Since I run an online health food store, I am perpetually searching for the top whole foods and health drinks. During a slow shopping season I decided it was safe to make a trip to the mall. Parking was easy, right in front of the most massive health food store I had ever seen. I probably shouldn’t mention their name, but it should suffice to say that many of the “health drinks” and supplements they highlight are not very “high” in seriously beneficial nutrition.

While my wife shopped for clothes, I took the opportunity to compare ingredient labels with those at our online health food store to investigate what was really in all those muscle blasters and questionable health drinks. Maybe this little trip to the gigantic health food chain will help you steer clear of some of the ingredients that are anything but healthy in many of their products. Then, it will become clear how an online health food store can be a better way to get the best whole foods and health drinks.

A smart online health food store won’t carry them, but this big health food store at the mall really loves to advertise those enhanced vitamin waters. The brightly colored bottles were everywhere, attracting customers with flashy colors, bargain prices, and the desire for a health drink that really tastes good. Unfortunately, the healthy benefits are just not real.

At the outset, the crystalline fructose (concentrated sugar) content in this particular vitamin water was more than enough bad nutrition in one bottle for me. Oh, and if your body could really use the isolated, laboratory produced vitamins in this water, the cost might be worth it. Unfortunately, though, isolated vitamins that are not connected to whole foods typically break down before the body can use them for fuel. At this health food store I could easily see there were no whole foods in those candy-colored bottles of enhanced vitamin water.

Here are some other ingredients I saw on the labels that I choose to avoid when promoting whole foods and health drinks for our online health food store: high fructose corn syrup, Xylitol, Aspartame, saccharine, and other artificial sweeteners (use Stevia instead). I also stay away from “isolated” protein drinks. The body cannot easily process most protein drinks because they are often made from “isolated” protein, which clogs the lymphatic system. Many experts agree it is a myth that the typical human needs the high levels of protein in some of today’s modern muscle building health drinks. In fact, all that excess protein is creating kidney and liver problems for some fitness fanatics.

Isolated protein and high fructose corn syrup are only a couple of the items I make a point to avoid in my constant search for whole foods and health drinks that are truly healthy. What ingredients are you concerned about in your supplements? I hope you discover as much useful information as I did at the big health food store. While you are browsing the web, uncover whole foods and health drinks at an online health food store.

Author Cliff Everett Smith is the President of http://www.BestHealthFoodStore.net, an online health food store that provides free advice and essential diet tips for choosing the best whole foods and health drinks that money can buy.