This morning started with a non-typical breakfast. It’s been hot, and I just couldn’t take normal oatmeal for one more day. Enter this muesli mix of yogurt, peaches, oatmeal, walnuts, and cinnamon.
The only thing I’d change is to use non-dairy yogurt. I really want to try to make yogurt using Almond Breeze. Has anyone tried and had success with making non-dairy yogurt? If so, I’d love to hear from you.
One of the advantages (?) of being unemployed is that I actually have time to watch tv. However,the number of commercials for unhealthy, quick fixes drives me insane; no wonder people are so confused about nutrition.
Here are some of the commercials I’ve seen lately and their flaws:
Nutella
- [Disclaimer: I LOVE Nutella, but their latest commercial makes me cringe].
- Nutella’s commercial claims that combining the rich hazelnut butter with whole grain toast is a balanced breakfast. Their website adds this qualifier: when used in moderation with complementary foods. I doubt many people visit the website to see this little statement.
- How does Nutella stack up against peanut butter?
| Jif natural 2 T | Nutella 2 T | |
| calories | 190 calories | 200 calories |
| fat | 16 grams (3 g saturated) | 11 grams (3.5 g saturated) |
| sodium | 75 mg | 15 mg |
| fiber | 2 grams | 1 gram |
| sugar | 3 grams | 21 grams |
| protein | 7 grams | 3 grams |
| calcium | 2% | 4% |
| iron | 4% | 4% |
- Nutella has more calories, saturated fat, and 7x the sugar as Jif Natural peanut butter, but it does have less sodium and more calcium.
- Because of the sugar content, Nutella should not be standard breakfast fare. It definitely fits more appropriately into the dessert category!
Kashi GoLean Cereal
- I really do like Kashi’s products, so I’m not bashing the company in any way. However, I do think that their latest commercial is misleading.
- The commercial states that Kashi Go-Lean Crunch contains “as much protein as an egg.” What they don’t mention is that egg protein and cereal protein are not equal. Egg protein is high biological value protein (HBV) and contains more essential amino acids than cereal protein.
- Animal products typically contain HBV protein, while plants, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables contain low biological value protein.
- Note: this doesn’t mean that vegetarians are protein deficient, it just means that they need to focus on eating a varied and balanced diet in order to receive an adequate combo of amino acids.
Motts’ Medleys Juices
- Supposedly, this juice contains two fruit and veggie servings magically hidden in every 8 oz glass
- While this may sound fantastic, I don’t buy it. This juice doesn’t contain any fiber and is loaded with calories…it’s not a great substitute for a whole apple or fresh veggies.
- It may take 10-15 tries before a child will accept a food. It may take even longer for some of us adults, whose taste buds have been ruined by eating high fat, sugar, and sodium diets. Work on developing a healthy palate before you resort to drinking juice.
| whole apple (med) | Motts’ Medleys Juice (8 oz) | |
| calories | ~95 calories | 140 calories |
| sugar | ~19 grams | 22-30 grams |
| fiber | ~ 4 grams | 0 grams |
Has anyone else seen similar commercials (or these commercials) lately? So many Americans watch tv, and I really wish that the government would put money into nutrition education via positive media messages…can’t remember when I last saw a commercial encouraging kids to eat their veggies!
