Fiber is the Future

If you’ve ever tried plantains, you may have been surprised at how something that looks like your traditional banana can actually taste so foreign. Plantains are more firm than “dessert” bananas and have a higher starch content, giving them a less sweet flavor.

Plantains are generally cooked, whereas bananas are eaten raw. Many African and Asian populations utilize plantains. Cuban cuisine features plantains, and Peruvians boil, brew and ferment them to make the alcoholic beverage chapo juice.

If you’re looking for a convenient way to incorporate plantains into your diet – consider plantain chips. Turbana – a Florida-based company that maintains they are the largest importers of plantains – has a line of plantain chips, available in 6 different flavors.

I sampled the garlic version, as it was the only flavor in stock with 3 grams of fiber per serving (compared with 2 grams in the other flavors). The garlic plantain chips were light and airy, with a satisfying crunch and subtle flavor, impressive considering that they only have 80 mg sodium per serving.

A 1 oz serving of garlic-flavored plantain chips contains:

• 140 calories
• 7 grams fat
• 80 mg sodium
• 20 grams carbohyrate
• 3 grams dietary fiber
• 1 gram protein

The ingredients list includes plantains, vegetable oil, salt and garlic flavoring and the product is gluten free. While these are a great alternative to traditional potato or tortilla chips, one drawback is that 3 of the 7 fat grams are saturated, providing 15% of your daily value for saturated fat.

While I found the plantain chips in that impulse-buy-lined checkout at Marshall’s, you can purchase these plantain chips at the Turbana online store or on Amazon.

February 16 is National Almond Day. According to the California Almond Board, almonds are one of the most nutrient-dense tree nuts you can get your hands on. Almonds are packed with vitamin E, riboflavin, niacin, protein, calcium and fiber.

How much fiber? A one ounce serving – approximately 23 almonds – has 3.5 grams of dietary fiber, along with 163 calories, 16 grams of protein and 14 grams of fat – 13 of which are unsaturated (the “good” fats).

Almonds make a great snack: combine a piece of fresh fruit with a 1-oz serving of almonds for an 7 or 8-gram of fiber, 250-calorie mid-day pick-me-up.

Not sure if you can keep yourself to just 23 almonds? Check out these perfectly portioned almond tins, great for calorie controlled snacking on the go – available here.

A New York man has sued snackmaker Frito-Lay, claiming he was misled by the “Natural” and “made with all natural ingredients” claims on Frito Lay’s SunChips and Tostitos brand products.

In his proposed class-action lawsuit, the plaintiff maintains that he was duped into paying up to $0.10 more per ounce for a bag of the Natural chips.

The lawsuit is unlikely to have legs, as the word “natural” in food manufacturing translates literally to “nothing”. Natural is not a legally definable term, with the exception of meat, which, according to the USDA can only be labeled natural if it contains no artificial ingredients or added color and is only minimally processed.

The real beef behind the corn chips claim is and should be that the ingredients in Frito-Lay’s products are genetically modified. Which is not surprising, considering most corn in the US is genetically modified.

Many Americans are surprised to learn that they regularly consume genetically modified ingredients. If you have eaten a packaged, processed or fast food today – and unless you maintain a 100% organic foods diet -  you have certainly ingested GMOs.

The majority of all soybean, corn and cotton crops planted in the US are now genetically modified. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, in 2011:

• 94% of US planted soybean is now genetically modified – ending up in your food supply as soybean oil
• 73-75% of US planted cotton is now genetically modified – ending up in your food supply as cottonseed oil
• 65-72% of US planted corn is now genetically modified – ending up in your food supply as high fructose corn syrup, animal feed for beef and corn oil

Theoretically, it is not far-fetched to claim genetically modified organisms are not natural. But with the very marked and rapid takeover of GM crops in the US, GMOs are unfortunately our new normal.

Granola is a sneaky thing. It’s one of those foods that for whatever reason has been granted an undeserved health halo. Despite its healthy appearance, traditional granola is chock full of oil and sugar, packing a lot of calories without much nutritional bang for your buck.

But KIND Healthy Grains puts a new spin on an old favorite. Instead of just doctoring up plain old oatmeal, these hearty clusters feature a variety of whole grains: the Maple Walnut Clusters have added chia and quinoa and Cinnamon Oat and Vanilla Blueberry flavors have flaxseed.

The Oat and Honey Clusters with Toasted Coconut that I sampled – thanks to product sent by KIND – contained a laundry list of hearty grains: brown rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa, with some chicory root further down the ingredient list for additional fiber. The texture was crisp and the flavors pleasing, without being overly sweet.

Even more impressive than the flavor is the nutritional makeup: all that flavor for so little added salt and sugar! A 1/3 cup serving provides:

• 130 calories
• 4 g fat
• 20 mg sodium
• 3 g fiber
• 6 g sugar
• 3 g protein

Healthy Grains come in six flavors and can be eaten as a cereal or as a a finger food snack. These Healthy Grains are a great addition to the high fiber snack world, and the “It’s About Time!” product the granola world has been waiting for!

The Sensible Portions company is just one of a growing number of manufacturers now making “Veggie Straw”, “Veggie Chip” and “Veggie Stick” packaged snack foods. Sensible Portions’ Veggie Sticks are probably the most recognized due their Costco presence – although almost every generic brand has a similar product now.

Despite the name “Veggie” – these snacks are nothing more nutritious than your average potato chip:

• They’re not low in fat – 7 grams of fat per 130 calorie serving
• They’re not low in sodium – about 300 mg sodium per serving
• And they certainly aren’t a good source of fiber – 1 gram per serving

So how can something that is ostensibly a “vegetable” be totally devoid of dietary fiber? Well, the problem lies in the fact that these products are pretty far removed from what was once ever considered a vegetable.

The Ingredient List reads like this: Potato flakes, rice flour, potato starch, yellow corn meal…not much vegetable in these vegetable sticks.

If you want to eat vegetables: eat vegetables. If you’re looking for a salty, fatty potato starch stick – eat them as God intended: as French Fries!