Last October we did a story on Halloween candy and seemingly healthier alternatives to Trick or Treat favorites like peanut butter cups, Snickers, m&m’s, and gummy bears. After consulting with our resident nutritionist Sarah Wragge, we discovered many of the lower calorie, less sugar, and even “healthy” brands had so many fillers, fake sweeteners, and inflammatory ingredients you were better off having the real thing. A Snickers as compared to a Quest Bar was the perfect example.
A few weeks later I happened to be standing in line at CVS in the aisle with all the crackers, chips, and cookies. The Pepperidge Farm Milanos caught my eye. I LOVE Milano cookies, but would never buy them assuming they were high calorie, fat and sugar filled. Out of curiosity I picked up the bag and looked at the nutrition label. To my surprise, 1 serving of 2 cookies had 120 calories, 7 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of fat. Not that bad I thought! Sure there were a few ingredients that weren’t super healthy, but as an occasional splurge it wasn’t such a big deal.
“It’s not the calories that are of concern”, says Sarah, “but how those substitute ingredients affect the body.
Then I looked at the Lays potato chips. The ingredients were potatoes and vegetable oil. 1 serving of 15 chips had 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 15 grams of carbohydrates – again, not the worst thing, especially when I compared them to the supposedly healthier Baked Lays on the shelf. Yes, those had fewer calories per serving and less fat, BUT they were higher in carbs with long list of ingredients, additives, and SUGAR. I knew there was no way these Baked Lays were better for me than the regular potato chips. Read More