I guess "Whole" Foods does not mean "healthy"...
MyrnaSolganick
Posts: 60 Member
Found out a muffin Iiked from Whole Food bakery - a vegan chocolate chip muffin - has - are we ready? 780 calories. I was stunned. that is more than half my daily calories. That means a quarter of the muffin - which is not much - packs 195 calories. I wont be eating that muffin any more. What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery - and what the hey is in it that packs that many calories? I think cheesecake is even less caloric than the muffin!
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Replies
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Calorie counting is eye opening!16
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Calories in an item does not equal healthy/not healthy.
And yes, calorie counting is definitely eye opening!38 -
Muffins are basically cake. They're made with flours, sweeteners, fats, flavourings.
Whole Foods =/= calorie free. The caloric value of a food has no relation to its healthiness or its nutrient content.28 -
Losing weight often leads to health gains. But it does not follow that low calorie is automatically healthy.
Also calorific are coconut oil, chia seeds, all nuts, avocado, and hemp hearts.
It would be the delicious fats and nuts in that muffin where you are getting the calorie punch.
The healthiest meal or snack in my most humble opinion will be reasonable in calories, have a mix of macros, and include some fiber and vitamins. Edamame beans meet all these criteria.
But you can get the same benefits by preparing foods that combine the macros. Like hummus dip and bell pepper slices. Or crackers and cheese.8 -
As others have said... neither "whole" nor "healthy" have anything to do with number of calories.15
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There are lots of nutrient-dense foods that are also calorie-dense. Cashews, for example, are full of nutrition. They're also full of calories. This is why it's typically not helpful to judge foods in isolation.
But seriously, a chocolate chip muffin is going to be calorie-dense unless someone is specifically doing things to lower the calorie count. The vast majority of bakeries (and home cooks) are focusing on having baked goods taste good. That someone would think that what is basically a giant cupcake would be a low calorie food . . . doesn't make sense to me. How can they offer it? Well, bakeries have a long standing tradition of offering high calorie food and presumably this muffin sells well enough to make them want to continue offering it to customers.
Whole Foods generally has a philosophy of not using certain ingredients. They do not have a commitment to low calorie food. If you want your foods to fall in that category, you'll have to do your own research.16 -
Bakery goods tend to be high in calories.
They’re often packed with sugar and fat, which makes them yummy.
This doesn’t make them “bad” or “unhealthy,” but it does land them in the “treat” category for me.
For the calories, I’d rather have a donut.
~Lyssa10 -
Isn’t it a bummer? On the bright side, you probably avoided genetically modified ingredients that your body may not know how to metabolize.76
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Stinaseward wrote: »Isn’t it a bummer? On the bright side, you probably avoided genetically modified ingredients that your body may not know how to metabolize.
If your body doesn't metabolize something, what does it do with it?29 -
Healthy and calorie dense are not one in the same.7
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Calories are not the same as nutrition/healthy.
High calorie foods are not necessarily bad for you. They can contain plenty of nutrients.
It may not be worth it to you to use that many calories on a food if it doesn't fill you up, is not tasty enough or doesn't help you meet your particular goals well.
I wouldn't want to use 780 of my precious calories on a muffin unless it was the most amazing tasting muffin ever. Even then I would probably have some once a year and call it muffin day.
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MyrnaSolganick wrote: »Found out a muffin Iiked from Whole Food bakery - a vegan chocolate chip muffin - has - are we ready? 780 calories. I was stunned. that is more than half my daily calories. That means a quarter of the muffin - which is not much - packs 195 calories. I wont be eating that muffin any more. What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery - and what the hey is in it that packs that many calories? I think cheesecake is even less caloric than the muffin!
that's normal calories ...for a muffin.
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Muffins are calorie bombs. People go to Dunkin Donuts and think they're being "healthy" by getting a muffin instead of a donut. Eat the donut.21
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I think a better title would be healthy =/= low calorie. It could have very healthy ingredients with good fats and lots of protein, and be a great choice if your caloric needs are 3000/day, but it's a lousy choice if you only need 1500/day.2
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MyrnaSolganick wrote: »Found out a muffin Iiked from Whole Food bakery - a vegan chocolate chip muffin - has - are we ready? 780 calories. I was stunned. that is more than half my daily calories. That means a quarter of the muffin - which is not much - packs 195 calories. I wont be eating that muffin any more. What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery - and what the hey is in it that packs that many calories? I think cheesecake is even less caloric than the muffin!
Calories aren't unhealthy, calories are fuel. Some people need more fuel than others. The existence of high calorie foods should not bother you, just avoid them if you don't need that much fuel. Leave those for the construction workers or the people who need 4000 calories a day. Not all food items are designed and tailored specifically to your personal needs.20 -
Stinaseward wrote: »Isn’t it a bummer? On the bright side, you probably avoided genetically modified ingredients that your body may not know how to metabolize.
Don't be ridiculous.28 -
Stinaseward wrote: »Isn’t it a bummer? On the bright side, you probably avoided genetically modified ingredients that your body may not know how to metabolize.
Come on, let's just go into the weekend in a good way. We don't have to do this.26 -
Store-bought muffins can be ridiculous! Tim Hortons muffins range from 300-400ish... 780 is just crazy.
That's why I just make my own with substitutions. Greek yogurt and applesauce make a good replacement for the fat content, and stevia works well as a sugar replacement. Definitely cuts down the calories.5 -
Did you think because it was labelled vegan it would be more healthy?9
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LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »Did you think because it was labelled vegan it would be more healthy?
A friend brought me a vegan scone from the Whole Foods bakery once. I ate it, it was delicious. Was in the bakery a week later and saw that it has 700 calories (I had estimated about 500). Whole Foods seems to have a special talent for cramming calories into their vegan baked goods. But man, it was a really good scone. . .14 -
But 700+ calories.... ouch!
a home made scone of same size/ weight wouldn't top 380 cals so I know which one I'll be sticking with. 2 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »But 700+ calories.... ouch! a home made scone of same size/ weight wouldn't top 380 cals so I know which one I'll be sticking with.
Yeah, there's a reason that's the only time I ever had it!6 -
Muffins are just cupcakes with a better marketing dept
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fuzzylop72 wrote: »Muffins are just cupcakes with a better marketing dept
yep - just like squirrels are rats with fluffy tails and really good PR agents!8 -
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MyrnaSolganick wrote: »What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery
What do you mean? It's a bakery.19 -
Just to be clear health and calorie density are two wholly separate things and shouldn't be related to one another.
Being healthy is receiving adequate nutrition and maintaining a reasonable percent bodyfat as high bodyfat can cause a lot of health issues.
You can eat high calorie foods and be perfectly healthy, it is not like a 700 calorie muffin is in and of itself unhealthy. If a person ate nothing but that muffin then yeah, they would be unhealthy...but if a person ate nothing but kale they would be unhealthy too.
Health is getting the right amount of nutrients within a budget of calories that is reasonable. I guess the muffin is "unhealthy" in the sense it has little nutrients and a large number of calories so if you are someone whose calorie budget is low then it could be considered a poor choice. Still, doesn't make the muffin itself bad in like an objective sense. Some people have a calorie budget of 4000 in which case that muffin is a reasonable snack.10 -
Was that muffin about half the size of your head? Your math indicates that the thing should have weighed about 200 grams, which is roughly 7 ounces. Since a slice of white bread is a serving for about 1 ounce, the muffin had the calories of a tower of bread 7 slices high. Wow. They should give a prize to people who get the 'whole' thing in their mouth.3
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MyrnaSolganick wrote: »Found out a muffin Iiked from Whole Food bakery - a vegan chocolate chip muffin - has - are we ready? 780 calories. I was stunned. that is more than half my daily calories. That means a quarter of the muffin - which is not much - packs 195 calories. I wont be eating that muffin any more. What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery - and what the hey is in it that packs that many calories? I think cheesecake is even less caloric than the muffin!
There is plenty of garbage to be bought at Whole Foods.
Having said that, which part of that muffin is whole food exactly? Because as far as I can tell its all processed.
Yeah, Whole Foods doesn't mean they sell only whole foods (and a muffin obviously is processed).
WF also sells a whole variety of stuff, including B&J's vegan ice cream, which you'd better believe is high cal.
Also, at my store, they sell Jeni's, which is not in my usual grocery.
They sell tons of high cal prepared foods, and some excellent cheese options, and -- again in my store -- a decent variety of wine and beer. Not sure why someone would think that something from WF would be low cal (or a "whole food").
They also have a really good selection of fruits and veg in my local store, and plenty of other things I like, I enjoy shopping there and am not slamming them for having a wide variety of foods like any other decent grocery.5 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »MyrnaSolganick wrote: »Found out a muffin Iiked from Whole Food bakery - a vegan chocolate chip muffin - has - are we ready? 780 calories. I was stunned. that is more than half my daily calories. That means a quarter of the muffin - which is not much - packs 195 calories. I wont be eating that muffin any more. What I dont get is how they can offer such an item in the bakery - and what the hey is in it that packs that many calories? I think cheesecake is even less caloric than the muffin!
There is plenty of garbage to be bought at Whole Foods.
Having said that, which part of that muffin is whole food exactly? Because as far as I can tell its all processed.
Yeah, Whole Foods doesn't mean they sell only whole foods (and a muffin obviously is processed).
WF also sells a whole variety of stuff, including B&J's vegan ice cream, which you'd better believe is high cal.
Also, at my store, they sell Jeni's, which is not in my usual grocery.
They sell tons of high cal prepared foods, and some excellent cheese options, and -- again in my store -- a decent variety of wine and beer. Not sure why someone would think that something from WF would be low cal (or a "whole food").
They also have a really good selection of fruits and veg in my local store, and plenty of other things I like, I enjoy shopping there and am not slamming them for having a wide variety of foods like any other decent grocery.
I love my WF for their quality of fruits and veggies (organic or not), seafood and fantastic grass fed / organic meat. This is "whole food".
Any "junky" stuff can be had MUCH much cheaper elsewhere.
Valid point. If you are going to go to a place like Whole Foods not sure why you'd go there to buy a muffin.2
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