Study: Americans Think FroYo and SlimFast Shakes Are Healthy

Ever notice how Americans are all over the place when it comes to food?

We make the top 10 list for highest obesity rates in the world, even though 77% of us insist we’re “eating healthy,” according to Forbes. We spend $60 billion on weight loss products per year, but we still can’t lose weight. Clearly, something’s not adding up.

And a new report from the New York Times highlights just how dumb we all are when it comes to the concept of healthy food.

The Times surveyed nutritionists and regular eaters on which foods they’d consider healthy. And unsurprisingly, the general public has a pretty shaky grasp on health. For instance, nutritionists are pretty much over the concept of a granola bar as a health food since most of them are packed with sugar. Only 28% of nutritionists would rank granola bars as “healthy.” But 71% of the general public still swears by them.

The jig is up on frozen yogurt, too, as only 33% of nutritionists count it as “healthy.” Even that number seems high for glorified ice cream. It’s even worse for the general public: a whopping 66% of us are still convinced that our Pinkberry habit is totally good for us.

Oh, and almost half of Americans surveyed think SlimFast shakes, which I’m pretty sure are made of sugar and chalk dust, are healthy. Cool.

In addition to not knowing what’s bad for us, we also have no clue what’s good. Amazingly, about half the general public believes quinoa, sushi, and tofu are unhealthy, while the vast majority of nutritionists classify these three products as healthy. WTF are we all thinking?!

There is one silver lining to this study: 70% of nutritionists would call wine healthy, while only 52% of the general public do. Even though, as we’ve covered in these very pages, red wine is good for your hair, can help you lose weight and won’t spike your insulin levels like beer.

So let’s all pair some wine with our sushi and quinoa like health goddesses. And for the love of god, stop drinking SlimFast products! Come on, you guys. Come on.

Gimme More Health

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