I love to try new products but I got careless and bought a new “healthy” product called Sneaky Chef No-Nut Butter. It’s made from yellow peas and the label says it’s non-GMO and free from peanuts, tree nuts and gluten. In other words, use this instead of peanut or almond butter on your sandwiches and toast.
Who Is The “Sneaky Chef”
She’s Missy Chase Lapine and she has a book about sneaking healthy foods into your kids meals so they eat good food, without knowing it or complaining. Sounds worthy, right? Maybe it is. But we all know that just because a recipe includes fruit or veggies doesn’t make it healthy. Think lemon pie, pumpkin bread or cherry cobbler. Ah, if only they WERE healthy! But we all know that the goodness from the fruit is cancelled by all the sugar and fat.
Ms. Lapine’s website has recipes like No-Nut Butter & Jelly Muffins which includes “vegetables, whole grains, nuts, Rich in vitamins A, B complex, C, E, K, manganese, iron, potassium, folate, riboflavin, selenium, fiber, and protein”.
What’s In No-Nut Butter?
The basic ingredient is yellow peas which is good. But …
- A serving of 2 T contains 180 calories which is about the same calorie count as peanut butter. And 120 of those calories come from fat! This means that 2/3 of each serving is fat. Do our kids really need more fat???
- The second ingredient is canola oil. When I made my video course on 93 uses of coconut oil I did some research on canola oil and have sworn off it forever! I watched a video of the stuff being made and when it’s first created it’s grey and foamy! Really disgusting stuff. Then they bleach it and refine it to make the pretty golden oil we all know. The idea that canola is healthy is one of those myths promoted by business interests.
- Next we have palm oil. In its natural state, palm oil has some benefits but we can be sure that the palm oil we get in our food is highly refined: “palm oil causes low-grade inflammation that is linked to insulin resistance, obesity and other metabolic diseases“.
- Next are mono and diglycerides, really awful products. You’ve heard the famous statement that oil and water don’t mix? Well, they do if you add mono and diglycerides to a product. The list of problems associated with these horrors is way to long to discuss here but just a few of their effects include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, inflammation, obesity and problems with cholesterol.
When we look at Missy Chase Lapine’s recipe for the muffins mentioned above we find the ingredients include more canola oil, sugar and jam that may be filled with sugar.
Is this really what you want to feed your kids?
I’m off to throw this so-called healthy product in the trash can. Live and learn but I won’t be buying any more products from this brand.
PS: my son tried a small, cautious spoonful and pronounced it “disgusting”. Of course, that doesn’t mean other people won’t like it but even if it was healthy, he wouldn’t eat it.
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