Top 5 Foods That Don't Deserve Their Bad Raps

This top 5 list is awesome because it may give you a new found perspective on some foods you thought you shouldn't be eating. After reading this I kind of want to go and make my own healthy pizza.

1. Pizza. Pizza has a bad reputation because when you have it, you're usually eating the unhealthy kind made with white crust, a lot of cheese and and high fat meat toppings. If you make a pizza at home from scratch, you can use a whole wheat crust, fresh vegetable toppings and add as little or as much cheese as you want.

2. Peanut Butter. Peanut butter gets a bad rap because it is very high in fat. But it is high in healthy (unsaturated) fats. These fats have been shown to decrease your risk of heart disease. While you shouldn't be eating whole jars of this stuff, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be very healthy.

3. Eggs. Eggs get a bad reputation because they are high in cholesterol and have a bit of saturated (bad) fat. But if you do not have a cholesterol problem, eggs provide a high amount of good quality protein and are low in calories. Eggs may also be a healthy choice for food before or after a workout. If you're interested in finding out if eggs are in fact something good to eat before or after you exercise, check out a great video I posted onn my blog, Commit to be Fit, a couple weeks ago.

4. Beef. Since beef is high in saturated (bad) fat, many people stay away from it. Beef is also high in good quality protein and iron. You can buy lean ground beef that has as much fat as ground turkey. Lean ground beef is also usually less expensive and tastier than ground turkey. You can also try organic beef.

5. Carbohydrates. Low carb diets label bread as unhealthy because of the high carbohydrate content. Carbs come in two categories: good and bad. Bread can be good or bad so lumping all bread into the bad category is like stereotyping. If it is made out of 100% whole wheat flour, it is good. The whole wheat flour is high in fiber and nutrients while white flour is not. This is true of all foods made from flour including snacks and pasta.