Grab & Go, Feel Good Snacking
Life gets busy. Grab and go is SO CONVENIENT! Drop it in a purse for later or hand it off to a child, within seconds breakfast or snacking is solved! You feel good because according to the label, you've made a better for your choice. It definitely is less sugar than a candy bar with a little bit of fiber and grains. And a better option that many of the artificially colored & flavored, high sugar breakfast cereals.
But the reality is, if you are trying to reduce sugar, you're better off grabbing a snack pack of Chips Ahoy cookies than a Nutri-Grain bar or Kashi bar. Even with high fructose corn syrup in it, one small bag of cookies has only 8g of sugar. A Nutri-Grain bar has 12g of sugar and a Kashi bar has 10g of sugar. The Nutri-Grain bar and Chips Ahoy both have the same amount of fiber in one serving. The marketing for Nutri-Grain is "to make parents feel good." At least there is some oats, wheat bran, fruit, vitamins and minerals in it compared to the Chips Ahoy!
Comparing it to one of Kellogg's "healthier breakfast cereals," a single serving of dry Honey Nut Cheerios, has the same amount of sugar as a Nutri-Grain bar but has 3x the fiber and 30% more protein. Having more fiber and protein, there is likely a reduced blood sugar spike that occurs when Honey Nut Cheerios are eaten over a Nutri-Grain bar.
RELATED: Find Food Freedom with Ancestral Foods
Quick Burn, Sugar Spike & Hungry Again
Soft baked bars like Nutri-Grain bars are not designed to truly satisfy hunger. If you are feeling that you need to graze and snack through the day, this is a contributor. With so much sugar and very little fiber or protein, there's a quick spike of energy and then a sugar crash. As the sugar crash comes on, caffeine or another snack is grabbed to help keep up energy. These sugar spikes and drops impact ability to focus and think clearly and to manage emotions. Maybe you recognize this cyclical pattern in yourself or your children?
Kashi bars are a bit better than Nutri-Grain based on having a wider array of ingredients with less processed fibers, but you may still see a similar pattern.
Gums, Citric Acid, Lecithin, Wheat Gluten
Ultra processed foods like these have a lot of chemical additives - highly refined ingredients. Some people have sensitivities to additives. These become noticeable over time as digestive issues. Everyone is bio-individual in how they respond to these additive. Sensitivity can change over time. Experiment with eliminating these ingredients for short periods of time if you think you might be one of those impacted.
For example:
- As part of candida recovery / prevention diets, citric acid is avoided.
- SIBO, IBS recovery diets, many gums / emulsifiers, lecithin, gluten are avoided. This is also called a low FODMAP diet.
These diets are not for everyone. If you are feeling unexplained bloating or digestive issues, you may want to experiment. It is best if you can learn and make adjustments sooner than later.
RELATED: What are Ultra Processed Foods? Why Should I Eat Less of Them?
Kellogg's
In the 2024 news, Kellogg's has shown that they are looking out for their profits over what's best for the American consumer. The CEO celebrated that the economy is so bad that more people have to eat breakfast cereal for dinner. (This is roughly $0.50/serving including milk. Crockpot chicken legs or thighs, brown rice and black beans is still a viable option at that price point and more nutrient dense and satisfying to hunger.) Kellogg Foundation owns roughly 15% of the company, where combined BlackRock & Vanguard own more. They are a strategic partner within the World Economic Forum. With this partnership and the stakeholders, this company may not be supporting a strategic agenda that you want your grocery money to support.
Alternatives
From knowing what ingredients are in your food - nothing beats homemade. Choose ancestral food like so many generations before us, whether it is:
- a homemade oatmeal jumble bar
- (if try this recipe, use whole grain stone ground flour and a raw cane or coconut sugar),
- a bowl of multi-grain cereal with a bit of honey and fruit,
- a simple slice of bread with preserves.
If you want fewer additives AND relative convenience, you can plan ahead with a good quality bread and a bit of preserves. My favorite purchased bread is Ezekiel's.
Vote with your fork (and your wallet)! Interested in escaping the snack pack and picking better for you options, here's a free guide!
