I love helping people to create an allergy free home with natural products like Air, Water & Whole Food Nutrition. I'd be glad to share your blog with my readers as it seems to have info I like to share with them.

I am really disappointed that the stores I shop in in Kerrville, Tx has discontinued the only cereal I buy and that is Muselix Cereal. How can we get it back on our shelves. I shop at Wal-mart, HEB, Albertson's and Super S Grocery stores and they have all discontinued it. I was buying 4 boxes at a time.
myrtle

wow. lots of the comments are kind of ridiculous. kudos to all the mega healthy people out there. this list clearly isn't for people who are already healthy, reading labels, and have pet names for food ingredients. i hope freaking out over the "awful list" above doesn't give you a heart-attack and ruin all your healthy attempts.

I LoVE fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, organic foods, and most anything considered "healthy." I am also living WAY below the proverty level and can't afford ANY of the above. Please provide ideas for healthy living for us poor folk.

I believe this article is trying to appeal to the general public...Lets face it! The majority shops in such a way for their food, that if they do choose these items , it is better than what they usually eat!I rather see their children get some of the suggeted foods , than what they usually get. yes it is a shame this is the facts of the world...But we all don't see the truth and some never will!Some one here was trying to appeal to our less educated public...A society in which many children are home alone popping dinners in a microwave, for mother has her very important promotion she is shooting for at work!
Hope you all see what I am saying...This mentioned diet , will be a blessing in disguise for some children!
Goldie

I am impressed by the populace! Right on, food commentators! No more compromises, just because the food industry wants to use poor quality ingredients to turn a profit...We'll know we have reached a major milestone when a site like "Real Age" talks about REAL (nutritious) FOOD - and unabashedly organic and GMO Free! My fellow contributors give me hope for a resurgence of the rich and fertile food-stuffs eaten before the age of agribusiness!

All you people need to chill out, you're probably going to get hit by a car, or have an aneurism no matter what you eat. You're all being sold down the river with your 'organic' foods...it's a joke, start reading up on it...you REALLY have no idea whether a food is organic...oh right, yes you do, because 'they' say so! Bah! Get informed for heaven's sake!!!!!!!!!!

I didnt find mention of organic choices.Which are much healthier. Or buying whole grains such as Bob's Red Mill carries.If you are on a tight budget ,get organic fruit and produce,no pesticides or other chemicals, and meat there ,get the rest at a grocery store. It is cheaper to get the food value in the veggies and meat, then it is for a Dr office call , if you are one of the millions who dont have health insurance.The cost of organic fruit and prod is almost in line with the "regular" grocery stores now AND at least 2x healthier to eat .The local food co ops are the best way to go .Check out greek yogurts. I get whole grain cereals from
Bob's Red Mill , takes longer then opening a box of cereal .
Super good source of fiber and grains. Buy omega 3 and flaxseed capsuls and multivitamins. Cook the food instead of opening cans. Yes it takes more time but is so much healthier and again cheaper then going to a Dr. and READ LABELS!the hfcs and artificial sweentners are so BAD for you.Since learning to read labels as a second nature I eat healthier , have less trouble with asthma, have lost weight. maybe see a Dr 1 or 2x a year. And feel more energized and focused.I am also on a tight budget and have no healh ins.Groceries already cost way too much ,but at least with organic eating I am not spending my dollar on pesticides or chemicals to eat.!!I was so dissapointed in the list of "good " ??choices they offered .to many items with very bad ingredients in them.

I make all my bread in a bread machine. I add flaxseed, wheat germ,and oatbran. I use 1 T. canola oil and 1 T. applesauce. Never buy bread. Kashi cereals and oatmeal are the best cereals. Char
Posted by Char Jauary 28, 2008

The list is not well thought out, especially for vegans like me. I do not eat Dairy at all nor meat of any kind, and would not buy these processed foods with the additives and High Fructose Corn additive. I shop for a family, live on a very small budget,we can only grocery shop 2 x a month, yet we eat very healthy and fresh food. Most of these listed are processed and probably have GM0's. You don't have to be a "food snob" to shop smart and carefully in order for your family to eat healthy. It just takes planning and careful use of your food budget. Living in beauitful California helps as we have year around access to fresh foods and unprocessed, only locally grown organic produce for reasonable prices. We have three produce markets within a 5 miles radius so I would not feed my family any of this crap. Disappointing as I also thought this website would be responsible.

Did I miss the memo about "veggie burgers?" Who eats veggie burgers that much?? Who cares? I agree with most of the posters on here, whole, unprocessed foods are better. But wheat thins sure are delicious... :)

I'm very disappointed in the list of "healthy" food brands...so many of these have additives. What happened to eating organic?? Yes, it's true that some folks cannot afford all organics, but Real Age should at least be recommending these fine brands whenever possible. Many people who are not accostumed to purchasing organic don't even know what brands to look for, so this would be a good way to introduce them to these brands, so if they can catch them on sale, can begin to purchase them when possible. Another note; If more people purchase organic brands, the cost will go down, and these fine farmers (many of whom are family run farms) will prosper, and make a better living....Many small farms in America are going out of business because of the larger food companies. Overall, purchasing organic is better for the environment as well as the livlihood of many small farms.

Wow, these comments are off the charts!I want to say some people I know can always find money for their cigarettes, gambling or candy and potatoe chips for the kiddies,even nintendos, but they can't afford a 5.oo dollar loaf of bread for the family,so my point is even reading the list is good, anywhere is a start, considering that heart disease and obeisity are the real killers.To me you are taking a step forward by just questioning your diets, just remember newbies there is always room for improvement.I couldn't enter most of what I eat, considering my diet is mostly asian, I even use seaweed as a salt substitute in boiling water,or sea salt as opposed to table salt, there were no entry boxes for these,I don't eat anything they list personally, because I think It's still unhealthy.It has taken years to learn and incorperate healthy foods and trick my family into eating them.Good luck everyone it's a lifetime and lifestyle commitment!!

Really, I'm disappointed by some of the "food snobbery" I'm seeing here. C'mon, folks. If you're trying to feed a family of five with only $60 to $80 a week (and remember, some of that money has to go toward "non-food" items like toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.), then you simply can't afford to eat from the natural foods section, or from a whole foods store. Yes, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables (in season when possible, but frozen can be all right) is great ... but for the rest of it, any whole grain bread is better than white bread, and can be found at a reasonable cost. Perhaps those of you with all that extra spending money would consider donating some of it to provide those fancier things to those that are living on a limited budget.

Terrible overall list. Most of those products are not even organic and contain numerous pesticides, chemicals and HFCS.

Very bad list of foods for healthy eating.
Since I am pretty healthy I read all labels and really avoid HFCS and Partially Hydrogenated fats, also aspartame and Splenda. A person who can cook a little can do wonders and stay away from these bad things.

Fiber One has the most fiber of any cereal and the most soluble grams of fiber...beats every cereal on this list.

I was very disappointed by your list. I thought this website was sponsored by Drs. Roizen and Oz. Of course I am discounting the cost factor, availability factor and people who are used to eating wonderbread for purposes of this discussion. Wheat thins? What abour Wasa crackers? There is no comparison. What about steel ground oats (Irish Oatmeal), with added wheatgerm,ground flaxseed, lecithin granules? I don't know who made up this list, but none of those items would be on my recommended list. Irene

When buying veggie burgers look to see if they have wheat gluten in them or seitan is another name for it. Gluten proteins are extremely resistant to intestinal digestion, despite grinding, cooking, processing and digestion. Gluten causes damage to the intestinal lining by eroding the villi and microvilli essential for digestion and absorption processes. Gluten should only be eaten as a whole grain! Not seperated and then used as a binder with other food.

The only way for those of us on SS to afford to eat well is to dump all the congressmen who have been using our SS funds as their private slush fund. I do the best I can with the little I have left after paying for health insurance. WalMart charges way less for good cereals, tilapia is a very inexpensive fish and very good for you(for the Omega-3), and you can cook a lot of things in your toaster oven on broil so you don't have to use any cooking oil. As for yogurt, Stoneyfield Farms is available here only in Strawberry flavor or else I would buy it.
Aspartame has been tested and found safe. Check the findings on ec.europa.eu.int, or www.foodstandards.gov.uk or www.aspartame.org/aspartame_facts.
Fresh foods are the way to go since a lot of packaged pocessed food comes from China. After losing 2 cats to the contaminated stuff coming out of China, I checked and found out the same contaminants are in human foods coming from there also.
Best bet. Use fresh as much as possible.

Like most of the comments, whoever makes up these "healthy" lists better go back to school--sooo way off the mark. If you don't mention Natural Ovens breads in that list, you are daft. They run CIRCLES around Pepperidge Farm which is filled with high fructose, chemicals, etc. Activia yogurt is great for digestive maintenance. The research here leaves much to be desired. I remember the LAST list you posted like this, was also bogus!! Back to the drawing board guys!

I am really surprised at the list you have provided. There are tons of grocery items that could have made the list and that are really healthy. Ezekiel 4:9 Breads ( made with sprouted grains and no flour and organic) Nature path Flax seeds for example, or Fage 0% 2% plain ( even though I live in Canada and wish they have it here). For the cereals, I think that most of them are high in Sugar, but I would settle for some of Nature Path organic ones.

I disagree (like many others) with your choices of certain types of food: The best cereals for you are CHEERIOS & GRAPENUT FLAKES w/ skim milk; Breads: Pepperidge Farms, yes for most types;
Yogurts--Stoneyfield Farms brands are wonderful and nutritious. The rest don't use real yogurt.

so there!

I am the target market, if any is interested. My favorite cereal is CAPTAIN CRUNCH, and for the record, it's a solid 2 bucks cheaper than Kashi, which to my uneducated tastebuds, tastes like flavored straw. Cheerios is minimally better, so that's what I've started with. I don't add sugar, and I douse it in soy milk and all in all, it's nasty as all get out. It's all I can do to choke it down. I buy Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat bread, becasue I can't afford anything fancier. That's the simple truth. I'm not made about it, I'm not offended. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. Call me an idiot, but my 3 year old son has never had Captain Crunch; he's grown up on old fashioned oat meal and soy milk and home made applesauce because I can't find a brand I can afford without HFCS. I may have lost the battle, so I gave my kid a head start. These lists are for people like me - my heart is in the right place, but the money just isn't there. I live twenty minutes away from a Whole Foods...I love the place, but I can't afford it. So My kid eats Yoplait lite, because I can't afford 93 cent yogurt. I can afford 52 cent yogurt when it's on sale twenty for ten dollars. When I can afford better, I'll buy better. Show some common sense - this list is for people like me, who want to do better but are confounded by the prices. Organic foods for me and my kid are little more than an occasional treat - we love them, but I usually can't afford them. So I'm not going to complain about the less than perfect list above - I know it's not the absolute best of the healthy products available, but it's a lst of what's available TO ME. If I give you a dollar, will you buy a clue with it?

Wheat thins are made with Hydrogenated oils. Not good. Superstore (Lawblaws) in Canada sells a "Presidents Choice" brand similar tasting cracker made with non hydrogenated oils.

I am appalled that you would list Pepperidge Farm breads as "blessed" as they contain HFCS, many additives and poor oils. When I read this kind of junk on your website it makes me wonder if you really know what you are talking about. You need to wake up about some of these so called "healthy" items.

I agree with many of the postings concerning HFCS and anything hydrogenated. I'm also concerned about the Glycemic Impact of several of the products listed. Some natural forms of sugar in moderation are better than the sustitute. Learn how to read labels and if it sounds more like a chem lab than a farm it probably isn't good for you.

I'm impressed by all these comments, it proves to me many are looking for alternatives. However the holier than thou attitude projected from many of the responses are a big turn off for me. I am only now looking into changing diet and life style after years of meat,potatoe, pasta and gravy with sauce! Exxxxcussse ME!

I'm impressed by all these comments, it proves to me many are looking for alternatives. However the holier than thou attitude projected from many of the responses are a big turn off for me. I am only now looking into changing diet and life style after years of meat,potatoe, pasta and gravy with sauce! Exxxxcussse ME!

I see a lot of people are concerned about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), as I am, so I want to share with you. I have found one pancake syrup that doesn't have HFCS (aside from pure maple syrup), and that is Griffin's Original. Are you wondering why people are uptight about HFCS? - it tastes sweeter than regular corn syrup, yet doesn't satisfy your sweet tooth: the more you eat, the more you want! When I switched to Griffin's, I rediscovered the joy of a satisfying breakfast of pancakes. Caution: I believe I recently saw a bottle of "Griffin's Original" that contains HFCS; I don't know if they've changed their formulation, or what. Check the label before you buy.

All those yougerts you mentioned..YUCK! Try FAGE (pronounced Fa-yeh)all natural-nonfat Greek strained yogurt (Total 0% only)add 1/4 cup of uncooked oatmeal, any fresh fruit of choice, top with your favorite granola from health food store...a meal and a half and HEALTHY!..and your breads:forget them! Go buy some Ezekiel Bread - Cinnamon Raisin-100% sprouted whole grain bread..great with ANYTHING! Pricey but worth it!

I don't know what a lot of you are talking about. I buy quite a few of these products and none of the ones that I purchase have hfcs and I have found plenty of options as well. And of course there are more products out there that are good alternatives, I'm pretty sure that they couldn't list them all here. Why if you don't believe or think you know better would you even waste your time commenting on this site...?

Have you tried bread, bagel, muffin, bun, granola products from Natural Ovens Bakery in Manitowoc, WI? No HFCS, many whole grains, no chemical preservatives, Omega-3 contents listed on every label. They can be found in the regular bread aisles of grocery stores; they also do mail-order. They have a web-site if you want to visit.

Make your own yogurt. You can buy the cultures at most health food/ organic stores. Very easy to make, and you know what's going in it. It tastes way better than store bought and it doesn't get any fresher than just made!

After reading all these comments I'm stressed out and deciding it's all too much and since you are all claiming the foods on this list are so bad I might as well go back to my white bread and cheetos.

lots of chemicals in their "blessed" list.

also, a lot of people are allergic to wheat.

FANTASTIC FOODS make the best veggie burgers. They use expeller pressed oils in their packaged foods. They also make Wonderful FALAFEL, GREAT HUMMUS and a vegan CHILLI. ALL of it is packaged and cost about $2.00 a box. You get generous portions. Fantastic foods has become a staple in my vegetarian diet.

All cold commercial cereals come out of extruders which subject them to extremely high heat and pressure which ruins the proteins and will ruin your health. Ever hear the story of the rats fed cereals who died before the rats who were fed the box?

Clearly, the people who put this list together did not look at the ingredients lists. Not sure how a Harvard physician could recommend anything with high fructose corn syrup. If you're looking for a great site that actually dissects all the labels and does it with humor, check out: ebrandaid.com.

Blue Bunny yogurt is actually healthier. It does have splenda and it is low fat, but has no hfcs in it. It is the only one I have found. Also a lot of bread has hfcs in it or at the very least it has corn syrup. I also saw hfcs on the label of Wheat thins also. Even pretzels have it. Disappointing.

Blue Bunny yogurt is actually healthier. It does have splenda and it is low fat, but has no hfcs in it. It is the only one I have found. Also a lot of bread has hfcs in it or at the very least it has corn syrup. I also saw hfcs on the label of Wheat thins also. Even pretzels have it. Disappointing.

About the only bread I've found that is actually made from whole wheat and other natural grains, AND doesn't contain any of that nasty high fructose corn syrup is the 'German Dark Wheat' by Pepperidge Farm. And, hey, why so much wasted discussion about which is worse for you, sugar v. artificial sweeters when you can use HONEY!? It may be the only sweeter out there that may actually be good for you and it's great in/on just about everything!

About the only bread I've found that is actually made from whole wheat and other natural grains, AND doesn't contain any of that nasty high fructose corn syrup is the 'German Dark Wheat' by Pepperidge Farm. And, hey, why so much wasted discussion about which is worse for you, sugar v. artificial sweeters when you can use HONEY!? It may be the only sweeter out there that may actually be good for you and it's great in/on just about everything!

I don't believe that the stabiliser/emulcifier in yogurt is the same thing as the 'Stabiliser' in beef products. Wikipedia has many defiitions for Emulsion, so I'm sure it has double meanings. Stabilisers in food are generally something to make the consistency thicker, such as egg yolks, mustard, etc....I'm not sure about your religious beliefs, but it does have cow products like milk of course, but not the actual meat.
I particularly love Activia because it really does what it says it does....and tastes good too. The first time I tried it I hated it, but my mom convinced me to try it again and I think they changed the formula because now it is awesome.

What about plain, non-fat yogurt? It has no chemicals, processed sugars, and you can add your own, healthy flavors - pure vanilla extract, blueberries, bananas, honey etc. The simpler the food, the better.

I think this list notices only whats low in calories and not whats truly healthy for you. Wheat thins? Wheaties? and Lite yogurt? most of these things contain additives and HFCS (thats High Fructose Corn Syrup, for the non foodie a disaster for the healthy eater but a boost to the food industry machine). The "regular eater" would be more conscious if lists like these included really healthy foods, namely whole foods, veggies and grains.
I recommend the Ominivore's Dilemma.

The YOU on a DIET book suggests Cherrios, yet oddly not on this list. A very good fiber rich, low sugar breakfast choice with fresh fruit!

wow. way too many of you people are pretentious and judgmental. gain some perspective and think about the common American citizen..
why are you even on an email list like this if you know everything there is to know about healthy consumption? start your own "i have great resources for healthy foods at my disposal" blog and let the rest of us be. i can't get most of the specialized items you mention without driving 45 miles away... would you actually tell someone that switching from white bread to whole grain is a bad thing?
perspective. look it up.

This is great, all the comments are fabulous. HFCS and PHO are horrible, though. I would like to see choices mentioned without so much "altered" ingredient.

What about "Kellogg's Raisin Bran"? It's advertised on the box as healthy for the heart but yet the raisins are coated in sugar. LOL.