10 Types Of Pies You Should Avoid Eating
When it comes to desserts, pies often steal the spotlight with their flaky crusts and delicious fillings. But not all pies deserve a place on your plate.
Some contain alarming amounts of sugar, unhealthy fats, or questionable ingredients that can wreak havoc on your body.
Here’s a look at ten pies you might want to think twice about before digging in.
1. Store-Bought Cream Pies
Those tempting cream pies in plastic containers hide a mountain of artificial ingredients. The whipped topping often contains hydrogenated oils and corn syrup instead of actual cream. I once bought one for a last-minute dinner party and checked the label while waiting in line.
The ingredient list was longer than my shopping receipt! Your body deserves better than these chemical concoctions masquerading as dessert.
2. Fast Food Apple Pies
Fast food apple pies might satisfy a sweet craving, but they’re nutritional nightmares. These pocket-sized treats pack upwards of 15 grams of sugar and rarely contain fresh apples. Instead, you’re getting apple-flavored filling with preservatives and stabilizers.
The crispy outer shell, while deliciously crunchy, achieves that texture through unhealthy trans fats that can raise your bad cholesterol levels.
3. Shoofly Pie
Shoofly pie might be a Pennsylvania Dutch classic, but your pancreas will run for cover! This molasses-based pie contains enough sugar to make your teeth hurt just looking at it. Growing up, my grandmother made this every holiday.
While I loved the tradition, even as a sugar-loving kid I could only handle tiny slices. A single serving can contain nearly your entire day’s recommended sugar intake, making it a recipe for a glucose spike.
4. Pecan Pie With Corn Syrup
Behind that innocent arrangement of pecans lurks a sea of corn syrup. Traditional pecan pie recipes call for cups of this processed sweetener, creating a sticky-sweet filling that’s essentially sugar soup. The nuts provide some nutrition, but they’re swimming in a glucose tsunami.
A typical slice delivers around 500 calories and 30+ grams of sugar. Your blood sugar levels will resemble a roller coaster after just one bite!
5. Banana Cream Pie With Instant Pudding
Banana cream pies made with instant pudding mixes are convenience foods posing as homemade desserts. Those little pudding packets contain artificial flavors, colors, and thickeners like tetrasodium pyrophosphate.
The “cream” part often comes from non-dairy whipped topping full of hydrogenated oils. I tried making one with real bananas and homemade custard once – the difference was mind-blowing!
Skip the fake stuff and make the real deal if you must indulge.
6. Chocolate Pudding Pie With Cool Whip
The combo of packaged pudding mix and Cool Whip creates a chemical carnival in your mouth. Cool Whip contains virtually no actual cream – it’s mostly water, hydrogenated vegetable oil, corn syrup, and stabilizers.
The chocolate pudding layer typically comes from a mix loaded with artificial flavors and preservatives. Your taste buds might be fooled, but your body knows the difference between this manufactured concoction and real food.
7. Sugar-Free Pies With Artificial Sweeteners
Don’t be fooled by “sugar-free” labels on store-bought pies. These desserts replace sugar with artificial sweeteners that can cause digestive issues and potentially disrupt your gut bacteria. Many contain sugar alcohols like maltitol that can trigger bloating and discomfort.
Back when I was trying to cut sugar, I learned this lesson the hard way after a “sugar-free” pie left me running to the bathroom all night. Some studies even suggest these sweeteners may increase sugar cravings!
8. Pumpkin Pie With Canned Filling
Canned pumpkin pie filling seems convenient, but sacrifices nutrition and flavor. Many brands contain more sugar than pumpkin and are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavors. The vibrant orange color often comes from food dyes rather than actual pumpkin.
Real pumpkin provides fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants, but the canned filling strips away most benefits. The metallic taste from the can is a sure sign that you’re eating something far from natural.
9. Frozen Fruit Pies
Frozen fruit pies promise convenience but deliver disappointing nutrition. The fruit filling typically contains more sugar, thickeners, and preservatives than actual fruit. These pies need excessive sweeteners and stabilizers to maintain texture through freezing and reheating.
The crust often contains partially hydrogenated oils for a longer shelf life. When you finally bake it, you’re left with a shadow of what a fruit pie should be – mushy, overly sweet, and lacking fresh flavor.
10. Grocery Store Bakery Pies
Those tempting pies in grocery bakery cases hide a secret – most aren’t made in-house. They’re mass-produced in factories, frozen, then thawed and displayed as “fresh.” To survive this process, they’re pumped with preservatives, stabilizers, and artificial flavors.
The fruit fillings often contain more syrup than fruit. I worked at a grocery store bakery during college and was shocked to learn we just unwrapped and arranged these factory-made pies each morning!