Being Healthier

I decided to compare my banana bread breakfast with their Whole Food Health Optimizer smoothie for this challenge using Vega’s online nutrition calculator. I was not quite sure what to expect when I entered into the Breakfast Challenge Nutrition Calculator. I doubt that any of the other Vega Breakfast Challenge reviewers have had extensive knowledge with nutrient databases – you see-  I have.  My thoughts (frustrations) are included after the analysis below but for now, here are the items I was able to input into the calculator to “build your breakfast”…

sugars, brown
Select the Size 1 cup ( my recipe uses 1/2 cup)
Select the Quantity 1 cup

butter,with salt
Select the Size 1 cup  ( my recipe uses 2 Tbsp)
Select the Quantity 1 cup

bananas,raw
Select the Size 1 cup
Select the Quantity 2 cup

cereals,oats,inst,fort,pln,p
Select the Size 1 cup
Select the Quantity 2 cup

 

Because of the calculator’s limitations, I had to divide the numbers by the appropriate amounts to get to what would really be the nutrition of a serving of my banana bread recipe. Here is the comparison of Whole Food Health Optimizer (WHFO)

with 1/8th of the Banana Bread recipe I’ve been using. Here is the comparison breakdown:

Calories (cal)
WHFO: 240    Banana Bread: 157

Protein (g)
WHFO: 26    Banana Bread: 2

Carbs (g)
WHFO: 22    Banana Bread: 26

Sugar (g)
WHFO: 1    Banana Bread:  13

Fiber (g)
WHFO: 15    Banana Bread: 4

Fat (g)
WHFO: 6    Banana Bread: 5

Omega-3 (g)
WHFO: 2500    Banana Bread: 0

Saturated fat (g)
WHFO: 1    Banana Bread: 3

Cholesterol (mg)
WHFO:0    Banana Bread: 80

Sodium (mg)
WHFO:0    Banana Bread: 125

Vitamin A (iu)
WHFO: 5000    Banana Bread: 190

Vitamin C (mg)
WHFO: 60    Banana Bread: 9

Vitamin B12 (mcg)
WHFO:6    Banana Bread: 0

Calcium (mg)
WHFO: 1100     Banana Bread: 220

Iron (mg)
WHFO: 18    Banana Bread: 11

 

WHFO vs BB Winner…..?

You can see 1/8th of the entire loaf of Banana Bread is only 157 calories, low in protein, low in fat, fairly higher in sugar (bananas are naturally high in sugar) but has 4 grams of fiber! The Whole Food Health Optimizer does pack nutrients that the banana bread did not though– Omega 3 fatty acids, Protein, Fiber, Calcium and Vitamin A.

Which one would you choose ??

I choose both!

For my actual “usual breakfast” you can see I added the banana bread to protein-packed and probiotic packed organic yogurt and snagged some extra vitamins and minerals with a fresh nectarine. This “made up for” what a lot of what was missing in the WHFO smoothie. I could only add 5 items to the nutrition calculator though.  If we are just speaking about nutrients and functionality- a WHFO smoothie is going to be fantastic.

Chewing is a psychological, behavioral and physiological event! Chewing helps break down our food AND releases chemicals to our brain to indicate we need to digest. Drinking your breakfast all the time is not a good idea, in my humble opinion, but variety is!

How do you think your usual breakfast?

 

Keep reading for my rant and frustrations about Vega’s Breakfast Challenge Nutrition Calculator…

I received samples of WHFO to review and compare for The Breakfast Challenge, and I honestly enjoythe products that Vega offers ( I have a giveaway coming up this week!). I firmly believe in giving my honest opinion as opposed to a swayed vote for getting something free. So here goes….Part of my last job was to work with nutrient databases to analyze recipes for nutrition content and enter in food recall forms from participants into a nutrient database. The databases that I am accustomed to compared to what is on Vega’s site are much more efficient, larger, comprehensive databases that allow endless input options of quantities- from tablespoons, teaspoons, fractions of cups ( 1/3rd cup, 1/10th etc.), to fluid ounces, grams, 1 inch thick slices, etc.

Vega’s Breakfast Calculator only allows you to enter in “1 ” or more of something, such as “Bananas, raw” … 1 cup is the only option, which calculates to 227 calories. While some bananas might be large enough to equal 227 calories, I know the bananas I use do not.

It isn’t really an accurate measuring tool!  This frustrated me because I tried several other “usual breakfasts” that I eat, but none were either listed or accurate in the calculation. I understand the purpose is to show you the amazing benefits of Whole Food Health Optimizer, which I actually agree that it is one great smoothie I will continue to drink, but the average person that does NOT work with nutrient databases or nutrition analysis could have an inaccurate calculation on their “usual breakfast”.

Here is an example of the inaccurate calculation- Greek Yogurt ( a staple in many blogger’s breakfasts). One Chobani is 130 -160 calories per container depending on the flavor. If you put in yogurt on this nutrition calculator,  the only options for yogurt that come close on this calculator are “yogurt, 12 grams protein per 8 oz” which calculates to  254 calories in their analysis- clearly inaccurate. In their defense, the calculator is using information from one of the larger databases I’ve used- USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference www.ars.usda.gov.