你看，在这个例子中，我们的前提就是错的。这是因为“无脂”总是隐含着“高糖”—— 一种不健康的标志。有个很好的例子：约翰霍普金斯大学的研究者最近证实高血糖是引发心脏病的重要因素。因此，高血糖物质——例如能引起血糖快速上升的糖类和淀粉——自然是不健康的。不幸的是，当你在糖果街以外的地方购买食物时，这种错误的饮食逻辑往往并不明显。为什么呢？因为购买健康的食物并不简单，不是知道豆类含有纤维或水果具有抵抗疾病的抗氧化物质就可以了的。毕竟，生产商经常添加其他物质，例如糖类，使一个健康的食物变得不健康了。因此，许多你认为健康的食物其实并不尽然。

有水果在底部的酸奶优点：酸奶和水果是众所周知的两种最健康的食物。缺点: 玉米糖浆是不健康的食物。但却常用来增加食物的甜度。例如，一杯含糖36克的酸奶，其中只有一半是酸奶和水果本身所含有的。其余的都是“人工添加”糖——或者被我们称为“并不需要的”。

a cup of yogurt contains 36 grams (g) of sugar, only about half of which is found naturally in the yogurt and fruit. The rest comes in the form of “added” sugar — or what we prefer to call “unnecessary.”