While reading through the local paper today, I saw an advertisement for a frozen yogurt shop with a caption that read:
“Promoting healthy dessert in a fun way”
Sigh…. It really frustrates me to read false and misleading ideas promoted as healthy, when I know that those ideas truly harm people. Yes, there are some amazingly delicious and healthy desserts that you can make at home, but no – store-bought frozen yogurt is not healthy.
I went to the website of this particular store to read the nutrient labels and found there are 14-26 grams of sugar in each 84 gram serving of frozen yogurt. The most common amount was 22-23 grams… of sugar. More than one-fourth of that bowl is just plain white sugar. Healthy? Nope.
Just as a comparison, the same size serving of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream contains about 14 grams of sugar, plus its ingredients are all actually food: cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Still, sugar is sugar, so please don’t mistakenly think that Haagen-Dazs is healthy either. I am saying that this frozen yogurt is worse.
Compare the above ingredients in Haagen-Dazs with the ingredients for the low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt:
“Cultured Skim Milk, Sugar, Non Fat Dry Milk, Corn Syrup Solids, Nonfat Yogurt (Cultured Nonfat Milk), Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Guar Gum, Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Yogurt Culture (S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus), 2% or Less Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking).”
Do you really want to eat those things? To make matters worse, these frozen yogurt shops allow you to top your supposedly “healthy” dessert with a variety of toppings… sure, there is some fruit available, but you will also see the gamut of every kind of candy imaginable. Forget about 22 grams of sugar per serving; that number has now gone through the roof.
Why is our society becoming more and more overweight? Sugar is the culprit. We have been led to believe that fats are the problem. Healthy fats are good for you and are absolutely essential. Sugar and refined foods are responsible for adding on the pounds. I’m not going to get into the sugar-free desserts today. Please, if you must have frozen yogurt, avoid the artificially sweetened products at all costs – those are even worse.
Do you love frozen yogurt (or ice cream)? Make it at home with real food. It will not only taste better, but will also be better for you.
One of the services I offer to my clients includes real, healthy recipes and cooking methods. I teach you how to make delicious desserts that you and your children will love – foods made with real ingredients, without chemicals, without sugar, without artificial sweeteners. Just wonderfully tasty – and truly healthy- meals, snacks, and desserts. Contact me at maffetonewellness@gmail.com to get started.
© 2013 Therese Maffetone, MSACN
“Promoting healthy dessert in a fun way”
Sigh…. It really frustrates me to read false and misleading ideas promoted as healthy, when I know that those ideas truly harm people. Yes, there are some amazingly delicious and healthy desserts that you can make at home, but no – store-bought frozen yogurt is not healthy.
I went to the website of this particular store to read the nutrient labels and found there are 14-26 grams of sugar in each 84 gram serving of frozen yogurt. The most common amount was 22-23 grams… of sugar. More than one-fourth of that bowl is just plain white sugar. Healthy? Nope.
Just as a comparison, the same size serving of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream contains about 14 grams of sugar, plus its ingredients are all actually food: cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Still, sugar is sugar, so please don’t mistakenly think that Haagen-Dazs is healthy either. I am saying that this frozen yogurt is worse.
Compare the above ingredients in Haagen-Dazs with the ingredients for the low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt:
“Cultured Skim Milk, Sugar, Non Fat Dry Milk, Corn Syrup Solids, Nonfat Yogurt (Cultured Nonfat Milk), Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Guar Gum, Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Yogurt Culture (S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus), 2% or Less Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking).”
Do you really want to eat those things? To make matters worse, these frozen yogurt shops allow you to top your supposedly “healthy” dessert with a variety of toppings… sure, there is some fruit available, but you will also see the gamut of every kind of candy imaginable. Forget about 22 grams of sugar per serving; that number has now gone through the roof.
Why is our society becoming more and more overweight? Sugar is the culprit. We have been led to believe that fats are the problem. Healthy fats are good for you and are absolutely essential. Sugar and refined foods are responsible for adding on the pounds. I’m not going to get into the sugar-free desserts today. Please, if you must have frozen yogurt, avoid the artificially sweetened products at all costs – those are even worse.
Do you love frozen yogurt (or ice cream)? Make it at home with real food. It will not only taste better, but will also be better for you.
One of the services I offer to my clients includes real, healthy recipes and cooking methods. I teach you how to make delicious desserts that you and your children will love – foods made with real ingredients, without chemicals, without sugar, without artificial sweeteners. Just wonderfully tasty – and truly healthy- meals, snacks, and desserts. Contact me at maffetonewellness@gmail.com to get started.
© 2013 Therese Maffetone, MSACN