Are fitness foods as good as claimed?

Are you one of those fitness food shoppers? Do you actually go out and buy specific types/brands because they claim to be fitness foods?

I suggest you read the article below before you continue doing so:

Fitness’ foods may be making us less fit

Wheaties, “The Breakfast of Champions,” has been featuring athletes on its boxes since it first put Lou Gehrig there in 1934. Today, many other food products are packaged to suggest they promote fitness: protein bars, energy drinks, yogurt, and more. There’s even Fit & Active pork bacon.

Just because a food is marketed as a “fitness” food, however, doesn’t mean it will improve one’s health. In fact, such foods can backfire for health-conscious consumers.

In a study of 536 college students, published online this month in the Journal of Marketing Research, fitness branding led to higher levels of consumption and less physical activity than a snack without such labeling.

Fitness labeling is not regulated, so such foods can be high in sugar or calories, says study author Jörg Königstorfer, chair of sport and health management at Technische Universität München in Germany. “Don’t rely on these misleading labels.”

Königstorfer, together with Penn State marketing professor Hans Baumgartner, invited health-conscious college students to taste-test a trail mix snack labeled either “Trail Mix” or “Fitness,” the latter adorned with a picture of a running shoe.

Volunteers offered the “Fitness” snack ate far more than those given the one marked “Trail Mix.” Unless, however, they were told that the fitness-labeled snack wasn’t good for their diet. In that case, those with the fitness-labeled snack ate less than the control group. ..

Here’s the link to the original article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/07/03/fitness-foods-may-making-less-fit/rjtnBVGfSmswfc9hQATYEK/story.html