C.R.A.P FOOD

And by CRAP I mean caffeine,refined,alcohol or processed - and todays blog covers a very,very processed product and that's most yoghurts sold in supermarkets, under the guise of being good for you.!

I have a bee in my bonnet as a member of my family keeps offering my eldest son (who is eight) one of the above after his tea at their house. Now,they might be on a diet (even then these products won't help) but Benjamin most certainly is not.

The yoghurt in question is Muller Light Vanilla Flavour, and this is just one of a range of flavours that Muller offer, and as far as I can make out in my little study of the yoghurt market they seem to dominate the cooler shelves in most supermarkets.

Take a look at their web site, it's super and at least the milk they use to make the yoghurt is from cows who live and graze in Shropshire, which is where their products are processed.

However, these little pots of creaminess are not superfoods. They will not add a great deal, if anything, to the average persons diet.They are not a necessary part of our daily adult diet, let alone an eight year olds who needs to grow strong and healthy.

I'm not just having a go at Muller here,but all the other so called 'healthy yoghurts' which are either rammed full of sweeteners (see earlier blog on these dreaded things) or refined sugar - they are nothing more than liquid candy.

I had a look at the ingredients and this is what's in the vanilla one :

Water, yoghurt,fructose, maize starch, gelatine, flavourings, colourings, aspartame and pectins. Ok, any of those (apart from water) ever feature in a list of superfoods to be eaten as part of a healthy diet????!!!!

We all need some fat in our diets, it serves lots of essential purposes :
insulation/skin/energy store/cell membranes/hormone prodcution/assist vitamin absorption/maintain bodily systems and more. This should be good fat by the way, not the hydrogenated fats and trans fats found in so many pre-prepared foods.

So to eat something that has had the fat extracted from it (as their 99% fat free products have) is counter productive. Not only is their no goodness in it, but it has been processed highly to take the fat out in the first place.

They claim there are only 100 calories in a pot, no preservatives, no artificial colours and it's rich in calcium (33% RDA). But,the sugar and sweeteners will spike blood sugar and then drop it, leaving you wanting more to eat half an hour or so later. Your body will be wondering when the nutrititious food is coming that it can work with to give you decent energy, and so again you'll crave more food. Counter productive big time!

If you do like the creamy, sensual texture and taste of yoghurt and need something sweet (and can tolerate dairy!) why not check out the organic plain probiotic yoghurts, which offer nothing other than yoghurt and some friendly bacteria for your gut - sheep and goats yoghurts taste yum too. Add to it any of the following and you've got a delicious dessert that your body will thank you for : chopped nuts,berries, agave syrup, xylitol, cinnamon, vanilla extract, or a little Manuka honey. Enjoy!

Today's Tip : Eat consciously - think about what's going into your mouth, at least 80% of the time.