Cookies and the Cycle of Guilty Eating

Everything that is wrong with the nutrition mindset can be summed up in two words: WhoNu? cookies. 

When did everything we eat have to be nutritious?  And why can't cookies just be cookies?  The answer has got to be when we started feeling guilty about the way we eat.  The problem is, that instead of making things better, cookies that are souped-up on steroids only make things worse.

Give your kids cookies with added nutrients because you worry they aren't getting the nutrition they need from "real" foods and you'll train their taste buds away from "real" foods—the first ingredient in the chocolate cookies is sugar. Then you'll have to give your kids cookies with added nutrients to make sure they get the right nutrition.  It's a vicious cycle.  (Never mind the fact that adding nutrients is a form of  Manufacturing Magic and it doesn't make a food nutritious.)

Just as importantly, give your kids cookies with added nutrients and you won't be teaching your kids to enjoy their treats guilt-free.

As far as I can tell, there is only one reason to serve kids these cookies: guilt.

1. We feel guilty that our kids don't eat enough healthy food to get the nutrients they need.
2. We feel guilty that our kids eat too many cookies —and other sweets and treats.

In fact, the manufacturer plays to parental guilt, "Our cookies are intended to replace other cookies or indulgent snacks that offer no nutritional value..."  

I, for one, believe we should teach kids to eat indulgent snacks, to enjoy them, to savor them, to revel in them! That's what treats are for.  And really, no matter what you do to a cookie, it's still a cookie.

Remember, it doesn't matter what your kids eat. What matters is how often they eat it.

Ironically, it's easier to teach kids to eat right when you give them indulgent treats.

When you blur the boundaries between healthy food and treats, it's hard to:

• Convince your kids to limit their intake of treats.  
• Teach your kids the importance of eating healthy foods.

After all, when the cookies deliver as much iron as a cup of spinach, why should your kids eat the actual spinach? Give your kids Oreo cookies, however, and the difference is clear.

(Of course, the nutrition in WhoNu? cookies isn't all it's cracked up to be. Read why Fooducate gives WhoNu? cookies a C-.)

Eating cookies for their nutritional value promotes the idea that there are "good" foods and there are "bad" foods and teaches your kids to feel guilty when they eat the "wrong" things.

You'd be better off teaching your kids: 

• To eat foods in proportion to their healthful benefits 
• That adding nutrients to a food doesn't make it nutritious
• That indulging in treats is a good thing—as long as it's done in moderation.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Why I Love High Fructose Corn Syrup

I love high fructose corn syrup.

Not because it’s so tasty (mmm), but because it’s an incredibly clear marker of an inferior, ultra-processed food. 

That’s why I also love health claims.  And foods made with Real Fruit.  They make grocery shopping fast and efficient for me.  Read Slackers Rule and Why Nobody Needs Nutrition Labels.

• From a nutrition perspective, there’s mounting evidence that ultra-processed foods are never as good as they seem.  Read Manufacturing Magic.

• From a habits perspective, there’s also mounting evidence that ultra-processed foods are never as good as they seem.

So that’s the takeaway: processed foods are never as good as they seem.

Almost all processed products are intrinsically unhealthy.

But evaluating individual products isn’t the way to go.  As a recent report pointed out: No one ever got sick from eating one burger (unless it was tainted), one bag of chips or one can of Coke.  It’s the overall diet that matters.

Consider the following:

• Manufacturers garnish their foods with accents (such as seeds, coloring, or nutrients like protein) to give their products a wholesome appearance.  But these nice touches really are nutritional nothings.  Instead, ultra-processed foods are made principally from fats, sugars, salt, refined flours and starches.  Yum. 

• Eating foods loaded with sugar, sodium and fat makes us: 1) effortlessly consume way too many calories and 2) crave more of these foods as our body becomes addicted to them. 

• Ultra-processed foods aren’t usually served with salad, a side of spinach, or any other fresh, and healthy food.  (That piece of lettuce on your burger doesn’t really count.)  When people eat one manufactured marvel, they’re usually eating another modern miracle at the same time too.  (You know what they say…Birds of a feather, flock together!)

Maybe that explains why the top 5 most commonly consumed foods in America are: 

1. Regular sugared soft drinks
2. Cakes and pastries
3. Burgers
4. Pizza
5. Potato Chips

If you want your kids to eat veggies you have to balance their diet in favor of fresh, natural foods...even if you think Goldfish crackers really aren’t that bad. 

Read The Snacking Minefield and Goldfish vs. Bunnies.

It’s the proportion of meals, dishes, foods, drinks and snacks within the diet that come from the processed food aisle that you have to consider.

Here's how to find real food at the supermarket.  

This flow chart is both funny and informative. I thank Summer Tomato for creating it.

~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits. ~

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Additional Sources: Monteiro. C. "The big issue is ultra-processing." [Commentary] World Nutrition, November 2010; 1(6): 237-269. Accessed online February, 2011.  http://www.wphna.org/wn_commentary_ultraprocessing_nov2010.asp

Manufacturing Magic

Food manufacturers want you to engage in magical thinking.

But what seems to be a miracle “Cereal with as much protein as an egg,” (As Kashi claims about GOLEAN) is really a clever slight-of-hand.  Don’t be fooled.

Product claims (like magicians) never tell the whole truth, and the facts they “forget” are never trivial.

But even if Kashi’s claims were on the up-and-up, and there were no nutritional nightmares lurking in the shadows, eating cereal because it’s been pumped up on protein is kind of like drinking Coke because it’s been fortified with vitamins.  From a habits perspective, it’s never a good idea. Read Coke Beats Juice.

Here are 3 ideas to consider:

1) “Look…over there!”

You probably don’t have to think long and hard to know that what Kashi is hoping you won’t notice is that, in addition to the protein, each serving of GOLEAN cereal delivers 10 grams of sugar.  An egg?  None.

Kashi isn’t the only company that plays fast with the facts.  Researchers recently examined the labeling claims on foods marketed to kids and found that 84% of the products in their study were unhealthy.  84%. That's not a small number!  Read The Truth About "Child-Friendly" Foods.

Sugar, salt and fat are the primary culprits. Maybe advertisers should practice a little more truth in advertising!

• Kellogg’s: Apple Jacks: A Good Source of Fiber! Made with Whole Grains! And a good source of sugar, too! 
• Apple Jacks: Cereal with as much sugar as a Glazed Donut!

The nutritional trade-off (getting protein—or in the case of Apple Jacks, fiber— at the cost of added sugar) isn't worth it. Research is beginning to show that when foods are manufactured with fat, sugar and sodium they produce an addictive response in eaters. Not exactly the kind of food lesson you want your kids to learn.

2) No matter how much protein you pack in, you can’t make cereal equivalent to an egg.

It’s not just that GOLEAN cereal has sugar and an egg doesn’t.  It’s much more complex than that.  Summarizing some commentary on this topic, nutritionist Marion Nestle recently wrote:

"Nutritionists’ focus on nutrients, rather than foods, has led to the assumption that if foods contain the same nutrients, they are the same – even though it is never possible to replicate the nutritional content of foods because too much about their chemical composition is still unknown."  Read Nestle’s comments.

In other words: 1) Foods are multi-dimensional in (currently) unknowable and irreproducible ways, and 2) It’s the interaction of all a food’s properties that produces its nutritional power. When manufacturers ask you to overlook these facts, they’re asking you to engage in magical thinking.  Science simply can't compete with nature.

3) Giving your kids cereal because “it’s as good as an egg” won’t teach them a lick about eating  eggs, egg salad, eggs Benedict, or even egg foo yung. 

For me, that’s the main point.   

Avoid food products that make health claims,(Michael Pollan’s Food Rule #8) not just because they’re never as healthy as they seem, but because eating these foods will never teach your kids anything about eating healthily.

Kids eat foods, not nutrients. Giving your kids cereal teaches them to eat cereal (and sometimes even cookies), but it never teaches them to eat other foods.   

So don’t give in to the hype.  Your kids can't live on cereal alone.

~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~ 

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Additional Sources:

Kessler, D. A., MD, 2009. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. New York, NY: Rodale.

Pollan, M., 2009. Food Rules: an Eater's Manual. New York, NY: Penguin.

Sims, J., L. Mikkelsen, P. Gibson, and E. Warming, 2011. Claiming Health: Front-of-Package Labeling of Children's Food. Prevention Institute. Accessed online http://www.preventioninstitute.org/component/jlibrary/article/id-293/127.html 1/28/11.