Atlanta Personal Chef Service warns about six common food misconceptions

   At Atlanta Personal Chef Service, cooking healthy is very important to us.  We know that it is possible to make great tasting food that is healthy too.  It's amazing the difference that fresh food with high quality ingredients can make on the taste of a dish.  Read below for some common misconceptions.  Our insider tips will help you keep it healthy when you do your own grocery shopping.

Lean meat: Meat labeled lean can be misleading. It doesn't matter if the label says lean, its the fat percentage that matters. When they advertise 80% lean meat, the fact is that its 20% fat, which is very high. 80% lean just sounds better, so that's how meat is labeled. Stick with meat that is lower in fat or ask the butcher from your local meat store to remove the fat (if possible) of whatever cut you buy.  Unless you're gunning for a nice, juicy burger, it generally stick to meat that's 90% lean or more.

If it’s organic than it must be healthy! That’s false! Organic food (or its ingredients) are grown without antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides. A cookie or ice cream brand may claim that they are organic (made with real sugar, farmed milked, and real flour), but they are still just as unhealthy as their non-organic friends. Just because its organic, it does not mean its healthier.

Its fat free and it has zero calories: Unless you are buying water, everything else has calories. Companies these days try everything to fool the customers to buy their product. A big example of this is Nestlé’s Fat Free Coffee Mate. Why are they are allowed to do that?  Because they decrease their serving size to ridiculously small amounts, such as one level tea spoon for Nestlé’s Fat Free Coffee Mate. That amount rounds down to zero, which why the FDA lets companies get away with such misleading statements.

It’s sugar free! If its sugar free and still tastes sweet, then there is probably high-fructose corn syrup present. Many food experts believe that high-fructose corn syrup or fructose in general has a strong link with America’s growing obesity. Try to minimize your sugar intake. If you can’t, than go for the real natural sugar and not processed ones.

Fruits or Vegetables in a bottle: Fruit juices that people buy in the stores are usually concentrated and filled with fructose or sugar. What about the ones that has different types fruits mixed together? Well, they are more likely using a variety of concentrated fruit juices, which are filled with fructose or sugar. What about vegetables juices? Well, they are mostly tomato, so you are not getting a variety of vegetables. Looking for fruits juices or vegetable juices? Buy them whole and blend them yourself at home.

Water with vitamins: If a company is advertising water with vitamins in it, it’s a probably telling the truth, but it comes with a calorie price (usually around 80 to 150). Also, the vitamins that are in it are C and B, which most of us get enough of in our regular diets if we're eating healthy.

      At Atlanta Personal Chef Service, we're helping families eat healthy week after week.  If you'd really like to maintain a healthy diet, you'll have to stay committed to it.  Once way that we help, is by creating customized menus for families around Atlanta, including in Buckhead, Marietta, Dunwoody, Vinings, Midtown, Decatur, and more.  Let a Personal Chef help keep you eating healthy, and still looking forward to dinners cooking right in your own home kitchen.  Contact us today for more information on our Personal Chef Services.