Nutella: Healthy or Not?

13

Replies

  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Oh, you are not supposed to eat it with a spoon from the jar.....hmmm....whoops!

    No, eat like this,m0q3j7xti74u.jpg



  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    Speaking of a single food....one cannot decide if it is healthy or not. You have to look at the context and dosage of that food within the scope of ones diet to determine if it is.

    With that there is nothing unhealthy about nutella

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    dude, get that dog out of there, chocolate, eh?
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    He's 14 - moderation XD
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    14? Well, my opinion on that is he can do whatever he wants, he's lived his run.

    My ol boy was 14 when he went, he did love chocolate pecan pie towards the end.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    They don't claim it's healthy, exactly, at least not in the commercials I've seen. They do say that it is made from wholesome ingredients - cocoa, milk, and hazelnuts. They do not say it is made only from wholesome ingredients.

    Whether cocoa, milk and hazelnuts are wholesome or not is an opinion. Lots of people don't think cocoa is wholesome. Some don't think milk is wholesome. Personally, I don't care. If I liked it, I'd eat it. I find it too sweet and too chocolatey. I love the hazelnut taste of gianduja and want that to be the most prominent.

    Now as it happens, I just received a shipment of large amounts of imported chocolate (for baking/cooking, mostly). The company also sells gianduja spread from Italy. Specifically, the spread that won one of last year's international chocolate awards in that category. Couldn't resist ordering a jar. Now that is everything I wanted Nutella to be and more. Will be ordering more in my next shipment, I assure you.
  • smlewis63
    smlewis63 Posts: 20 Member
    #cantkeepitinthehouse
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    edited March 2015
    stealthq wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    They don't claim it's healthy, exactly, at least not in the commercials I've seen. They do say that it is made from wholesome ingredients - cocoa, milk, and hazelnuts. They do not say it is made only from wholesome ingredients.

    Whether cocoa, milk and hazelnuts are wholesome or not is an opinion. Lots of people don't think cocoa is wholesome. Some don't think milk is wholesome. Personally, I don't care. If I liked it, I'd eat it. I find it too sweet and too chocolatey. I love the hazelnut taste of gianduja and want that to be the most prominent.

    Now as it happens, I just received a shipment of large amounts of imported chocolate (for baking/cooking, mostly). The company also sells gianduja spread from Italy. Specifically, the spread that won one of last year's international chocolate awards in that category. Couldn't resist ordering a jar. Now that is everything I wanted Nutella to be and more. Will be ordering more in my next shipment, I assure you.

    okay, that doesn't really sound all that misleading then.

    i just started buying my own jars of nutella and making my own nutella crepes. i had been buying them on my walk to work every morning and realized i'm wasting way too much money buying these crepes when i can just buy a jar of nutella and make my own crepes. i have a lot of self control though with food (internet is my addiction, not food), so i have no problem limiting myself to one tablespoon a day. now i am curious to try that gianduja stuff. maybe when i finish this jar of nutella. nutalla is good, but i could envision something tasting better.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    They don't claim it's healthy, exactly, at least not in the commercials I've seen. They do say that it is made from wholesome ingredients - cocoa, milk, and hazelnuts. They do not say it is made only from wholesome ingredients.

    Whether cocoa, milk and hazelnuts are wholesome or not is an opinion. Lots of people don't think cocoa is wholesome. Some don't think milk is wholesome. Personally, I don't care. If I liked it, I'd eat it. I find it too sweet and too chocolatey. I love the hazelnut taste of gianduja and want that to be the most prominent.

    Now as it happens, I just received a shipment of large amounts of imported chocolate (for baking/cooking, mostly). The company also sells gianduja spread from Italy. Specifically, the spread that won one of last year's international chocolate awards in that category. Couldn't resist ordering a jar. Now that is everything I wanted Nutella to be and more. Will be ordering more in my next shipment, I assure you.

    Ok share the brand? Gianduja is my favorite thing ever.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited March 2015
    Francl27 wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    They don't claim it's healthy, exactly, at least not in the commercials I've seen. They do say that it is made from wholesome ingredients - cocoa, milk, and hazelnuts. They do not say it is made only from wholesome ingredients.

    Whether cocoa, milk and hazelnuts are wholesome or not is an opinion. Lots of people don't think cocoa is wholesome. Some don't think milk is wholesome. Personally, I don't care. If I liked it, I'd eat it. I find it too sweet and too chocolatey. I love the hazelnut taste of gianduja and want that to be the most prominent.

    Now as it happens, I just received a shipment of large amounts of imported chocolate (for baking/cooking, mostly). The company also sells gianduja spread from Italy. Specifically, the spread that won one of last year's international chocolate awards in that category. Couldn't resist ordering a jar. Now that is everything I wanted Nutella to be and more. Will be ordering more in my next shipment, I assure you.

    Ok share the brand? Gianduja is my favorite thing ever.

    The brand is Slitti. They won with their milk chocolate gianduja spread called Riccosa. They took 2nd with their dark chocolate gianduja spread called Gianera. I, of course, had to order one of each. I'm undecided as to which I prefer - I only took a small taste and loved them both. I'll need a much larger sample set over a longer period of time to decide :blush:

    In case anyone else feels like hunting down award-winning chocolates just for fun, link to last year's results is here: internationalchocolateawards.com/2014/11/world-final-2014-winners/

    Oh, I should add. I ordered from an internet company - Chocosphere. Not sure how easy Slitti is to find other than local to Italy and online.
  • JulieAnneFIU
    JulieAnneFIU Posts: 125 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    Thank you for using moot and not mute. Irks me how many people call a point mute. I just ask them how do they know? Maybe it just chose to stop talking.

    They don't get it.

    I just saw someone do that in another thread and I wanted to punch my screen.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    adowe wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    it's not bad in moderation, but it is disingenuous for the company to specifically market it as healthy if that's what they are doing.


    You are totally missing context and dosage.

    dosage? yes, i understand it's not bad in small doses. i'm saying the marketing gimic sounds disingenuous. the general population who is shopping for nutella and goes for these marketing gimmics is not thinking of chocolate when they are shopping for healthy. whether or not it's fine in moderation is irrelevant.

    They don't claim it's healthy, exactly, at least not in the commercials I've seen. They do say that it is made from wholesome ingredients - cocoa, milk, and hazelnuts. They do not say it is made only from wholesome ingredients.

    Whether cocoa, milk and hazelnuts are wholesome or not is an opinion. Lots of people don't think cocoa is wholesome. Some don't think milk is wholesome. Personally, I don't care. If I liked it, I'd eat it. I find it too sweet and too chocolatey. I love the hazelnut taste of gianduja and want that to be the most prominent.

    Now as it happens, I just received a shipment of large amounts of imported chocolate (for baking/cooking, mostly). The company also sells gianduja spread from Italy. Specifically, the spread that won one of last year's international chocolate awards in that category. Couldn't resist ordering a jar. Now that is everything I wanted Nutella to be and more. Will be ordering more in my next shipment, I assure you.

    Ok share the brand? Gianduja is my favorite thing ever.

    The brand is Slitti. They won with their milk chocolate gianduja spread called Riccosa. They took 2nd with their dark chocolate gianduja spread called Gianera. I, of course, had to order one of each. I'm undecided as to which I prefer - I only took a small taste and loved them both. I'll need a much larger sample set over a longer period of time to decide :blush:

    In case anyone else feels like hunting down award-winning chocolates just for fun, link to last year's results is here: internationalchocolateawards.com/2014/11/world-final-2014-winners/

    Oh, I should add. I ordered from an internet company - Chocosphere. Not sure how easy Slitti is to find other than local to Italy and online.

    Yeah I won't be getting this here unless I find it in a shop I think.. just too $$ lol.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    Nutella is nasty. It tastes like liquid sugar with a hint of chocolate. Peanut butter, on the other hand...

    Personally, I don't like Nutella's macro distribution, and I don't eat it that often because of that and its taste. I know that it is primarily composed of quick-acting carbs (21g of carbs for 2tbsp of nutella compared to 6g of carbs for 2tbsp peanut butter) with a lower percentage of fat and protein, so it'll easily spike up my blood sugar and not keep me full for that long.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    Thank you for using moot and not mute. Irks me how many people call a point mute. I just ask them how do they know? Maybe it just chose to stop talking.

    They don't get it.

    I just saw someone do that in another thread and I wanted to punch my screen.

    Just be careful not to mention it. Someone will whine to a mod and they'll warn you, because grammar correction is "attacking".
  • drajbirbal
    drajbirbal Posts: 12 Member
    I added 1 Tbsp Nutella to a banana-cherry-Greek yogurt smoothie. Tasted really good, but a bit too sweet. Will try 1/2 Tbsp next time, for only 50 cals to a healthy morning breakfast.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    This thread is relevant to my interests.

    I find Nutella good for my mental health at any rate...
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    This is a great article discussing the pros and cons of Nutella by looking at its ingredients. Labeling foods as good or bad may be a false dichotomy but consider her conclusion:

    "The bottom line: Why try to make out something is healthy when it’s not? And clearly not, when you look at the true list of Nutella ingredients. Just accept Nutella for the chocolatey treat it is! Have it on toast, croissant or crepes. It’s a good case of clever marketing that highlights the few positives — and says nothing about the bad things."

    Here's the link: http://foodwatch.com.au/blog/additives-and-labels/item/nutella-the-full-correct-list-of-ingredients.html

    I didn't read the article, but I agree completely with the synopsis. It's chocolate with a little hazelnut added. The primary ingredient is sugar. It's not going to be high on the list of "healthy foods".
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    what's not healthy about it, exactly?
  • carolynmo1969
    carolynmo1969 Posts: 120 Member
    It's a delightful treat
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    This is a great article discussing the pros and cons of Nutella by looking at its ingredients. Labeling foods as good or bad may be a false dichotomy but consider her conclusion:

    "The bottom line: Why try to make out something is healthy when it’s not? And clearly not, when you look at the true list of Nutella ingredients. Just accept Nutella for the chocolatey treat it is! Have it on toast, croissant or crepes. It’s a good case of clever marketing that highlights the few positives — and says nothing about the bad things."

    Here's the link: http://foodwatch.com.au/blog/additives-and-labels/item/nutella-the-full-correct-list-of-ingredients.html

    I didn't read the article, but I agree completely with the synopsis. It's chocolate with a little hazelnut added. The primary ingredient is sugar. It's not going to be high on the list of "healthy foods".

    Why not? what's unhealthy about it?
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I wasn't aware that anyone actually thought of Nutella as a "health food."

    That....

    Idk though...it sure does seem healthy for my soul! Lol. So addicting. My sister made nutella and strawberry crepes w/ whipped topping once.....I highly recommend for a treat. So good.
  • mscheftg
    mscheftg Posts: 485 Member
    The first time I laid eyes on Nutella was in Poland. My host family bought it for us because they thought all Americans loved Nutella. I made sure to buy some once I got home! :)
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited March 2015
    Worth noting the date on this article is from 2011. Several years ago, Nutella started an American TV ad campaign that stated that Nutella on toast was a healthy, well balanced breakfast for children, and I suppose their website stated the same. It bit them in the butt, because a perfect storm of anti-sugar, anti-fat, and breakfast is the most important meal folks rained down almighty guilt on them for trying to make kids fat and sugar-crazy.

    To be fair, I'm not sure I would consider Nutella on toast a good daily breakfast for kids, depending on what they were eating the rest of the day. When I was a kid, breakfast was possibly the only meal I ate that wasn't overly fat-and-sugary, so it wouldn't have been appropriate in my family.

    To be more fair, if you are deciding what to feed your kids for breakfast based on TV commercials, and not reading labels, I suppose it's just Survival of the Fittest kicking in anyway.

    I didn't know Nutella existed until I was in my 30's. It's definitely yummy, but I kind of think of it as a shortcut to drinking hot cocoa while I eat peanut butter with a spoon. Which I do on a fairly regular basis...
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    That article: So...much...derp...
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    It is basically candy, delicious stuff. I would not categorize it as healthy.
    Entirely up to you how you want to use your calories.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I wasn't aware that anyone actually thought of Nutella as a "health food."

    Same. I don't think I've ever seen it referred to as "healthy."

    It is however yummy and slightly addicting. I won't keep a jar in the house, but if I ever really want some I go to the store and grab one of those Nutella to Go things. Prevents me from over indulging in it. In the house it is just way to tempting.

    I get the 30g single servings, enough to slather on a slice of toast!

    Pre-long run/ ride fuel -

    Four slices of wholemeal toast, butter, nutella and mashed banana.

  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Worth noting the date on this article is from 2011. Several years ago, Nutella started an American TV ad campaign that stated that Nutella on toast was a healthy, well balanced breakfast for children, and I suppose their website stated the same. It bit them in the butt, because a perfect storm of anti-sugar, anti-fat, and breakfast is the most important meal folks rained down almighty guilt on them for trying to make kids fat and sugar-crazy.

    To be fair, I'm not sure I would consider Nutella on toast a good daily breakfast for kids, depending on what they were eating the rest of the day. When I was a kid, breakfast was possibly the only meal I ate that wasn't overly fat-and-sugary, so it wouldn't have been appropriate in my family.

    To be more fair, if you are deciding what to feed your kids for breakfast based on TV commercials, and not reading labels, I suppose it's just Survival of the Fittest kicking in anyway.

    I didn't know Nutella existed until I was in my 30's. It's definitely yummy, but I kind of think of it as a shortcut to drinking hot cocoa while I eat peanut butter with a spoon. Which I do on a fairly regular basis...

    Context and Dosage

    Nutella on Toast can very well be part of a healthy diet even for children.

    It's too bad a lot of the generation Xers have so much pull and not enough education to know better and take accountability for their actions.
    Guess it's easier to blame corporations and government.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I think we need to turn this thread constructive.

    How does one create a nutella cocktail?
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    I think we need to turn this thread constructive.

    How does one create a nutella cocktail?

    Well, Bailey's has a Hazelnut flavor now. Does that qualify?

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    wut?

    really? Well now. FILBERT MY COFFEE OFF.
This discussion has been closed.