Beware of Health Food

A few months ago I began my process following a Paleo diet.  It has definitely been a process of trial and error and overcoming some of my preconceived notions about what was healthy vs. unhealthy.  Of course, being a self proclaimed "foodie" I was ecstatic when I stumble upon food blogs brimming with delicacies, all Paleo approved!  It wasn't long before I set off baking Paleo cookies, cakes, pancakes, etc.  "It's healthy..." I thought.

Then, a few weeks ago I came across an article that described me perfectly.  Was I getting "too good" at Paleo?!  The fact is that we've heard lots of the facts about "health" food really being worse for us than the original full fat version.  Things like low fat or no sugar products are often stuffed full of other undesirable ingredients to fill in the gaps left by the fat, sugar or calories that have been removed.  Often times this is more salt, or more sugar (in low fat products) or even chemicals to mimic the 'natural' item that has been removed. A simple label comparison can reveal this, so that's not my emphasis.

Just like the Paleo blogs that allow us to replace all of our guilty pleasures with 'healthier' versions without changing our mentality.  The fact is that even the overly processed nonsense from the grocery store shelves is not going to kill you if it maintains it's appropriate place in our diet.  A few potato chips at a graduation party is fine, half a bag of potato chips because it's a Tuesday afternoon and you're bored is not.  I say all of this because I've really been focused on changing my mentality about the recipes that I see.  Today I saw a recipe to make brownies that were "guilt free" made with a meal replacement shake.  As I read the ingredient list my jaw hit the floor as I was thinking HOW IN THE WORLD ARE THESE GUILT FREE?!?!

The recipe called for:

4 scoops of shake mix
1 1/4 c of agave
1 full 16oz jar of almond butter
2 eggs
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
vanilla
salt
baking powder

I was intrigued, so I started to factor up the nutrition and was completely blown away by the results.  Now, the recipe didn't specify how many servings it made, so I used a standard Duncan Hines comparison of 20 servings as a guide.  Here is what I found...

This is the nutritional information for the "guilt free" brownie.  Boasting  nearly 300 calories and as much as 22 grams of sugar!  One of the selling points was the high protein, but in my opinion, this seems a little disproportionate.  Considering the shake mix itself contains almost 1/3 the calories and double the protein!

This nutrition on the other hand, is for a standard Duncan Hines boxed brownie mix.  It contains almost 70 fewer calories, 4 less grams of fat, 3 less carbohydrates and a full 7 grams less sugar!  That's right, the "bad" brownies are actually lower on all of the key factors!  Now before you jump all over me, I'm certainly not advocating going out and eating box brownies.  I also can clearly make the distinction between the presence of grain in the box mix as opposed to the shake brownies.  My point here is that we have to be very cautious what we choose to believe.  Just because something contains "healthy" ingredients, it doesn't give us a free pass, or a guilt free opportunity to chow down.

I've intentionally left out the name of the shake mix, because the truth is that all of the companies do this.  I've seen recipes for everything from brownies to pancakes to ice cream and cinnamon rolls.  I write this as a cautionary tale.  Be critical of what you choose to believe and eat.  If you're really looking for protein, grab a chicken breast, some eggs, or a piece of fish,  not a brownie.  If you want a sweet treat, then eat the brownie, but don't try to deceive yourself into believing that it's good for you.   Be honest with yourself and keep treats where they belong, as an occasional TREAT, not an every day indulgence.