This is going to be a short post. I’ve written before about processed food. And we continue to get hood-winked into thinking processed food is ok, EVEN HEALTHY. It hardly EVER is. Let’s take Snackwell Cookies. Or as I call them “diet sabotage” cookies.

First, they STILL are selling these. You can’t find them a lot, but they are out there. And let’s examine the nutrition. They used to have zero fat, but now they have 2.5 G of saturated fat, but 3 total Gm fat. Where’s the other .5 G? Read my ingredient evaluation below. And please, don’t buy them.

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So, what jumps out? There is minimal fat. Fat gives you satiety. What happens when you eat these? Your blood sugar goes up >>>your insulin levels rise to use the sugar>>>and you stay hungry because there is NO fat or protein to offset and slow the digestion. You’ve just eaten a “healthy” cookie with nothing but an immediate sugar load. No whole food has this. Because it is BAD for your body.

Not to mention that the ingredient list reads like a chemistry book, and there is basically NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE IN THESE COOKIES BECAUSE THERE ARE VERY FEW “WHOLE FOOD” INGREDIENTS. And notice, this cookie has no eggs.. no butter…

Wheat Flour (inflammatory, loaded with carbs, many react to wheat)

Corn Syrup — Invert Sugar — Sugar realize this is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ingredients, so this cookie has a lot of SUGAR, that’s what all these turn into in your system. Sugars are inflammatory, cause insulin resistance and 14 g of added sugar is too much. Make your own cookies. Better yet, use monkfruit or stevia, both natural, low glycemic sugar alternatives.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Coconut And/or Palm Kernel And/or Palm) Here is where I get mad. It says there is ZERO trans fats, but that is highly improbable. Keep in mind that companies can report ZERO when it is less than .5 gram. There are probably small amounts of trans fats in this hydrogenated “vegetable” oil. End of story. They are there, and they are NOT good for you.

Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali): Cocoa is a food ingredient that is important for the contribution of flavor to foods but is also associated with potential health benefits. The chemistry thought to be responsible for cocoa’s cardiovascular health benefits is the flavanol antioxidants. Evidence from the literature indicates that natural cocoas are high in flavanols, but when the cocoa is processed with alkali, also known as Dutch processing, the flavanols are substantially reduced. see research paper here. Anytime you mess with what God created, you get a downside.

Glycerine: Generally safe, but again, a sugar alcohol. Since glycerin is a form of sugar alcohol that your body cannot fully absorb, consuming too much — either alone or through foods — may also lead to gas and diarrhea.

Leavening: Ammonium Bicarbonate, Baking Soda, Baking Power, Baking Soda, Cornstarch, Sodium Aluminum Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate Can you say CHEMICALS?

Soy Lecithin: Soy lecithin is obtained by degumming crude soy oil. Steam or warm water is added to the oil, the mixture is stirred for 10-60 minutes and then the oil insoluble sludge is separated from the oil by centrifuge. The sludge is then bleached once or twice to reduce the color. Additives (soy oil, fatty acids or calcium chloride) can also be added to keep the final product from becoming a plastic solid when it is cool. Oh, I want some!

Gelatin helps hold the cookie together. When is the last time you added gelatin to a cookie recipe? Not harmful, but not necessary either.

Cocoa Powder, Salt — ok

Hydrolyzed Soy Protein – was this in Grandma’s cookies? nuh uh. Again, this is protein generally obtained from soybeans, then broken down into amino acids by a chemical process called acid hydrolysis. Used as a flavor enhancer in numerous processed foods because of its “umami” (savory meat flavor) taste. It has a high level of sodium and MSG, and is a low-quality protein source.

Natural Flavor… huh? WTH is this? they don’t say, do they?

Sodium Hexametaphosphate read about this here would you add this to your food?

In the end, they are so not worth it.