Thoraiya DyerFarewell My Coconut (or...Health bars? Schmealth Bars!)
April 14th 2008 00:49
When you go shopping, do you spend a lot of time in the health food aisle?
You know the one I mean. It has chocolate with no sugar and breakfast cereal with no gluten. It has yeast-free this and dairy-free that. You can find dried, organic fruit, bread made out of rice and tasteless, chemical-free nuts.
You can even choose from a wide selection of “Health Bars” which are, by implication, good for you to eat because they are “100% natural”.
That link is what I’m interested in exploring today.
All natural. What exactly does that mean? Dictionary.com gives us the following helpful definition:
Natural, adj. 1. Existing in or formed by nature (opposed to ARTIFICIAL).
In other words, yes, an apple is all natural. Wheat grass is all natural. Coconuts (which I am totally and addictively partial to) are all natural.
But so are my nostril hairs. Grasshoppers are all natural. Ditto, bubonic plague. Arsenic is 100% natural, and so is radioactive uranium.
Just because something is “all natural” doesn’t mean that it’s good for you, and these so-called health bars are a case in point. They might have no added sugar, no added preservatives, no added colours and no added flavours, but are they healthier than, say, a Tim-Tam slathered in fresh whipped cream?
As my test “all natural” health bars, I have chosen:
1) KIND’s Almond and Coconut Healthy Snack Bar
Really Long Link
and
2) Wallaby’s All Natural Macadamia and Fruit bar
Really Long Link
The humble Tim Tam should need no introduction, but here it is in all its delectable, chocolaty glory:
Really Long Link
Now, as measures of healthiness go, I’m going to look at three things: a) fats, b) sugars and c) redeeming goodness (ie micronutrients). The first two are pretty straightforward. When it comes to the third, you’ll have to put up with my arbitrary judgements. If I happen to think that the benefits of calcium outweigh the harm done by "raising agent e500", you are perfectly welcome to disagree with me.
a) FATS
Thanks to the nutritional information that has been legislated onto food packaging, this one is pretty much a no-brainer.
The Almond and Coconut bar contains 14g total fat (5.3g fat)
The Macadamia and Fruit bar contains 11.5g total fat (2.8g saturated fat)
A Tim Tam contains 4.9g total fat (2.4g saturated fat), and a generous dollop of whipped cream (say, a quarter of a cup) contains 3.25g total fat (2g saturated fat).
COMPARISON: In the lead when it comes to having lowest total fats, we have Tim Tam and Whipped Cream with 8.15g! Closely followed by Macadamia/Fruit with 11.5 and Almond/Coconut with 14.
Nuts might seem like the healthy alternative, but I guess they are best enjoyed in teeny tiny doses. This breaks my heart, because I absolutely adore fresh coconut. According to www.nutritiondata.com, fresh coconut is 30% saturated fat, which means that a single, decent-sized piece is going to give me 119% of my daily saturated fat requirement.
Almonds (55% fat), peanuts (52% fat) and macadamia nuts (75% fat) are not much better. They may be all natural, but they are as likely to help you lose weight as they are to help you move distant objects with the power of your mind.
That bring us to:
b) SUGARS
Now, I felt sure that Tim Tam and Cream would get whipped (ha!) in this section. Chocolate and cream…could anything be sweeter?
Almond and Coconut bar has 10.5g sugar.
Macadamia and Fruit bar has 12.8g sugar.
Tim Tam (8.2g) and Whipped Cream (1.25g) has 9.45g sugar.
COMPARISON: Looks like all natural health bars are sweeter, after all.
c) REDEEMING GOODNESS
Time for me to admit that I don’t actually believe for one second that eating Tim Tam with Whipped Cream is a great idea. Here are some of the stats on the micronutrients in these foods:
Almond and coconut bar: 4.2% daily requirement calcium. 6.1% daily requirement iron. 3.6g fibre. 3.9g protein. Almonds are a good source of magnesium, Vitamin E and manganese.
Macadamia and fruit bar: 14% daily requirement calcium. 25% daily requirement iron. 25% daily requirement vitamin C. 1.5g fibre. 2.5g protein. Macadamia nuts are also a good source of manganese.
Tim Tam and Whipped Cream: 1.5% daily requirement calcium. 2% daily requirement Vitamin A. 0.5g protein. And I'm afraid none of that comes from the Tim Tam... only from the cream.
COMPARISON: In the Redeeming Goodness category, the Macadamia and Fruit bar seems to be the champion, with Almond and Coconut bar running second. Tim Tam and Whipped Cream fails dismally.
But frankly, the Goodness is NOT redeeming enough to excuse the high levels of fat and sugars in these bars.
Eat a banana instead. Or, even better, eat a pomegranate.
http://pomegranates.org
Eating a pomegranate will give you 5mg calcium, 0.46mg iron, 5mg magnesium, 12mg phosphorus, 0.18mg zinc, 9.4mg vitamin C, 0.046mg thiamine, 0.046mg riboflavin, 0.462mg niacin, 0.162mg vitamin B6, 9mcg folate, 166 IU Vitamin A, 0.92mg Vitamin E and 7.1mcg Vitamin K.
It will also get you high on “compounds known as phytonutrients, that help the body protect against heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. The powerful antioxidants in the fruit also help retard aging and can neutralize almost twice as many free radicals as red wine and seven times as many as green tea. As a further benefit, some researchers suggest that the crunchy seeds help flush fats from the digestive tract.”
Go, pomegranate, go!
If anyone who reads this is 2m or taller, here is a suggestion for you. When you come to the Health Foods aisle at the supermarket, rip the sign down and go stick it in the pomegranate section. That will make it much more accurate. Innocent shoppers that might have bought health bars will thank you later.
You know the one I mean. It has chocolate with no sugar and breakfast cereal with no gluten. It has yeast-free this and dairy-free that. You can find dried, organic fruit, bread made out of rice and tasteless, chemical-free nuts.
You can even choose from a wide selection of “Health Bars” which are, by implication, good for you to eat because they are “100% natural”.
That link is what I’m interested in exploring today.
All natural. What exactly does that mean? Dictionary.com gives us the following helpful definition:
Natural, adj. 1. Existing in or formed by nature (opposed to ARTIFICIAL).
In other words, yes, an apple is all natural. Wheat grass is all natural. Coconuts (which I am totally and addictively partial to) are all natural.
But so are my nostril hairs. Grasshoppers are all natural. Ditto, bubonic plague. Arsenic is 100% natural, and so is radioactive uranium.
Just because something is “all natural” doesn’t mean that it’s good for you, and these so-called health bars are a case in point. They might have no added sugar, no added preservatives, no added colours and no added flavours, but are they healthier than, say, a Tim-Tam slathered in fresh whipped cream?
As my test “all natural” health bars, I have chosen:
1) KIND’s Almond and Coconut Healthy Snack Bar
Really Long Link
and
2) Wallaby’s All Natural Macadamia and Fruit bar
Really Long Link
The humble Tim Tam should need no introduction, but here it is in all its delectable, chocolaty glory:
Really Long Link
Now, as measures of healthiness go, I’m going to look at three things: a) fats, b) sugars and c) redeeming goodness (ie micronutrients). The first two are pretty straightforward. When it comes to the third, you’ll have to put up with my arbitrary judgements. If I happen to think that the benefits of calcium outweigh the harm done by "raising agent e500", you are perfectly welcome to disagree with me.
a) FATS
Thanks to the nutritional information that has been legislated onto food packaging, this one is pretty much a no-brainer.
The Almond and Coconut bar contains 14g total fat (5.3g fat)
The Macadamia and Fruit bar contains 11.5g total fat (2.8g saturated fat)
A Tim Tam contains 4.9g total fat (2.4g saturated fat), and a generous dollop of whipped cream (say, a quarter of a cup) contains 3.25g total fat (2g saturated fat).
COMPARISON: In the lead when it comes to having lowest total fats, we have Tim Tam and Whipped Cream with 8.15g! Closely followed by Macadamia/Fruit with 11.5 and Almond/Coconut with 14.
Nuts might seem like the healthy alternative, but I guess they are best enjoyed in teeny tiny doses. This breaks my heart, because I absolutely adore fresh coconut. According to www.nutritiondata.com, fresh coconut is 30% saturated fat, which means that a single, decent-sized piece is going to give me 119% of my daily saturated fat requirement.
Almonds (55% fat), peanuts (52% fat) and macadamia nuts (75% fat) are not much better. They may be all natural, but they are as likely to help you lose weight as they are to help you move distant objects with the power of your mind.
That bring us to:
b) SUGARS
Now, I felt sure that Tim Tam and Cream would get whipped (ha!) in this section. Chocolate and cream…could anything be sweeter?
Almond and Coconut bar has 10.5g sugar.
Macadamia and Fruit bar has 12.8g sugar.
Tim Tam (8.2g) and Whipped Cream (1.25g) has 9.45g sugar.
COMPARISON: Looks like all natural health bars are sweeter, after all.
c) REDEEMING GOODNESS
Time for me to admit that I don’t actually believe for one second that eating Tim Tam with Whipped Cream is a great idea. Here are some of the stats on the micronutrients in these foods:
Almond and coconut bar: 4.2% daily requirement calcium. 6.1% daily requirement iron. 3.6g fibre. 3.9g protein. Almonds are a good source of magnesium, Vitamin E and manganese.
Macadamia and fruit bar: 14% daily requirement calcium. 25% daily requirement iron. 25% daily requirement vitamin C. 1.5g fibre. 2.5g protein. Macadamia nuts are also a good source of manganese.
Tim Tam and Whipped Cream: 1.5% daily requirement calcium. 2% daily requirement Vitamin A. 0.5g protein. And I'm afraid none of that comes from the Tim Tam... only from the cream.
COMPARISON: In the Redeeming Goodness category, the Macadamia and Fruit bar seems to be the champion, with Almond and Coconut bar running second. Tim Tam and Whipped Cream fails dismally.
But frankly, the Goodness is NOT redeeming enough to excuse the high levels of fat and sugars in these bars.
Eat a banana instead. Or, even better, eat a pomegranate.
http://pomegranates.org
Eating a pomegranate will give you 5mg calcium, 0.46mg iron, 5mg magnesium, 12mg phosphorus, 0.18mg zinc, 9.4mg vitamin C, 0.046mg thiamine, 0.046mg riboflavin, 0.462mg niacin, 0.162mg vitamin B6, 9mcg folate, 166 IU Vitamin A, 0.92mg Vitamin E and 7.1mcg Vitamin K.
It will also get you high on “compounds known as phytonutrients, that help the body protect against heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. The powerful antioxidants in the fruit also help retard aging and can neutralize almost twice as many free radicals as red wine and seven times as many as green tea. As a further benefit, some researchers suggest that the crunchy seeds help flush fats from the digestive tract.”
Go, pomegranate, go!
If anyone who reads this is 2m or taller, here is a suggestion for you. When you come to the Health Foods aisle at the supermarket, rip the sign down and go stick it in the pomegranate section. That will make it much more accurate. Innocent shoppers that might have bought health bars will thank you later.
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Comment by Tyronne
Music Times
Sydney Fun
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Melbourne DiaryStar
Comment by Thoraiya Dyer
Demented World
Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips
FYI My Dad is a Naturopath, not all fats are created equal and the body actually needs a "good" fat intake of circa 30% of calorie intake for healthy functioning. Sounds alarming I know, he recommends 40% good carbs, 30% protein, 30% good oil for perfect functioning; weight-loss is dependant on Calorie intake not on the mix of food groups
Comment by Thoraiya Dyer
Demented World
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I agree, it all depends on the type of fat on offer...I suggest everyone read Fat Women Don't Get Fat and the sequal French Women For Every Season ... great advice there too... meanwhile, I think bars with sugar are better than those with carcenogenic Phyenlykenilites... to be avoided at all costs..
Maybe try some Doggy Schmako's, see if they are more nutritionally sound *laughs* now I am left wondering if the packaging says they may contain peanuts too?
Lilla ...