The war on food continues with new ammo! I just found an advertisement in my Sunday paper for Whuno Cookies (http://www.whonucookies.com/) and they appear to be the latest thing since sliced bread.
These cookies, which suspiciously resemble Oreos and Chips Ahoy, are packed with fiber, calcium and vitamin C. The ad, in fact, tells us three cookies can provide "as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal, as much calcium and vitamin D as an 8 oz glass of milk and as much vitamin C as a cup of blueberries." Isn't that fantastic?
Now, rather than eat oatmeal and blueberries and drink a glass of milk, you can scarf down three delicious cookies and be good to go, because we all know eating nutrition packed cookies is better for you than eating real food. It's so much easier to grab a couple of cookies than to sit down to a bowl of oatmeal and blueberries.
Of course, these nutritious cookies are aimed at kids, or parents of kids who want better nurtition for their children. We all know kids prefer cookies to spinach or oatmeal, in fact I know a lot of adults who prefer cookies to spinach and oatmeal, but does it really make sense to replace those foods with specially designed cookies?
The ingredients list for the cookies is suspiciously missing from the website, so I can't be sure, but I have an inkling there will be a lot of things in the cookies you won't find in the natural foods they replace.
The food industry constantly bombards us with replacements, things we can consume instead of real food that will supposedly act like real food where it counts [nutrition, taste] and not act like real food in the areas we fear [calories, fat]. I understand the concept of wanting to replace some of the junk kids like to eat with better choices - hey, if your kids are going to be eating cookies anyway, why not give them more nutirtious cookies, right? The only down side is, you're fostering a taste for cookies when learning to like real food will serve them better in the long run.
Have the milk and the oatmeal and the blueberries instead of a designer cookie. Who knows, maybe you'll be better off.
Showing posts with label vitamins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vitamins. Show all posts
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
S is for Supplements, D is for Debate
So what do you think about dietary supplements?
I was never a fan of vitamins. Once I outgrew Flintstone’s Chewables I really didn’t want to be bothered choking down the horse pills that pass for adult vitamins. I took pre-natal vitamins prior-to and during both of my pregnancies. They smelled awful and contributed to my morning sickness, but I managed to get them down because they were ‘doctor-recommended’ and ‘FDA-approved.’ [More about those two frightening catch phrases in later posts, I promise.]
After my gestating days were over, I gave up on vitamins and supplements, figuring they didn’t really offer much benefit, but now I’m finding a lot of research that tells me otherwise.
A few months ago, in a somewhat knee-jerk response to the swine-flu panic, I started taking Vitamin D and Vitamin C supplements. I’m extraordinarily wary of the H1N1 vaccine and the media hype about swine, bird and other forms of influenza, but I do want to boost my immune system any way I can. I picked up some vitamin D capsules [small and easy to swallow, that’s always a plus] and chewable vitamin C.
I haven’t gotten a cold so far this season [fall/winter]. And I do feel a might more energetic. I’m not pushing vitamins here, mind you, but after reading so much about the widespread vitamin-D deficiency we suffer from here in the US, I’m beginning to think it’s something to be even more concerned about than swine flu.
Vitamin D is reported to support bone and colon health, boost the immune system and provide some measure of protection against certain forms of cancer. We don’t get enough because we don’t spend enough time outside in the sun [thanks to ozone depletion the sun is now bad for us] and we don’t eat enough D-containing foods.
The benefits of vitamin C are widely known, chief among them support of the immune system.
Do you think an increase in C and D intake can have a significant effect on your health? Have you found the benefits of vitamins and/or other dietary supplements to be downplayed by doctors or overstated?
I’d love to hear your opinions.
I was never a fan of vitamins. Once I outgrew Flintstone’s Chewables I really didn’t want to be bothered choking down the horse pills that pass for adult vitamins. I took pre-natal vitamins prior-to and during both of my pregnancies. They smelled awful and contributed to my morning sickness, but I managed to get them down because they were ‘doctor-recommended’ and ‘FDA-approved.’ [More about those two frightening catch phrases in later posts, I promise.]
After my gestating days were over, I gave up on vitamins and supplements, figuring they didn’t really offer much benefit, but now I’m finding a lot of research that tells me otherwise.
A few months ago, in a somewhat knee-jerk response to the swine-flu panic, I started taking Vitamin D and Vitamin C supplements. I’m extraordinarily wary of the H1N1 vaccine and the media hype about swine, bird and other forms of influenza, but I do want to boost my immune system any way I can. I picked up some vitamin D capsules [small and easy to swallow, that’s always a plus] and chewable vitamin C.
I haven’t gotten a cold so far this season [fall/winter]. And I do feel a might more energetic. I’m not pushing vitamins here, mind you, but after reading so much about the widespread vitamin-D deficiency we suffer from here in the US, I’m beginning to think it’s something to be even more concerned about than swine flu.
Vitamin D is reported to support bone and colon health, boost the immune system and provide some measure of protection against certain forms of cancer. We don’t get enough because we don’t spend enough time outside in the sun [thanks to ozone depletion the sun is now bad for us] and we don’t eat enough D-containing foods.
The benefits of vitamin C are widely known, chief among them support of the immune system.
Do you think an increase in C and D intake can have a significant effect on your health? Have you found the benefits of vitamins and/or other dietary supplements to be downplayed by doctors or overstated?
I’d love to hear your opinions.
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