Granola is healthier than most other cereals

I was just quoting the book. P172. Yes, stewed apple you make yourself is probably just processed as opposed to UPF and I make stewed apple frequently as a way of preserving my friends apple glut.
All I meant was, the effect of processing I found surprising in this context.

I was just quoting the book. P172. Yes, stewed apple you make yourself is probably just processed as opposed to UPF and I make stewed apple frequently as a way of preserving my friends apple glut.
All I meant was, the effect of processing I found surprising in this context, food for thought (horrible pun, sorry)

Exactly, proper Greek yoghurt holds together because of the way it's stained- it's the Greek style yogurts that are misleading as there are just produced the same as other yoghurt and often have other things added.

Granola is high in sugar and ultra processed, as are cornflakes. Better off making porridge or your own granola.
Not much bought cereal is healthy except for:
shredded wheat
some mueslis with no sugar like Dorset cereals
some single ingredient cereals like rude health does (spelt flakes or oat puffs)

Lol, I’d rather have scary sugary cereal than animal breastmilk

I make my own 0% fat yoghurt which is so thick you can stand a knife in it and all it contains is skimmed milk and live culture.

It comes out thick and then I strain it through muslin to remove as much as the whey as possible. Its a long process as the fermentation is 8 hours and the straining can be up to 6 hours, but its worth it. Its so thick to be spreadable. I use it for all sorts, bases of dips and pate, as the creamy component to a curry, and love it with muesli and berries or dolloped on fresh fruit

Can we just get clear that UPF stands for ultra-processed food, not just processed food? It's a term that's been invented for manufactured food that contains ingredients you'd never find in a normal domestic kitchen, e.g. emulsifiers, or for food that's been processed in a way that couldn't be done in a domestic kitchen and that's considered harmful because of what it does to the gut and other bits of the body. The ultra means the processing is extreme and unnatural.

Stewed apple is not by any stretch of the imagination UPF. It's made by cooking apples, with or without sugar or other sweetener, cinnamon and so on. I agree it's not as good as eating a raw apple because of the lack of chewing and it won't have as much fibre, but there's nothing wrong with eating stewed apple at all.

Ultra processed food is pretty much what it says in the tin ... Food that is highly processed and has odd/unpronounceable/unidentifiable ingredients.

If you stew and apple at home, that's just cooked apple. You'd have to eat it in a few days.

Buy a shelf stable apple puree pouch it probably has ascorbic acid, has been heat treated, that kind of thing. It might even have added flavouring or preservatives etc.

The more I think about it the more I agree with this! Oats and other things, bound together with something sticky and probably sweet, baked, packaged. It's far too sweet for me. I don't not have a sweet tooth but fortunately for what's left of my waistline this is one kind of food that just doesn't appeal. I'd rather have something savoury.

Anyway, on the back of this thread I've had a re-think about the granola I get for Mr Gasp and he will be getting a lower sugar one from now on. He likes to have oats and nuts. The other ingredients are just there to make it palatable.

That does matter, btw. It's no good providing healthy food if it's so dull or outright nasty that nobody eats it. A little sugar or honey or dried fruit added to something that's otherwise good for you is fine if it is means it gets eaten, and in the context of a full day or week of eating a little sugar is really not a problem.

I personally can't get worked about small amounts of UPF ingredients, either.

Presumably a mistake...

But yes, agreed that they wouldn't be full portions regardless.

How is chopped apple and a few sultanas 3 of your 5 a day? An apple is one of your five a day, a tablespoon of sultanas is another portion so if you make with both that’s 2 portions but where is the third portion coming from?

If I remember correctly, no chewing so easy to eat as soft. It comes under the category, UPF is pre-chewed. Apparently apple juice and apple puree cause the blood sugar and insulin levels to spike higher than eating a whole apple, then fall to a lower level than they had been so people were still hungry. A whole apple makes blood sugar rise slowly, then return to previous level with no crash and people feel fuller after.

I can't eat oats. I'm fond of malted wheat flakes, which I think come in between you and DH? Tastier than cornflakes and they're whole grain, but less exciting than granola.

It depends on your day surely? Granola is very high calorie. I eat it before long bike rides or hikes at the weekend when I feel I need a quick but big fuel up.
A bowl of cornflakes is not good fuel at all.
But most work days don’t need the amount of calories or sugar in granola.

Shredded wheat is purely wheat, I know it's not everyone's taste but it's not too bad.

Calories aren't the be all and end all of determining whether something is healthy. Home made granola is simply baked oats essentially and then nuts and perhaps dried fruit should you wish, the issue with shop bought ones is that they add honey or sugar or whatever else to add sweetness; but you don't have to add this at home. A bacon sandwich is in no world healthier than granola even if its lower calorie.

The fibre is still there. Stewed apple is just a chopped up apple heated up a bit. Juice is where you squeeze the juice out and bin the fibre.

The pectin in stewed apple is considered to be really good for gut health

We cook most vegetables and they are still considered healthy

I make granola, it's definitely healthier than processed cereal on many levels though not necessarily on calories

Porridge made in the microwave (but don’t buy the instant stuff) takes two minutes. Aldi’s organic one is cheap and tastes lovely.

The best cereal on the market imho is Waitrose essential fruit and nut muesli.m (no added sugar, decent price). It is perfect with some plain Greek yoghurt and fruit.

0% Greek yoghurt has more protein per 100g- most people I know who buy it do it because for the calories the protein content is amazing. The ones to avoid are the Greek STYLE yoghurts.

It depends but refined sugar is not healthy

I do eat it bit I don't pretend it's healthy

I wouldn't be surprised if there's fewer cals in a bacon sandwich than in a bowl of granola

I’d of assumed it’s because you’ve taken out the fibre. A bit like fruit juice is not as good for you as eating fruit?

Dh always has the Alpen muesli with no added sugar, with fruit on top. During the U.K. strawberry season it’s nearly always those - imported strawberries are not allowed in this house. Otherwise e.g. a cut up apple or a satsuma.