In this health video, Tony reports from the original Whole Foods in Austin, TX which boasts a wide assortment of granola. Unfortunately, every single granola offered is loaded with sugar. In order to get the oats and nuts and raisins to stick together, there needs to be some oil or sugar source like honey or maple syrup or high fructose corn syrup. Luckily the Whole Foods versions don’t have high fructose corn syrup but the amount of sugar in them is still alarming. (To read more about high fructose corn syrup, click here).
How early is sugar listed?
What makes these granola options particularly concerning is that the sugar source is listed as the second ingredient on the label. Remember when reading labels, the ingredients listed toward the front of the list is more prominent, so if you’re seeing a sweetener it as a top three ingredient, we know there’s a lot of sugar in it. I prefer using this method of reading labels, as opposed to trusting the math on labels because, as discussed in this Ted Talk, food companies have found clever ways to manipulate their math.
It’s not going to be easy, but if you want healthy granola, you’ve got to look for one without sugar listed so high on the ingredients. Or, you can go the homemade route!
Make your own
Making your own granola at home is surprisingly easy and a good way to save money. It’s the surefire way to make sure you’re eating the healthiest granola. It also gives you more control over the amount of the sweetener and the quality of the sweetener – remember honey on a food label, isn’t necessarily honey, believe it or not.
My favorite ingredients for making granola are Oats (to read more about why I love oats, click here), almonds, organic raw honey, coconut oil, and raisins (For a video health tip on how to shop for healthy raisins click here).
Simply massage the ingredients up into chunks and press them on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven on 375 and bake to desired consistency.