How many times have you said, "Okay, family, when the holiday goodies are gone, no more junk. We can enjoy the sweets related to the festivities at hand but will go back to healthy eating habits afterwards. October starts off the empty calory marathon as soon as that first piece of Halloween/All Saints Day candy falls into our children’s hands. Just as they finish this windfall, here comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. In my experience, one can pretty much keep the sugar high going right through until Easter.
Since the treats are going to be around, I’m here to give you a handy calory/food value outline of your best bets.
The old standby - Hershey bars. Now you would think that the plain chocolate would be the better choice. Nope! My research reveals that the Hershey bar with almonds is the healthier choice with only 7 grams of fat versus the 9 found in the plain bar! The protein is three grams higher for the almond bar. I guess the nuts displace some of the chocolate. Both bars have only four percent of the daily requirement of fiber so adjust your intake accordingly.
Snickers, the healthy choice, right? Hey, it has all those nuts in them! Well, the peanut Snicker bars 14 grams of fat whereas the almond type weighs in at only eleven. Think how good you will feel when you hand your child the almond version, knowing you are cutting their fat intake for the day by three grams. This is what makes motherhood so worthwhile.
Peanut M&Ms has 13 grams of fat which would make it an reasonable option if you feel like splurging. The weight watchers should probably still stick to the Almond Snickers, however. Surprisingly, of all the candy bars mentioned, the Hershey with Almonds has the most iron at four percent of you minimum, daily requirement. Something to think of when you are trying to enjoy your snacks and meet your daily needs.
Interesting, even with all that coconut, Almond Joy bars only provide two percent in the fiber department. It does have two percent less fat that the peanut Snickers so, again, you can use your common sense when incorporating one in your diet.
Don’t bother with Pay Day bars. There is no chocolate involved and they still come in at 14 grams of fat. Doesn’t seem right, somehow. Even with all the peanuts, the fiber content is a measly two percent, hardly worth the sacrifice of the chocolate.
Being a hard-working mom, I realize that I have to maintain strong bones in order to persevere with my daily life. Here is the big surprise - The two Hershey bars and the regular Snickers have eight percent of your calcium needs. The Snickers with Almonds have two percent less making them a reasonable option but not the best one. Twix and Peanut M&M’s show up with four percent. Pay Day bars and Almond Joys trail at only two percent making them a treat but not a permanent lifestyle for the health conscious.
Now that I’ve finished this research project, I still have to dispose of the research itself - eight candy bars. Funny how I happened to pick all my favorite ones! Oh, well, I figure that I can get 42 percent of my daily calcium requirement by disposing of this research myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment