We live in confusing times and we get mixed messages about pretty much everything these days.

And that includes what’s healthy AND unhealthy.

It can be a real pain in the a** trying to figure out what’s actually good for you!

And these AskReddit users were nice enough to share things that are seen as healthy but actually aren’t.

So pay attention!

FYI.

“Herbalife.

One of the times I became really unhealthily underweight was when my mother tried to ‘cure’ me by forcing me on a mostly Herbalife diet. I had to drink multiple smoothies a day loaded with these supplements, which made me nauseous, which meant I couldn’t eat normal food through the day.

I got pretty ill. The people who got her to try this crazy diet in the first place just kept swearing she needed to push through to cure me of multiple chronic illnesses (these wellness con people love the ‘it gets worse before it gets better’ narrative) and she was desperate so she kept me on it way too long.

They would even insist we listen to phone calls from multiple other people who supposedly had chronic illnesses talk about how this was their life changing cure, and when I asked them why they were making us do this for a product we were already buying they yelled at me.

It took me a while to recover physically and emotionally it still bothers me that people were so desperate to sell their overpriced smoothie mix that they were very willing to make someone already sick even more ill. It’s a horrible product and completely immoral business model.”

Yup.

“The belief that if a product contains no man-made chemicals it must be healthy.

Arsenic, cyanide and a multitude of other substances are natural and yet can k**l you.”

Gross.

“‘Being yourself’ even when you are an a**hole and your actions adversely affect others.

People have stopped being considerate and kind.”

Hmmmm…

“Alkaline water.

The human body is not supposed to be alkaline.

It’s normal pH is barely over neutral. If, for some reason, someone’s pH is too acidic, it’s likely an indicator of a serious health problem, and not something that can just be “balanced out” by drinking alkaline water.”

How’d that happen?

“Having perfectly white teeth.

It’s not a sign of healthy, but scrubbed, chemically treated or outright sanded teeth.”

Just so you know.

“Hugh Jackman may have looked like an Adonis as Wolverine, but his body was in poor condition.

He was getting little sleep, working out so hard he experienced joint pain, he deliberately dehydrated himself for a couple days prior to filming his shirtless scenes and probably near passed out more than once for it.

And he obviously used steroids, even short term usage affects your liver and other organs.”

A talk about calories.

“I absolutely can’t stand when people use the word “healthy” or “nutritious” when they mean “low calorie”, or the reverse, when people say “unhealthy” when they mean “calorie dense”.

The nutrient content of food has absolutely nothing to do with its caloric content. There’s nothing healthy about a gallon of sugar free iced tea, and there’s nothing unhealthy about an avocado or a handful of walnuts (you know, unless you have a nut allergy).

Every single time I tell someone I’m trying to eat healthier, I get “oh well you shouldn’t be eating nuts, have a Diet Coke instead”. Words mean things, people. You know we fucked up somewhere when a 2L of diet Mountain Dew is considered healthier than a baked potato.

It’s right up there with “you don’t need to eat healthy, you’re not fat”. It’s like we’ve simultaneously gaslit ourselves into believing that the two states of man are ‘fat’ and ‘healthy’ and that if you’re not in the ‘fat’ category you deserve to reward yourself by being unhealthy on purpose. It’s no wonder kids have so many eating disorders.”

Not good.

“Juice cleanses.

No fiber or anything.

Just straight up sugar water.”

Ugh.

“Complaining about every single thing and calling it venting.

Me ex was like this. Constantly focusing on the negative.

If you want to find something to complain about, you will.

I’ve been working on gratitude myself. I think that’s the counter to that.”

But it’s natural!

“”Nature” in general.

There is a huge marketing impact on products you buy. If there is written that it’s 100% natural, you are going to prefer it from one that is not. Nature has no notion of healthy or not.

Uranium or cyanide are 100% natural, doesn’t mean that they are healthy.”

Definitely not good.

“Wine culture for moms.

Alco**lic liver disease is actually on the rise for young otherwise healthy women in their 40s, they just don’t realize that a few glasses to a bottle almost every night is actually quite damaging.

The pandemic made this surge. The rosé all day and wine Wednesday trends are popular and that makes the culture shift to chill out on the wine obviously much harder.”