The Most Shocking "Healthy" Foods! (And What You Should Eat Instead!)

You know that annoying person in your office or neighborhood who knows how to push your buttons? Well, a lot of food marketers are in the button-pushing game, as well: They’re using buzzwords to tempt you to eat what you shouldn’t. If they can make your belly override your brain, their profit margins might double (often along with the chins).

We’re talking about “reduced fat” products that probably do have less fat--but also piles of sugar and salt to compensate for the lack of flavor--and “all-natural” products that really do come from nature, along with scoopfuls of chemical additives like something straight out of Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.

And the most deceptive, dangerous word of all? “Healthy.” Because there is really no way to define it, the FDA has no way to regulate it. And just about anything can be “healthy”—or unhealthy—depending on how much you stuff into your mouth. The latest book in our bestselling series—Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America!—rips the confusing labels off the foods you eat, and exposes the ugly truth behind some of the food industry’s most dangerous health claims. This exclusive excerpt will give you a taste of five of the most dangerous “healthy” restaurant foods, plus better ways to make your meal.WORST 'HEALTHY' SOUP
P.F. Chang’s Chicken Noodle Soup
759 calories
24 g fat (4 g saturated)
4,135 mg sodium
92 g carbs

It’s the best part about getting sick: The promise of chicken noodle soup to come. Studies have shown it works, too, but no study could have planned on the torrent of sodium that swirls around among Chang’s noodles. Experts recommend capping your daily sodium intake at 1400 milligrams, ideally, and no more than 2,400 mg. Any more than that can put you at an increased risk for heart disease, not to mention swell you up via water retention. Unfortunately all Chang’s soups suffer a similar fate. Your only choice is to swap out your bowl for a smaller cup.