Thursday, June 14, 2012

Nutella - a health food?

I *heart* nut butters.

I pretty much eat almond butter or peanut butter on a daily basis.  A lot of days, I have both, but there is one phenomenon I will never understand....and maybe you know something I don't, and if so, please share!

NUTELLA.

I have only had it one time (at a hotel breakfast) and knew instantly it would be too addictive to ever purchase and keep in my home. 

Shortly after consuming it a couple of years ago, I found it on the grocery store shelf and decided to take a look at the label.  Just maybe I could take it home with me!  Afterall, it's pretty much advertised as a health food, right?

After reading this label, I returned the jar to the shelf and have never picked up another one.



Click to enlarge
thanks random internet picture as I don't own a jar to take my own pic!


Here are my thoughts....my non-expert opinion:

200 cals per serving - ok, that's equivalent to peanut butter
18% saturated fat is kind of high (my almond butter only has 5% and PB 12%)
Protein - little low but I can get protein other places
Sugars:  21g.  WHAT?  My rule of thumb is to avoid anything with more than 7-8g of sugar per serving..usually less (unless I'm just outright eating a cookie or cake or something).

Ok, then I moved on to the ingredient list.

The #1 ingredient in this "nut butter" is NOT nuts.  It's SUGAR!  The first ingredient is sugar folks (which means it's the main ingredient.  Just in case you are new to label reading, the ingredients are listed in order from what is used the most to least....you don't want to see sugar as #1 unless you are eating a lollipop or a sugar cube).

#2 ingredient:  Modified palm oil.  I'm not positive here, but I don't think we're suppose to eat much "modified" anything....much less modified oil.  That just sounds weird.

#3 ingredient - finally, the nut appears.

Just to give you a comparrison:  the almond butter I eat has ONE ingredient:  Almonds.
The peanut butter I eat has TWO ingredients:  Peanuts.  Less than 1% salt.

It honestly baffles me how they can portray Nutella as a health food.

Don't get me wrong, the stuff tastes good!  But no wonder...it's chocolate sugar!

If you must eat it, then I think this should be an indulgence....something to have on special occassions, but not something that should be part of a regular diet.  I actually had someone tell me one day how they have tricked their kids at into having nutella sandwiches for breakfast and how they don't know that they're having something healthy.   I smiled and kept my mouth shut.  It wasn't someone I was very close to, so I'm not going to bust their bubble.....but man, I wish people would educate themselves a little more!

I purchased chocolate almond butter HOPING it would taste like Nutella.  It didn't.  Of course, I think it only had 9g of sugar that came from evaporated cane juice, but hey, it wasn't bad.  My daughter liked it, but I'm not likely to purchase again.

So.......if you know something I don't, feel free to dispute any of this!  I'd love to hear it....cause I WANT to eat this stuff....I just can't bring myself to do it!

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