Nutrition Labels and Falsehoods

Being overweight, I have a love-hate relationship with food.

Certain foods (good or bad) I love. Sometimes I HATE what that food can do, or how it makes me feel.

As I get older, I’m getting to the point where it is harder to lose weight (and I’m also not really concerned for “appearances” either). Genetics is another issue – a lot of my “ancestors” were big (but healthy) people, who (absent cancer, accidents and foul play) lived to be in their 80’s. They ate a lot of carbs, fried foods, and desserts.

But, I am trying to eat “as healthy as possible”, and sometimes I don’t always know what’s “right”. I’ve heard quite a bit of falsehoods – yes to carbs, no to carbs, low fat, some fat, high protein, low protein.

If it tastes good, it's bad. If you're craving it, it's bad. 

Phooey!!

Enough there. What about breakfast?

Let’s start there.

Since there are just two of us (my mother and myself) in the household, buying BIG boxes of cereal is not a value. Our tastes vary from day to day, and those BIG boxes often go stale before we finish them. As a result, we tend to get the variety packs and the $1 “cups” at Wal*Mart (and sometimes on sale at Smith’s).

The choices are mainly “kid” cereals – Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, and Honey Nut Cheerios. But, I did find one Special K variety (Red Berries).  At least they’re better than nothing.

(These are usually $1 at Wal*Mart)

Normally I don’t look at the labels. If it’s a “flavored” or “kid” cereal, I’ve been taught it’s BAD. If it’s “Special K”, it’s good ... right?

Not so!

I had the occasion to compare three of the cereals I bought: 

Special K (Red Berries)
Frosted Flakes
Apple Jacks

To be honest, I was quite surprised at what I found. What I thought was healthy … wasn’t as “healthy” as I thought. 

If by “healthy” we mean:

** Low Calories

** Low Fat

** Low Sodium

** Low Carbohydrates

Then, what I’m about to reveal might be a little surprising … 

The Special K disappointed me. Not just a minor disappointment, but a MAJOR one.

As you can see it came in with:

250 Calories

10 Fat

440mg Sodium

61g Carbs (that’s 4 servings based on a 15g per serving)

But, it’s “Special K”, part of a healthier diet, right?

Hmmm, well, let’s see what the Frosted Flakes’ label revealed:

220 Calories

0 Fat

290mg Sodium

53g Carbs

Wow!

I did not expect those results at all!! 

            Special K:                              Frosted Flakes:                                 Difference:

Calories         250                              220                                                      30

Fat                   10                                0                                                          10

Sodium          440mg                         290mg                                                150mg

Carbs              61g                              53g                                                      8g

Right off, it looks like the Frosted Flakes is not only tastier (in my opinion), but healthier (fact) than the Special K. No wonder Tony the Tiger says “they’re greeeeeeeeeeeeat!” … they certainly are! 

But, what about those Apple Jacks?

150 Calories

5 Fat

190mg Sodium

37g Carbs (two servings)

I am admittedly quite stunned on that revelation. That is not what I was led to believe, what I’ve read or what I’ve been told.

Doing a “side by side” comparison:

            Special K:                              Apple Jacks:                                      Difference:

Calories         250                              150                                                      100

Fat                   10                                5                                                          5

Sodium          440mg                        190mg                                                 250mg

Carbs              61g                              37g                                                     24g

Again, the “tastier” one is the healthier one.

While the Special K boasts more vitamin percentages – with vitamins and supplements (think Centrum) one can “compensate” for the missing values. The calories, sodium, and carbs are reduced ... and you're essentially having your cake and eating it too. 

If you’re like me – watching calories and carbs, the Special K is not what it seems. For me, while I LOVE strawberries … the Special K is not the tastiest choice. After all, I have to eat what I enjoy. If I don’t like it, I won’t eat it. At least, as it works out, the Special K isn’t the healthiest choice either. 

Now, let’s compare the Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes:

             Apple Jacks:                          Frosted Flakes:                                Difference:

Calories         150                              220                                                      70

Fat                   5                                  0                                                          2

Sodium          190mg                       290mg                                                 100mg

Carbs              37g                             53g                                                      8g

Calorie, sodium and carb-wise, it seems the Apple Jacks are even better than Frosted Flakes. I would never have thought that! 

Now that I know that Frosted Flakes and Apple Jacks aren’t as bad as I thought … I think I’m going to be eating more of them. 

It just goes to show you that the nutrition labels are our friends in healthier eating. We can’t believe what we’re told, or what we read. But, we can believe what we see.

If you see someone buying Apple Jacks or Frosted Flakes, don't assume they're not eating healthy, because they are. Don't assume someone buying Special K is eating right either. 

I’m kind of glad I did my research … I was really beginning to hate Special K.