Pretzels vs. Chips

Most parents I know think pretzels are a healthy snack because they are baked and have no fat.

The status of pretzels as a food that is good for you is reinforced when people do what marketers hope they’ll do: compare pretzels to potato chips, the ultimate junk food. I call this The Potato Chip Challenge, as if somehow surpassing the standard set by potato chips makes a food, de facto, healthy.

But does it?

Look at how Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzel Rods stack up against Lay’s Classic Potato Chips.

Let’s start tallying the “wins.”

Ounce for ounce (about 15 chips or 3 pretzel rods):

 

• Pretzels win on calories, fat and protein
• Potato chips win on sodium and fiber. 

I concede things are looking pretty good for pretzels; less fat translates into significantly fewer calories. Still, the question remains: are pretzels really the healthier snack? Most pretzels are made from refined flour. At least potato chips are made from potatoes. 

Have you heard about NuVal?

NuVal is a nutritional value scoring system that, after calculating more than thirty nutrient and nutrition factors, ranks foods on a scale of one to one hundred. One hundred represents top nutrition. 

• Lay’s Classic Potato Chips=15
• Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzel Rods=15

In contrast, blueberries score a cool 100.

Of course, if you compare different brands you’ll get different results.

The overall pattern will stay the same. 

• Utz Extra Dark Pretzels=NuVal 8
• Utz Ripple Potato Chips =NuVal 8

I suppose you could look for a better pretzel, but this won’t solve anything because there are chips out there that score better too. 

• Snyder’s Organic Whole Wheat Pretzel Nibblers=NuVal 28
• Baked Lay’s Original Potato Crisps=NuVal 25
• Cape Cod Potato Chips 40% Reduced Fat=NuVal 31

Suddenly chips are ahead!

Not everyone agrees with the NuVal rating system.

Or even with the idea of scoring systems in general. Still, these scores are informative. By applying a uniform calculation to everything they analyze NuVal makes it easy for us to compare the relative healthfulness of different products.

In this case, the NuVal scores illustrate my point: when it comes to salty snacks, you can look for the “best” choice, but nutritionally you’re basically splitting hairs.

Fifteen is the average NuVal score for the entire category of salty snacks.

If you consider habits—eating any kind of salty snack produces a salty snack-eating habit—minor nutritional differences become moot.

Read 10 Ways Improving Your Kids' Snacking Will Improve YOUR Life.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

---

Sources:  http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Products/Cid/2/Prid/237/, accessed 1/22/13; http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks.html, accessed 1/15/13; Personal email communication with NuVal; http://www.nuval.com/scores, accessed 1/15/13; http://www.abetterbagofgroceries.com/category/pretzels/ accessed 1/15/13; http://www.abetterbagofgroceries.com/category/salty-snacks/, accessed 1/15/13.

The Girl Scouts' Answer to Fruits and Vegetables: Mango Crèmes

Another "healthy" cookie. This time from the Girl Scouts.

Have you heard about Mango Crèmes?  According to ABC Bakers, the company who makes these cookies for the Girl Scouts, they are made with Nutrifusion. Whatever that is.

ABC Bakers thinks these cookies are the answer to the fact that:

• 75-80% of Americans do not eat an adequate amount and variety of fruits and vegetables. And
• 87% of American consumers are interested in learning more about beneficial products that can provide a host of health benefits.

 Read what ABC Bakers has to say here.

I wrote about these cookies yesterday on Psychology Today.

You won't be surprised to learn that Mango Crèmes are not any healthier than the other GS cookies. They also don't contain any mango.

What they contain is a cocktail of concentrates: cranberry, pomegranate, orange, grape, strawberry and shitake mushrooms. Yes. Mushrooms! (Maybe they didn't think calling these cookies Mushroom Crèmes would be as appealing?)

Read the rest of my Psychology Today post, The Girl Scouts Miss the Boat with Mango Crèmes.

Adding fruit and vegetable concentrates to cookies is not the way to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

• Nutrients do not provide the same healthful kick when they don't come in their original packaging.
• Adding fruit concentrate, a euphamism for added sugar, to cookies is like putting icing on a cake: it is adding sugar on top of sugar.
• Eating cookies teaches kids to eat cookies, not shitake mushrooms.

Give your kids these cookies if they like them. (I'm sure they're delicious.) Just don't buy them as a way to be healthy. 

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 your kids' taste buds away from "real" foods.

Then what will you do? Give your kids cookies with added nutrients to make sure they get the right nutrition? It's a crazy vicious cycle.

For more on this topic, read Cookies and the Cycle of Guilty Eating.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

5 Easy Ways to Mix-It Up: The Rotation Rule in Action

The Rotation Rule—switching what you serve from day-to-day— lays the foundation for introducing new foods.

I write about this all the time (so, sorry if you're sick of it) because it's crucial. Kids who get used to eating different foods are more open to eating new foods.

Still, many people find it very hard to mix-it up. That's why I was glad to receive this question from Emily. Emily writes: 

You often mention the importance of switching things up. But could you possibly provide some ideas on *how* to do so in the midst of a packed schedule? Part of the reason why my son eats a lot of the same foods is because I only have so much time to make a meal or a snack. How can busy parents find the time to shake up the food rotation?

I get it. Lots of people are too exhausted (both physically and mentally) to put more effort into meals. I, myself, confessed to suffering from this situation in When You're Too Tired to Cook...

Here are 5 ideas to make mixing it up easy to do.

1) The Simple Rotation

Make a list of what your children eat for meals and snacks. Then, develop menus by alternating what you serve. Don't strive to provide radically different meals. The idea is to create a structure of change. 

• Day 1: Eggs Day 2: Waffles Day 3: Cereal
• Day 1: Eggs Day 2: Waffles Day 3: Eggs

2) Borrowed Foods: Foods your children eat for different meals and snacks.

Make a list of all the foods your children currently eat on a regular basis. Then mix up when you serve stuff. 

You don’t have to stick to breakfast foods for breakfast, lunch foods for lunch and/or dinner foods for dinner. And you certainly don’t have to stick to snack foods for snacks—any food can fit this category. Make a list of foods your children happily eat at other times and consider using them to fix your Food Ruts. Everyone enjoys pancakes for dinner, but you can also consider carrot sticks and dip at breakfast or chicken and broccoli for snack. Anything goes! 

Read Falafel for Breakfast.

2) Forgotten Foods: Foods your children used to eat but which they now refuse.

Parents often take food refusals more seriously than their children do. Don't assume that once rejected is always rejected. 

Read The Easy Way to Solve Your Toddler's Decision to Suddenly Refuse Certain Foods. 

3) Planned-for Foods: Foods your children would willingly eat but which take a little planning to use on a regular basis.

Muffins, omelets, blintzes, and lasagna for instance, all can be refrigerated or frozen for use during the week.

4) Invented Foods: Old favorites you can dish up in new combinations.

For instance, does your child like cottage cheese, bananas and jelly? Put them together and make a breakfast banana split.

5) Get your kids involved

Let your children tell you how they experience foods they eat. Then, get them to help you figure out how to mix up tastes, textures, etc.

If your children are extremely attached to one food...

Consider varying the flavor, the texture, or the brand. As your child's palate expands you'll be able to reduce your dependency on this one food.

When your children ask for a Food Rut two days in a row...

Remind them you will honor their request the following day. This way your kids won't think their favorite food is out of the rotation forever.

Remember to tell your children before you make any changes.

A simple statement should do it, "Tomorrow we are going to start eating different things on different days because that's the healthiest way to eat. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to eat anything new."

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~