Topic: health question

[Shawn Meilicke]

nice and quick

peanut butter and jelly=healthy or unhealthy?

umm, seeing as the ingredients prolly arent "good" at my school, well go with these:
white wonderbread for the bread
grape smuckers jelly (prolly some offbrand but whatevs)
jif peanut butter (again, prolly an offbrand)


how bad is that for you?

i know its better than pizza, which is what i used to get all the time.....i cant bring myself to get a salad at my school, i CANT trust those for my life, and thats the healthiest thing there next to fruit that never goes bad (that scares me away too) and then the next is probably the semi-soy burgers (its like 40% soy 60% meat or omsething)

[Alexz]

nice and quick

peanut butter and jelly=healthy or unhealthy?

umm, seeing as the ingredients prolly arent "good" at my school, well go with these:
white wonderbread for the bread
grape smuckers jelly (prolly some offbrand but whatevs)
jif peanut butter (again, prolly an offbrand)


how bad is that for you?

i know its better than pizza, which is what i used to get all the time.....i cant bring myself to get a salad at my school, i CANT trust those for my life, and thats the healthiest thing there next to fruit that never goes bad (that scares me away too) and then the next is probably the semi-soy burgers (its like 40% soy 60% meat or omsething)

Why don't you bring a lunch? 

[Shawn Meilicke]

my house never has the best selection either :/

my "healthy diet" is nowhere near as healthy as it should be
lol

[edgey]

Then go shopping...

No jk I wouldn't be that mean lol check out Muse_of_Fire's sticky in the diet section on how to shop healthily (spelling?) and cheaply.

[Hans Hansen]

There's better things you could eat.  Both are jam-packed (no pun intended...or WAS there...[JAM-packed.  Jelly.  Jam.  Heh.]) with oils and sugars.  PLUS, the PB gets stuck on the roof of your mouth and that's really uncomfortable.  Maybe pop some fruits in that sammy as well, like a sliced banana or strawberries.

[Shawn Meilicke]

its not my choice
my parents buy the food

and only sometimes they takes suggestions


and i love bananas and pb sandwiches

[Shae Perkins]

If you were to feast upon a PB&J I would suggest all natural peanut butter and jelly topped with whole grain bread. I would be quite a bit more expensive, but a much healthier choice.

[Patrick Yang]

I'd suggest replacing PB with some other kind of nut butter, like fresh-milled cashew butter.  Mmmm.  And replacing the jelly with a steak.  Jelly's pretty much pure sugar.  Though if you were to use some kind of fruit preserves, use stuff with real fruit and no sugar, with as short an ingredient list as possible.

But go read Chris's thread on eating right and Muse's thread on shopping healthy on the cheap.

Shouldn't this be in the diet forum anyway?

[drocco]

It depends what kind of jelly, PB, and bread you are using when you're talking about how healthy it is
But even going natural across the boards doesn't make it so great
Lots of sugar/carbs no matter what
Unless you go natural all 3 of those things will contain HFCS
It's far from being the worst thing you can eat but if you're really on a mission to start eating better and cut your sugar intake you should make it a once in a while type thing
If you're going to eat a sandwich, throw some meat on it instead

[DemonEcho]

There's better things you could eat.  Both are jam-packed (no pun intended...or WAS there...[JAM-packed.  Jelly.  Jam.  Heh.]) with oils and sugars.  PLUS, the PB gets stuck on the roof of your mouth and that's really uncomfortable.  Maybe pop some fruits in that sammy as well, like a sliced banana or strawberries.

Haha, what is the difference between jam and jelly?

[Sat Santokh]

don't say it 

[Chris Salvato]

PB&J is not something I would recommend for a lunch all the time -- its a treat, at best.

PB is pretty good - but only the natural kind.  Brands like JIF and cheaper brands add sugar and use "bad" oils along with tons of unnecessary preservatives and additives.  You won't find this in your school cafeteria.

Jelly is pure sugar.  You may as well make it a PB & Starburst sandwich...same thing really.

Bread is pure carb.

The meal has no source of protein (PB is not a source of protein as it is mostly fat)

The fruit suggestion isn't too hot either. All carb, still no protein.

Start shopping for yourself.  Tell your mom you want to go to the store with her when she shops and you will eat everything you buy.

[tombb]

...
PB is pretty good - but only the natural kind.  Brands like JIF and cheaper brands add sugar and use "bad" oils along with tons of unnecessary preservatives and additives.  You won't find this in your school cafeteria.
...

While I agree with the rest of your post, I don't think I can agree with the statement above. I don't see how a 'natural kind' would be much better than something like JIF. The statement about 'tons of unnecessary preservatives and additives' is just incorrect. There are no preservatives in JIF (not that they would be necessarily a bad thing) and no additives aside from simple fats, and even the 'bad' oil is less than 2%, and it's more like a useless type of fat because it's been partially hydrogenated to give a better consistency rather than, say, being toxic, which would be bad if it was the bulk of the fat you consume but again it's just less than 2% of a food that's high in otherwise mostly essential fats.

Also, in terms of sugar, granted I am not an expert in PB since I don't particularly like it to begin with, except as part of a few types of chocolates, but I am not sure how PB would taste without any sugar or what would be the point..
I mean at that point it seems like you would be much better-off with eating roasted peanuts directly which at least are delicious as they are... especially in terms of eating something that tastes good. 
Maybe there are people who would still like it without sugar, but I am not sure I would even call it PB at that point, more like 'pre-chewed peanuts with oil added" (yuck). It sounds as weird as recommending people who like chocolate to replace it with pure bitter 100% cocoa powder with nothing added, which tastes quite different (more like sand).

(for reference: JIF PB Ingredients "MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES (simple fats that become triglicerides a.k.a even more normal fats in the body, here they help with consistency) AND SALT.")

So again, I would also say that you should think of a PB+Jelly sandwich as the equivalent of a nice piece of cake with lots of frosting (maybe a bit like cheesecake in terms of the bit of extra protein from the peanuts) and not as an actual meal or normal nutrition.
And at that point I really don't think you should worry about any difference between a cheap standard brand and some other brand that claims to be 'all natural', because really there won't be any appreciable difference on your body between them (well unless it was sugar-free, but then again if you cared about sugar-free you shouldn't eat the white bread and jelly either and should stick with normal roasted peanuts).

[Shawn Meilicke]

alright well thanks for the help guys

i may start trying to pack a punch

or i guess i could try one of the sub sandwiches at the school, theyre more expensive though

[Chris Salvato]

...
PB is pretty good - but only the natural kind.  Brands like JIF and cheaper brands add sugar and use "bad" oils along with tons of unnecessary preservatives and additives.  You won't find this in your school cafeteria.
...

While I agree with the rest of your post, I don't think I can agree with the statement above. I don't see how a 'natural kind' would be much better than something like JIF. The statement about 'tons of unnecessary preservatives and additives' is just incorrect. There are no preservatives in JIF (not that they would be necessarily a bad thing) and no additives aside from simple fats, and even the 'bad' oil is less than 2%, and it's more like a useless type of fat because it's been partially hydrogenated to give a better consistency rather than, say, being toxic, which would be bad if it was the bulk of the fat you consume but again it's just less than 2% of a food that's high in otherwise mostly essential fats.

Also, in terms of sugar, granted I am not an expert in PB since I don't particularly like it to begin with, except as part of a few types of chocolates, but I am not sure how PB would taste without any sugar or what would be the point..
I mean at that point it seems like you would be much better-off with eating roasted peanuts directly which at least are delicious as they are... especially in terms of eating something that tastes good. 
Maybe there are people who would still like it without sugar, but I am not sure I would even call it PB at that point, more like 'pre-chewed peanuts with oil added" (yuck). It sounds as weird as recommending people who like chocolate to replace it with pure bitter 100% cocoa powder with nothing added, which tastes quite different (more like sand).

(for reference: JIF PB Ingredients "MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES (simple fats that become triglicerides a.k.a even more normal fats in the body, here they help with consistency) AND SALT.")

So again, I would also say that you should think of a PB+Jelly sandwich as the equivalent of a nice piece of cake with lots of frosting (maybe a bit like cheesecake in terms of the bit of extra protein from the peanuts) and not as an actual meal or normal nutrition.
And at that point I really don't think you should worry about any difference between a cheap standard brand and some other brand that claims to be 'all natural', because really there won't be any appreciable difference on your body between them (well unless it was sugar-free, but then again if you cared about sugar-free you shouldn't eat the white bread and jelly either and should stick with normal roasted peanuts).

Well, that's your opinion.

Natural tastes better, is cheaper and has only 2 ingredients - Peanuts and Salt.

[tombb]

Well, that's your opinion.

Natural tastes better, is cheaper and has only 2 ingredients - Peanuts and Salt.

Ah, well I guess if it really has no sugar, that's definitely a big difference, and yeah at that point it's a matter of taste.
I just never heard of it before (if I ever bought it by accident I would have been an unhappy customer hehe, but then again I never bought PB in a jar, only like in a reeses cup )

[Shawn Meilicke]

lmao
reeses are awesome

[Chris Salvato]

Well, that's your opinion.

Natural tastes better, is cheaper and has only 2 ingredients - Peanuts and Salt.

Ah, well I guess if it really has no sugar, that's definitely a big difference, and yeah at that point it's a matter of taste.
I just never heard of it before (if I ever bought it by accident I would have been an unhappy customer hehe, but then again I never bought PB in a jar, only like in a reeses cup )

This is the one I buy.  Their huge 1# jar is like 4 bucks.

http://www.adamspeanutbutter.com/products_detail.aspx?prodID=632

[Callim105]

alright well thanks for the help guys

i may start trying to pack a punch

or i guess i could try one of the sub sandwiches at the school, theyre more expensive though

heh, pack a PUNCH.

[Andy Animus Tran]

I agree that natural tastes better.  It's more.. buttery.  As far as sweetness goes.. The difference between "normal" PB and natural isn't really that staggering.