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Sometimes
faking it is a good choice
March 18, 2009
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
A
colleague recently asked me to settle a food fight she was
having at home. “We’re having the war of the corn
dogs,” she said.
Her husband, it turned out, has a penchant for traditional,
state fair-style dogs, which he buys in bulk at their warehouse
club.
“Nitrate dogs” is what my colleague calls them.
But she’s got a counter-offensive. She buys Morningstar
Farms brand meatless corn dogs and stocks up when they go
on sale at the grocery store.
It’s not a bad tactic.
In fact, the food industry in recent years has made big progress
in developing great-tasting and healthier versions of foods
that, in their traditional forms, are not much more than salty,
artery-clogging fat bombs.
Chicken nuggets, sausage, bacon, bologna and, yes, corn dogs,
come to mind.
But each now has a vegetable-based counterpart that offers
an acceptable – frequently delicious – alternative
for even the most discerning palate. Call them the Great Fakes.
My colleague says her 7-year-old son, Sam, loves the veggie-style
corn dogs. When I asked about what he likes best about them,
his answer was simple.
“Taste,” he said.
My colleague thinks her son became accustomed to the alternative
dogs because he’s had them from time to time all his
life.
And that’s the biggest barrier for most of us when we
consider making the switch to healthier versions of favorite
foods. We balk at foods that don’t taste like what we
grew up expecting.
Whole milk vs. skim, white bread vs. whole wheat. For many
of us, making the change to healthier versions of favorite
foods took time.
It’s worth considering a similar transition when it
comes to other foods, too. The advantages are plentiful:
* Better nutritional quality. Veggie versions of corn dogs,
hot dogs, cold cuts, sausage and ground beef are generally
lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and higher in dietary
fiber.
* Great taste. Food companies have done an excellent job of
creating meatless chicken nuggets, chicken patties, veggie
“ribs” and other substitutes for common animal-based
counterparts.
The texture, flavor and aroma of these products vary by brand.
From my experience, most are delicious.
* Convenience. Heat-and-serve veggie burger patties and chicken
or beef strips are quick and easy ingredients for lunch or
dinner.
Because these foods are familiar to us, they also make for
good crutches in the quest to improve our diets.
But the convenience can be a downside, too.
It’s easy to become dependent on these better-for-you
convenience foods and get stuck in a rut. A harder but more
important transition for most of us to make is to eat more
meals based on unprocessed fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables.
Other downsides:
* They’re processed. They’re better for you than
their “real” counterparts, but many are still
relatively high in sodium.
One full-sized, Morningstar Farms corn dog contains 500 milligrams
of sodium, nearly half the amount of sodium most of us should
limit ourselves to each day but less than most regular corn
dogs contain.
* They reinforce a junky habit. Healthy versions of corn dogs
at home or lower-fat chicken nuggets in the school cafeteria
are an improvement.
But they familiarize kids with foods that, if chosen outside
the controlled environment of home or school, are likely to
be the nutritional pits.
* They cost more. My colleague calculated that, even on sale,
the Morningstar Farms brand mini corn dogs that her son likes
cost more than four times as much per dog as compared with
State Farm mini corn dogs sold at her warehouse club store.
Yes, you’ll pay more for quality.
But all thing considered, for the nutritional savings, taste
and convenience, it’s a good idea to embrace the fakes.
Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian
and clinical associate professor in the Department of Health
Policy and Management and the Department of Nutrition in the
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Send questions
and comments to suzanne@onthetable.net.
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