A lot of us (including me, guilty as charged) are shelling out extra cash for so called functional foods.

Functional food are foods that do more than just feed your hunger, they offer the promise of allowing you to be more regular, get full with extra antioxidants or drop your levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. New studies are finding that these foods may not be worth the extra cash (about a third more per serving extra), if you're already getting a healthy diet rich in fiber.

From yogurt to water to margarine, we're seeing lots of foods labeled to have supposed benefits from things like probiotics to antioxidants. As a consumer it is hard to identify between what we need, what we think we need and what we want. The outcome is simple: If you want to spend the extra money on these functional foods, it certainly won't hurt anything but your wallet. However, if you are eating a diet full of fruits, veggies and dietary fibers (your basic healthy diet) you don't necessarily need to shell out the extra cash.