Up first is coffee creamers. So many people drink coffee to get the day started, but are they healthy? When I first started trying to have a healthier lifestyle coffee was one of the first things I changed. I had talked with my trainer and we discussed that sugar free is better than fat free, because they tend to add boo-koo sugar to make it taste yummy. So I started get sugar free everything. In general this is probably a good practice. To this day I look at sugar and sodium and I try to get the product with the least amount. So recently I started wondering, is sugar free creamer good for you though? There is a difference between being "better for you" and "healthy". So here is what I learned:
REGULAR COFFEE CREAMER
-Most (if not all) coffee creamers have partially hydrogenated oils. This is a process that manufactures do to make a semi-solid liquid. This is a mixture of soybean and/or cottonseed oil mixed with a metal (say what?!?). This is then added with flavor (natural and/or artificial) and water to make coffee creamer. The scariest part of this is that partially hydrogenated oils are TRANS FAT - the worst kind of fat. The kind of fat that leads to heart disease and diabetes (say what?!?!).RULING: NOT HEALTHY
-And just a side note about trans fat: Most people know now that this is the worst kind of fat and although it does occur naturally in some foods, it should never be consumed from artificial sources. Health conscious people read labels and look at the fat content, and if it has trans fat, they throw it on the ground and have elephants stomp on it :-P . Those tricky manufactures though try to sneak trans fat into products unbeknownst to the consumers. They will put <0% , this does not mean that there is no trans fat (people think zero means none...it doesn't). Companies can use <0% and still sneak 0.5% of trans fat! When buying food in the frozen or aisle sections, you always want to look for partially hydrogenated oils, this means trans fat, which means you need to call your herd of elephants!
-Another note, recently (June 2015) the FDA has come out and said that more studies have looked at the effects of trans fat on overall health and have made the move to ban manufactures from using it in foods. When this ban will be put into place is still uncertain, most likely 2016 will be the cutoff and companies will have to stop using partially hydrogenated oils. (awesome sauce!!!)
SUGAR FREE COFFEE CREAMER
- As listed above most sugar free coffee creamers contain partially hydrogenated oils, really the only difference is that they use Splenda (sucralose) instead of sugar. In the future I want to do a food face off of sugars, but currently I am still in the process of research, so look for it in the future! Sugar free still has fat, still has calories, still has hydrogenated oils. So in reality it really isn't any better for you than regular creamer.RULING: STILL NOT HEALTHY
"HEALTHIER" REPLACEMENTS:
-Ok so I imagine that your next questions, is well Cassie, what do I put in my dern coffee?!? So I have some suggestions that would register in the healthier column.1. Coffee Mate Natural Bliss - this newer coffee mate has no artifical substances and no partially hydrogenated oils!! WooHoo!! It is made with milk, cream, sugar, and carageenan (a natural thickener). Just use it wisely - meaning don't dump the whole thing in yo cup!
2. 1% or Fat Free Milk - this is a great option because you can get calcium and a little extra protein with your daily cup o' joe! Add some stevia for extra sweetness. You can also look at other natural sweeteners like honey.
3. For you dairy free or allergy peeps: Almond or Coconut (unsweetened versions) milk. Add this and a little stevia - viola!
So the ruling, as usual try to consume as much whole, natural foods. My go to rule when buying groceries is to have as few ingredients as possible. So if it has a long list of ingredients that wouldn't go in the cart. It takes time to let this process become the norm, but I promise it's so worth it!!!
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