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?

I can't buy a jar of Nutella for this exact reason. It wouldn't last 5 minutes 😅

It turns you into a yellow bear who hangs out with a depressed donkey.

Why does it matter what others think?

My ds has good quality wholemeal bread toast with butter and home-made jam for breakfast, and a sliced pear or apple. The bread has plenty of fibre, no additives and is low-gi. The butter provides vitamins A & B12. The jam consists of fruit & sugar 50:50. No additives.

His breakfast stops him being hungry in the morning, gives him the energy to focus in class. He enjoys it.

He eats a healthy home-cooked diet with lots of veg, few upfs, he only likes/drinks water. I'm not going to worry about a scrape of butter and a dessert spoon of greengage jam.

Would you counter an argument or just smile, nod and say nothing?

This. @Luftfahrt22 . I'm not even sure why you think it's an issue.

🤣

Well, I'm OK then.
I dislike honey unless it's in a hot squash drink, when I have a sore throat.
Can't stand Nutella.
And jam is a rare commodity because it goes mouldy before I can eat it all.
Aside from that, who cares.

Not sure how you can compare the likes of organic Manuka honey which has recognised health benefits to Nutella.

You don't have to say anything, just smile and nod. What does it actually matter?

Keep your jam in the fridge once it's opened. I just used some on crumpets, goodness knows how long it's been in there, but it was fine.

I can eat a jar of biscoff with a spoon within 1 weekend
There are unhealthy quantities (like this) but smeared on a piece of toast? I wouldn't call it unhealthy.
It would definitely be the healthier option alongside a fry up.
It's all about moderation.

I’ve never had Nutella. Doesn’t really appeal. Honey does have nutrients such as iron and zinc, has anti inflammatory, anti oxidant and anti bacterial properties.

For breakfast I have a slice of toast (superseeded bread) with marmite or Vegemite or honey or peanut butter. And a banana.

Would it? I mean obviously not all fry ups are the same but a fry up might include beans, tomatoes, mushrooms as well as loads of protein. Processed meat isn’t great but then neither is sugar. If you are doing something you will need energy for I would think a fry up is a much healthier start to your day than toast with a sugary spread.

What do people keep saying that there are no unhealthy foods? Of course there are. All junk food is unhealthy. All ultra processed food is unhealthy.
If it wasn't unhealthy then large amounts of it wouldn't be unhealthy.
Food is meant to be nutritional in the first place. It's meant to provide your body with vitamins and nutrients to help your cells do what they're meant to do and keep your brain and body working well, as well as regulating your hormones and moods.

Unhealthy food does the opposite. It causes inflammation in your body and disrupts various hormones and can lead to physical and mental ill health.

Our bodies are amazing and can work well do deal with small amounts of unhealthy food, but overburden it and there are usually consequences.

Why might you feel the need to 'counter an argument'? I think most people know that Nutella and honey contain sugar. Just nod/shrug and let people do what they want.

This is, quite frankly, bollocks.

I say there are no unhealthy foods, because I was treated for an Eating Disorder in early adulthood, and saw first hand amongst my fellow patients the damage that the good food / bad food narrative can do. We all spent months and years unpicking that and learning to challenge it, and ages working with dieticians and professionals to understand that the pseudo-science was killing us, as well as propagating really unhelpful thinking patterns.

If a food is healthy, eating a lot of it isn’t damaging? Actually, unbalanced diets aren’t good, end of. If you ate large quantities of unprocessed vegetables to the exclusion of other foods, you would be unhealthy.

When I say this, I’m also considering mental health. Food isn’t just fuel, it’s a social, psychological and emotional experience. Rigid thinking around it is unhealthy in all kinds of ways.

The good food / bad food narrative is incredibly unhelpful.

Yep. And Turkish, Greek, Italian people. Honey is amazing. Eat a spoon a day, preferably in herbal tea. Make a face mask, hair mask, have it for breakfast on your toast. Mix it with pepper and cinnamon if you have a cold. Different types of honey have different medicinal benefits too. Have you ever tried forest honey, lavender, oregano honey? Ok Im off to eat some now 😂

This is nonsense. There is a healthy diet or an unhealthy diet. No foodstuff right on its own is 'unhealthy' or 'healthy', its just food in a various combination of macros

Even a pizza has a good amount of protein and fibre in it due to the bread and the cheese/meat.

Strongly agree 😁

I think there are benefits from honey, esp if good quality local honey. Our local lavender field actually saves me a jar because my dd has hay fever triggered asthma - and local honey is good for that (made from pollen of similar flowers). I expect there are fewer benefits from cheap honey but equally at least it’s natural.

Jam is obviously very sugary but at least, esp if it’s good quality, there’s fruit in there. So basically a “treat food” akin to any sweet stuff you enjoy.

Nutella is going to be pretty crap for you, let’s be honest, and I’ve never heard of anyone saying it’s healthy. It’s pretty much all palm oil isn’t it?

Your last sentence agrees with what everyone you're disagreeing with is saying.

"Unhealthy" food could be very "healthy" in the absence of all other food couldn't it?

I've never heard anyone claim Nutella is healthy! Or jam either I think.
Honey has some health benefits but of course is very sugary!

Would it? I mean obviously not all fry ups are the same but a fry up might include beans, tomatoes, mushrooms as well as loads of protein. Processed meat isn’t great but then neither is sugar. If you are doing something you will need energy for I would think a fry up is a much healthier start to your day than toast with a sugary spread.

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A fry up is fried foods, fried eggs, fried bacon, fried sausages, fried bread, fried mushrooms/tomatoes usually cooked in some kind of oil or fat. So this is far unhealthier than toast and spread.

A cooked breakfast containing healthier hot breakfast items like beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and some kind of protein isn't necessarily a fry up they will probably be grilled or warmed in a pan rather than fried in oil.