AIBU to say that honey, jam, Nutella are all unhealthy foods despite small amounts of benefit from the 'natural' ingredients

[Luftfahrt22]

I keep hearing people adding honey/jam/Nutella to their toast because it's 'healthy' and they believe it's making their high carb snack better as a result. I never know whether to say anything as I am no expert and if people believe it's healthy then maybe they feel better as a result.
Would you counter an argument or just smile, nod and say nothing?

What makes you think people want to hear your view on their food?

I'd also question if you know what kind of approach people are taking to eating. As without knowing this you're not in any kind of position to comment on their diet. High carb isn't bad, they might not be trying to avoid carba for example.

I'd say something like peanut butter could be described as healthy. But very calorific obviously.
Nutella is fat and cocoa powder. Jam is sugar and geletin. So not healthy.
Honey I'd say seems healthier than white sugar but it's the same thing basically.

Honey is very healthy. When I was growing up we needed to eat a tablespoon full of good authentic honey a day. Add it in your tea (after it cools down, boiling changes its composition) or milk, drizzle on your cereal... Pine honey, chestnut honey, has great health benefits. It is not comparable to Nutella. Though love Nutella too. Jams made from real fruit are amazing. But again, not on the same bucket as honey at all. The key with Nutella and jam is moderation.

Er what? Literally no one claims this

I’ve never heard this.
I’ve seen social media videos where a healthy version of Nutella is made in a blender because of its high sugar content.

But the caffeine and carbs!

Good quality honey is very healthy.
I don't care about the carbs or whatever. You want to do something about your health and figure, move, eat good stuff and eat the less healthy but good stuff you like.
@Luftfahrt22 if you are this obsessed with this topic, you may simply have some really healthy diet but an unhealthy relationship with food.
I'd rather eat brioche with a thick layer of chocolate spread than obsessively read calorific content and how many carbs something contains. It's more fun.

I've literally never heard anyone describing adding jam/honey/Nutella to toast as "making my high carb snack healthier". Are you sure it's not a joke in the same way people laughingly talk about wine being fermented grape juice?

Anyway I wouldn't say anything. I assume people don't want to hear me pontificating about their diet.

Also the honey thing. I am so sick of people bleating on about it "being so unhealthy". Yes, it is sugar 🤷‍♀️ But the whole point about honey is due to the consistency/cost/strong flavour, it is generally harder to overconsume honey in the same way as white table sugar. So it's not healthier, but people tend not to eat as much of it. Or it goes along a healthier combo - eg greek yoghurt, berries and a small drizzle of honey is probably a nutritionally better combo than a Muller light.

Dry toast Is bloody joyless what do you do for taste and joy op ?

No they're not healthy. They're all basically sugar 🤷‍♀️ they are delicious though!

I don’t care what or why other people eat what they do.

For me, moderation. I’m not going to get angsty about fancying a bit of nutella or jam if the overall picture is OK. Life and health is too unpredictable to micromanage my food to that extent.

Try telling an Balkan person that honey isn't healthy!!

Proper honey has a fair few health benefits.

Yes I think you should tell your toast "friends " what they are eating is unhealthy just for the lolz !

Surely if you think about it they are all dedinitely, totally, absolutely healthy. Jam - fruit so one of the 5 a day. Nutella - nuts so healthy. Honey - gift from the bees so natural and therefore healthy.

This thread reminds me of that meme about replacing coffee with green tea and removing the last remaining 3% of joy from your life.

"I've never heard of anyone citing Nutella or jam as a health food".

In the 90s they advertised Nutella as a healthy breakfast for kids because its made with hazelnuts. They neglected to mention the main ingredient was sugar - so basically they promoted hazelnut flavoured icing as a healthy start to the day!

This.

Honestly read the diet threads on here and you can form a reasonable argument that any food is “unhealthy”.

it’s ridiculous.

it’s only unhealthy if eaten to excess. Everything in moderation, balance your portion sizes to maintain your weight at a healthy level.

Honey does have benefits, yes it's sugar so not good for teeth but depending on the plants the bees have been feeding on it has good levels of vitamins and minerals. Manuka honey is known to be a good on cuts and some skin conditions, I think the jury is out on its 'ingestion' benefits from a healing point of view, but it still contains minerals and vitamins.
Nutella can't see any health benefits in that! I make my own jam, yes it contains sugar, but my apple jam has very little sugar added, so it's quite tart, but still nice with cheese, pork or in natural yoghurt.

I put a squirt of honey and some cinnamon on my Greek yoghurt most days, but not loads. I don't regard it as healthy, but it enhances the experience.

I do love Nutella but I rarely buy it as I tend to eat it out the jar with no hand brake. I think because it's "nuts" people think it's healthy. I chuck some walnuts on my yoghurt most days and I think this is healthy.

Jam - mainly berries and sugar. I don't think anyone eats jam because it's healthy. But again I put berries on my yoghurt most days too and I think this is healthy.

Absolutely nobody thinks that OP.

YABU to say ‘unhealthy foods’. No such thing, only unhealthy / healthy diets. If you live on Nutella, that’s unhealthy. If you live on vegetables, that’s also unhealthy.

I never know whether to say anything as I am no expert and if people believe it's healthy then maybe they feel better as a result.

Surely that depends on whether they’re asking for your opinion or not?

Shop bought mass produced honey isn’t healthy and may well be adulterated with sugar syrup.

Raw honey is healthier and better than refined sugar. It contains beneficial compounds as well as sugars. But it does contain sugars.

We used to keep bees and the difference in the honey is really noticeable.

As pp has already pointed out : No such thing as a healthy or unhealthy food.
Definitely such a thing as a healthy or unhealthy diet.

There's a difference. A big difference.