Food | Life | Nutrition | Sweets |
NUTRITION...
and good pictures.

I made this site because I like to study things that are related to food, and if you're here you probably do too... or you got an e-mail from my mom telling you to look at my web site, which is more likely.

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On my quest of being sugar free I have decided to try out Stevia. What is stevia? Stevia (also known as Sweetleaf) is a South and Central American group of plants with extremely sweet leaves. Extracts of the leaves can be as much as three hundred times sweeter than sugar are are almost calorie-free (usually less than a single calorie in many products that use it; therefore they can say zero calories on the packages.) Stevia has been used in Japan since the 1970's and now accounts for 40% of thee sweetening market (according to wikipedia), and is even used in Coca-Cola there. We don't have it in America because of political corruption. Politicians are given huge sums of money by the sugar pushers and they, in return, protect the sugar market by doing things like banning Stevia as a food additive. In 1996 Stevia was allowed to be sold, but only as a supplement. Our government says that it is not fit for human consumption, but it is a darn good supplement to your health! There is a soda sweetened with Stevia here in the USA

called Zevia, but they can't call it a soda. They have to call it a "Stevia supplement". We here in the States may be getting more Stevia sweetened products soon since Coca-Cola and Cargill are tring to get it legalized. I am trying to get my little grubby fingers on some Zevia, but the closest store selling it is more than 30 miles away and I don't have a car of my own... yet. I made some lemonade with Stevia instead of sugar; it took about 15g (though I probably should have used a couple more.) It would have taken 200g of sugar to sweeten the same batch so I guess my Stevia is 10-15 times sweeter than sugar. I should note that some Stevia has a bitter aftertaste. My brother complained about the aftertaste in the lemonade, so I guess the stuff we have does have a bitter aftertaste.

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In my family, we don't drink regular milk. We drink this crappy Swiss Whey D'lite stuff that's made from whey protein and is supposed to be healthier and taste more like human milk (which is just plain weird to me!) I'm glad to say I will not be drinking the stuff anymore! It has corn syrup solids, sucrose (refined sugar), and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. I would rather drink normal milk. The Swiss Whey D'lite can claim to be healthier because it has half the sugar (6 grams instead of milks usual 12), but it comes from sucrose and corn syrup solids. Whereas the milks sugar comes from lactose (which is sometimes called 'milk sugar'.) So you really have to compare the two and decide what you want. More sugar from nature, or less sugar that has been refined and stripped of all nutrients? I would rather drink the milk, but I can't because I'm lactose intolerant. If I were to drink a glass, even with my lactase enzyme caplets, I would fart up a storm. I'll just have to figure out what I can drink that is a good source of calcium; tastes great; and has no refined sugars, corn syrups, hydrogenated oils, or crazy chemicals.

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March 10th, 2008. I just finished reading a book called Sugar Blues today and I figured I'd write about it so I wouldn't have to do my math. This book is amazing. It gives a rundown of sugar and the history behind it; it links refined sugar to many health problems that people have today; and it is very persuading. After reading just the first chapter or two I decided that I would eliminate, or at least severely reduce, my refined sugar intake. I also decided to give corn syrups, which I already don't like, the boot as well. It's really gonna suck for me because I have so much stuff on here about candy and soda. But I'll just find healthy alternatives to talk about. We're going to the flea market to get our fruits and veggies now (at our local flea market we can get five pounds of oranges for a dollar when they're in season.) Today when I was at my American History Through Film class I was eating my lunch. I had brought carrot sticks with the skin still on them (because that's where the vitamins are), raw string beans, watermelon, orange juice, and some spinach and cheese ravioli. A well rounded nutritious meal if you ask me. The kid next to me had a chocolate bar. Halfway through the film he started stealing my veggies. Three-quarters of the way through the film and we had finished my huge stash. He told me I should bring more carrots next time. I will.

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Contents Yoo-Hoo Hershey's Chocolate Drink Hershey's No Sugar Added 1% Lowfat Calcium Fortified Chocolate Milk Weight: 6.5oz 8oz 8oz Calories Per Ounce: 16.92 16.25 15 Fat Per Ounce: 0.15g 0.13g 0.31g Sodium Per Ounce: 24.62mg 27.5mg 21.25mg Total Carbohydrates Per Ounce: 3.69g 3.63g 1.88g Sugar Per Ounce: 3.38g 3.25 1.38 Protein Per Ounce: 0.31g 0.25 1.38g

Like I said the other day, I'd rather drink the Hershey's no sugar added 1% lowfat calcium fortified chocolate milk. It's a clear winner, beating the chocolate drinks in 6 of the 7 comparisons. But you can't really call it a fair competition since I chose the healthiest choice I could find. The winner of the chocolate drinks is Hershey's. It got one green, three oranges, and one red. Yoo-Hoo got no greens, three oranges, and three reds. Note: The chocolate milk is in a 14oz bottle, but it lists 8oz as a serving. Maybe I'll write a letter to those guys at Men's Health and ask them to look at the Hershey's chocolate drink. Fun Facts: -The chocolate milk has 445% more protein than the Yoo-Hoo. -The Yoo-Hoo has 207% more sugar than the chocolate milk. -The chocolate milk has 238% more fat than the Hershey's chocolate drink.

Go to FoodFacts.com because they're freaking awesome!

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I recently got the book Eat This Not That by David Zinczenko (the editor-in-chief over at Men's Health) to read for school. It's an awesome book which shows some simple food swaps that you can do at your favorite restaurant to eat healthier. It also has a section where they compare certain foods and decide which one is better. Example: Children's Drinks. I do have some complaints though. In the said section they say that the chocolate drink Yoo-Hoo is a good choice, and that Hershey's Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk is a bad choice. I disagree. They compare one box (6.5 oz) Yoo-Hoo to one bottle (14 oz) Hershey's Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk, but in reality they list the nutrition for an 8 oz serving of the chocolate milk, not an entire bottle. That's one of the only things I think is wrong with the book; they don't say how big the items are. That's why I always list the weight on my website. I'm also going to compare the Yoo-Hoo to the chocolate milk for you. I will compare the items by dividing what's in it by the weight. That way I can see how much is in it per ounce, not item. By the way, I got the image from Amazon.com. Click on the image to go to Amazon and check out the book.

I would not drink either of these. Rather, I would drink Hershey's No Sugar Added 1% Lowfat Calcium Fortified Chocolate Milk because it's an all around healthier choice and has 11g of protein. But if I had to choose one of the two I would take the chocolate milk because it's actual milk and has four times the protein. It's main ingredients are: 2% reduced fat milk, sugar, and less than 2% of cocoa and some vitamins. The Yoo-Hoo: Water, whey from milk, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, cocoa, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, some chemicals I can't say or bother writing down, and some vitamins. The Yoo-Hoo may be lower in fat, but It's all sugar, water, and flavoring (kind of like soda). Where as the chocolate milk is real milk and doesn't have HFCS, corn syrup solids, or partially hydrogenated veggie oil (although it does have sugar.)People are also probably more likely to drink more than one Yoo-Hoo because it's tiny (6.5oz) and it's on the 'good' list in the book.

WHAT'S IN IT YOO-HOO HERSHEY'S WEIGHT 6.5oz 8oz CALORIES PER OUNCE 16.92 25 FAT PER OUNCE 0.15g 0.63g SUGAR PER OUNCE 3.38g 5.6g

My main complaint is that they say the nutrition they list is for one bottle of chocolate milk when it's really for 8 oz's. Some people might think that it's healthier than it really is. I probably would have compared two products that are actually alike also. Example: Yoo-Hoo and Hershey's Chocolate Drink. In fact, I think I'll write about those two tomorrow. But I've been sitting at the computer for an hour doing today's and I'm getting quite bored.


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CONTENTS ABBA-ZABA APPLE JACKS WEIGHT 57g 30g SUGAR 23g 16

My favorite candy is Abba-Zaba. My favorite cereal is Apple Jacks. Which one has more sugar? To find out you can just look at the table to the left, or you could listen to how to find out exactly using math. Here's the math: Take the amount of sugar in the Abba-Zaba (23g) and put it over the weight of the bar (57g) like a fraction (23/57). Do the same with the Apple Jacks and compare. 23/57 | 16/30 Find a common denominator (I used 290) to compare them. Get rid of the denominators after this step if you want less clutter. 115/290 | 152/290 = 115 | 152 As we all know, 152 is more than 115; Therefore, the cereal has more sugar by weight than the candy. An easier method to use is turning them in to percentages. Divide the sugar by the weight and you will get the percentage of sugar in a serving. Abba-Zaba: 23÷57=0.403509=40.35% Apple Jacks: 16÷30=0.533333=53.33% The Apple Jacks have a higher percentage of sugar.

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I like cheeseburgers. Love 'em. I might even say they're my favorite food. In fact, what sounds better than a double cheeseburger with some fresh fries and a RC Cola? No! Nothing sounds better! You know why? It's the perfect food! And I lined up some nutritional info on the best, and worst, cheeseburgers... Double cheeseburgers actually.

WHAT'S IN IT	McDONALD'S	BURGER KING	WENDY'S	JACK IN THE BOX	CARL'S JR.	IN-N-OUT BURGER	A&W
WEIGHT	173 grams	189 grams	282 grams	310.7 grams	376 grams	330 grams	281 grams
TOTAL CALORIES	460	500	730	970.1	920	670	720
CALORIES FROM FAT	210	260	360	614.8	510	370	Unknown
TOTAL FAT	23g	29g	39g	68.3g	57g	41g	42g
SATURATED FAT	11g	14g	16g	26.6g	21g	18g	15g
TRANS FAT	1.5g	1.5g	2.5g	2.8g	Unknown	Unknown	4g
CHOLESTEROL	80mg	105mg	135mg	116.2mg	160mg	120mg	150mg
SODIUM	1140mg	1030mg	1530mg	1423.3mg	1490mg	1440mg	1370mg
TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES	37g	31g	43g	52g	53g	39g	46g
DIETARY FIBER	1g	1g	2g	2.1g	3g	3g	2g
SUGAR	8g	6g	9g	11.3g	10g	10g	10g
PROTEIN	25g	30g	49g	37.4g	48g	37g	Unknown
POTASSIUM	Unknown	Unknown	630mg	467.1mg	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

My conclusion is that none of these are good for you. If I had to choose one I thought would be the worst for you I'd say it's the Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box. Why? Because it's not even the heaviest burger, but it has the most calories,calories from fat, total fat, and a butt-load of saturated fat. I mean, holy crap! It's the worst burger I've ever seen, it's so fatty! I thought McDonald's was bad! If you were to eat an Ultimate Cheeseburger, fry's, and a shake... you would probably die. Well, you won't die... not right away that is. Also, the A&W double cheeseburger looks almost just as bad as the Ultimate Cheeseburger. It is amazingly disgusting how much junk they can fit between two buns.

Cool Fact #1: The McDonald's brothers and the Snyder's knew each other. Who are the McDonald's brothers? That's a dumb question. They started McDonald's. Who are the Snyder's? Good question! They are the folks who made In-N-Out Burger, the best burgers in California (and a few other states, but mostly California).
Cool Fact #1.2: McDonald's sucks, it isn't real food. I would rather cook a meal than go to that place. It's nasty!
If you would like to know more about fast food I would have to recommend the movie Supersize Me and the book Don't Eat This Book, both by Morgan Spurlock and the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
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I loath Coke, Pepsi is better, and RC Cola is the best. In case you were wondering, I don't drink Jolt Cola, but I threw it in there for it's high caffeine content.

127.5639.96g WHAT'S IN IT 12oz PEPSI 12oz COCA-COLA 12oz RC COLA 12oz JOLT COLA CALORIES 164.88 160 150 SODIUM 42mg 39mg 50mg 15mg TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES 40.56g 40g 40.32g SUGAR 39.96g 40.56g 40g 40.32g CAFFEINE 37.5mg 45mg 43.3mg 72mg

Have you ever wondered why most soda's have sodium in them? I mean, who wants salt in their sweet drink? Well, most soda's contain Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). Why? It's a flavor enhancer. They can enhance the flavor with less flavorings. It's how they save money.
I would say there are some good books about the 'cola wars', but they're all boring... really boring. There are whole chapters describing why Nixon is a Pepsi man. Yeah. Boring.
But all the books that aren't boring are one-sided. Sucks, doesn't it?

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'Energy drinks' are very popular now days. I personally think they're stupid. Sure the caffeine will keep you up a couple more hours, but you'll spend all that time peeing (caffeine makes you have to pee a lot, it dehydrates you... stupid, huh?).

WHAT'S IN IT? RED BULL ROCKSTAR (energy cola) FULL THROTTLE COCAINE (energy drink) MONSTER REDLINE RTD SUGAR 56.4g 43.56g 43.56g 25.68g 40.56g 0.0g CAFFEINE 115.68mg 120mg 105.72mg 399.96mg 105mg 375mg I never actually thought about putting energy drinks on the site until my brother had to go to the hospital after drinking six energy drinks (two Cocaine's and one Redline RTD among them). He's okay now, but he was pretty messed up, I did the math and found that he had had more than a gram of caffeine (that's a lot, there's a thousand milligrams in a gram, and that crap people call cola, Coca-Cola, has only 45 milligrams) . I do not drink energy drinks. If you want to find out how much caffeine is in what, check out www.energyfiend.com. Cool Fact #2: Some energy drinks contain warnings on the can. Wow. You gotta be crazy to drink those! ----- You know, energy drinks don't really give you energy, but sports drinks do. WHAT'S IN IT 12oz GATORADE average 12oz PowerADE average CALORIES 75 108 SODIUM 165mg 79.5mg POTASSIUM 45mg Unknown TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES 21g 28.5g It's true that Gatorade and PowerADE is better than soda, but you still shouldn't drink it too casually. The best time to drink these beverages is when you're exercising vigorously. One has more sugar, but if you're exercising really hard you might need it, keep that in mind. Cool Fact #3.1: In Australia PowerADE was very popular, so Gatorade made a commercial showing the history of Gatorade. Gatorade sales skyrocketed after that. Ha! Take that PowerADE, you copycat piece of Coke crap (sorry Coke drinkers, it had to be said...)! Cool Fact #3.2: Dr. James Robert Cade, the man who invented Gatorade, has made millions off of it, but he still lives in the same small house and donates most of it to charity. I really respect that guy. It's also another reason not to drink PowerADE. If you want to know more about the history of Gatorade you should read 'First in Thirst' by Darren Rovell. ----- Everybody likes chocolate cupcakes, so I decided I'd round up a few of them and check out their nutrition facts. I was also going to put Drake's Cakes chocolate cupcake on there but I couldn't get any nutritional info. I'm going to Minnesota in July for a family reunion/grandma's 80th birthday, so if I can find a box I'll add it to the line-up. UPDATE: I went to Minnesota and there were no Drake's Cakes products. Bummer. But I did get me a bunch of Mello Yello! Yay! WHAT'S IN IT HOSTESS LITTLE DEBBIE TASTYKAKE (2 cupcakes) WEIGHT 50g 45g 67g CALORIES 180 190 250 CALORIES FROM FAT 54 81 90 TOTAL FAT 6g 9g 10g SATURATED FAT 2.5g 4.5g 2.5g CHOLESTEROL 5mg 5mg 10mg SODIUM 290mg 150mg 240 TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES 30g 26g 40g DIETARY FIBER 1g 0.5g 1g SUGARS 17g 18g 27g PROTEIN 2g 2g 2g CALCIUM UNKNOWN 20mg UNKNOWN There are a few things you must know about these cupcakes; they are slightly different from each other. The Hostess and Tastykake creme filled cupcakes have a chocolate frosting on the top, whereas the Little Debbie cupcake has a chocolate coating (if it's even chocolate). My brother says he ate a Little Debbie cupcake, threw up a few days later, and could taste the cupcake in his puke. Gross huh? ----- You probably don't care who I am or what I like, but I'd like to think you do. So here are my top five snacks. WHAT'S IN IT #5 CHEX MIX #4 FUNYUNS #3 PEARSON'S SALTED NUT ROLL #2 MELLO YELLO #1 ABBA-ZABA WEIGHT 30g 28g 71g 12oz 57g CALORIES 130 140 340 177 250 CALORIES FROM FAT NO INFO NO INFO NO INFO NONE 50 TOTAL FAT 4g 7g 16g NONE 5g SATURATED FAT 0.5g NO INFO NO INFO NONE 4g SODIUM 410mg 270mg 210mg 50mg 85mg CARBOHYDRATES 22g 18g 40g 48g 48g DIETARY FIBER 2g 1g NO INFO NONE 1g SUGARS 2g 1g NO INFO 48g 23g PROTEIN 2g 2g 9g NONE 2g There you go, you know what my favorite junk foods are. And yes, I do realise Mello Yello is a Coke product! I know I've been giving Coke lots of crap. So here it goes: Coke isn't all bad... just most of it. ----- People like cereal. It's a fact. I don't know anybody that won't eat cereal. So what cereal do we like most? I figured it was Cheerios because... because... uh... it's popular? It doesn't matter why I picked Cheerios! I picked it, and I picked several flavors and a cheap brand. WHAT'S IN IT CHEERIOS HONEY NUT CHEERIOS MULTIGRAIN CHEERIOS FRUITY CHEERIOS MALT-O-MEAL SCOOTERS WEIGHT 30g 28g 30g 27g 30g CALORIES 110 (16 from fat) 110 (14 from fat) 114 (9 from fat) 100 (10 from fat) 120 (18 from fat) TOTAL FAT 2g 2g 1g 1.5g 2g POLYUNSATURATED FAT no info no info no info .5g .5g MONOUNSATURATED FAT no info no info no info 0g .5g SODIUM 210mg 190mg 207mg 135mg 200mg TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES 23g 22g 25g 23g 23g DIETARY FIBER 3g 2g 3g 2g 3g SUGARS 1g 9g 6g 9g 4g PROTEIN 3g 3g 2g 1g 4g VITAMIN 'A' DAILY VALUE 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% VITAMIN 'C' DAILY VALUE 10%10% 26% 25% 25% CALCIUM DAILY VALUE 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% IRON DAILY VALUE 47% 25% 100% 25% 50% VITAMIN 'E' DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% no info no info RIBOFLAVIN DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% 25% no info VITAMIN 'D' DAILY VALUE no info no info no info 10% no info VITAMINS 'B6' & 'B12' DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% for both 25% for both no info ZINC DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% 25% no info THIAMINE DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% 25% no info NIACIN DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% 25% no info FOLIC ACID DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% 50% no info PANTOTHENIC ACID DAILY VALUE no info no info 100% no info no info PHOSPHORUS DAILY VALUE no info no info no info 4% no info Holy crap. That's a big chart. I guess that's why I usually leave the vitamins out when I make them. But, you judge a cereal not just by the usual nutrition facts, but by the vitamins it has, so I had to put them in there. I like Multigrain Cheerios the best. They taste good, they're full of vitamins and minerals, and we can get them sometimes at the local flea market. The info for the cereals came from DietFacts.com, NutritionData.com, and manufacturers' websites. ----- I remember when I used to go to this one Round Table Pizza every week for a science class (we would reserve a backroom) and these one ladies always ate salad instead of pizza. I'm thinking, 'You crazy!', and I've always wondered; what's healthier, my pizza, or their salad. So I worked the Google on the Internet machine and found out something shocking! My pizza was better! Pizza Fat Content Two slices of pepperoni pizza from a 14" pizza - 26g One serving Hidden Valley for dipping - 14g Light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese - 1.5g Total: 41.5g (63.8462% Daily Value) Salad Fat Content Two servings of Hidden valley - 28g Two servings Bacon Bits - 3g Two Devilled Eggs - 12g Total: 43g (66.1538% Daily Value) First of all, I'd like to point out that I usually ate the pizza plain, and it was usually cheese, and they didn't give me any Ranch unless we bought wings. But I decided to make a worse case scenario for me and a what-I-think-is-best-case-scenario for them. I know they put at least two servings of Ranch, I'm pretty sure they had two eggs, I think they had bacon, and they probably had croutons, which can add a couple more grams of fat.