Grab and Go Nutrition

I did a little experiment as part of a Nutrition Presentation for a Wellness Fair. Here’s the scenario: I gave myself 5-minutes at my regular grocery store to grab some food for the day. I made two separate passes. The first pass was made as a person with little-to-no nutritional knowledge, choosing convenient and deceptively healthy choices. The second pass was made as a person with sound nutritional knowledge. I grabbed 6 items on each pass – 1 beverage and 5 food items.

Here’s what I grabbed on the first, convenient and unhealthy pass: A Red Bull (“Energy” Drink), Low Fat Yogurt Cup (It’s low fat – that’s all that matters – right?), Vegetable Thins (must have vegetables and must make us “thin”), A Fruit Pie (has real fruit filling – must be healthy), The Zone Diet Food Bar (sounds and looks like a lot of research went into this baby) and Velveeta Au Gratin Potato Dinner (good source of dairy??? and…. potatoes. Potatoes are natural and must be good for us).
Here is the Nutritional breakdown of Pass #1:

Red Bull: 160 calories, 0g Fat, 39g Added Sugar, 40g Carbs,1g Protein
Cost/Serving: $2.50
Low Fat Yogurt: 210 calories, 2g Fat, 37g Added Sugar, 41g Carbs, 7g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.75
Fruit Pie: 470 calories, 20g Fat, 40g Added Sugar, 70g Carbs, 4g Protein
Cost/Serving: $1.49
Vegetable Thins: 150 calories, 7g Fat, 2g Added Sugar, 40g Carbs, 1g Protein
Cost/Serving: $2.50
Zone Diet Bar: 210 calories, 7g Fat, 17g Added Sugar, 23g Carbs, 15g Protein
Cost/Serving: $1.00
Velveeta Potatoes: 190 calories, 6g Fat, 5g Added Sugar, 26g Carbs, 5g Protein
Cost/Serving:$0.46
Totals: 1,390 calories, 42g Fat, 140g Added Sugar, 219g Carbs, 34g Protein
Cost/Serving: $6.57

Here’s what I grabbed on the second, healthy pass: A Diet Green Tea, Apple, Banana, Carrot, Almonds and a can of Tuna Fish in fresh water. Boring but good – right?


Here is the Nutritional breakdown of Pass #2:

Diet Green Tea: 0 calories, 0g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 0.5g Carbohydrate, 0g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.20
Banana: 125 calories, 0.7g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 32g Carbohydrate, 1g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.32
Apple: 116 calories, 0g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 31g Carbohydrate, 1g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.79
Carrot: 25 calories, 0g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 6g Carbohydrate, 1g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.12
Almonds: 180 calories,15g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 6g Carbohydrate, 6g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.42
Tuna Fish: 70 calories, 0g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 0g Carbohydrate, 16g Protein
Cost/Serving: $0.75
Totals: 516 calories, 15.7g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 75.5g Carbohydrate, 25g Protein
Cost/Serving: $2.60

Here are the differences between both passes:
Pass #1: 1,390 calories, 42g Fat, 140g Added Sugar, 219gCcarbohydrate, 34g Protein, Cost/Serving: $6.57
Pass #2: 516 calories, 15.7g Fat, 0g Added Sugar, 75.5g Carbohydrate, 25g Protein, Cost/Serving: $2.60
Difference: 874 calories, 26.3g Fat, 140g Added Sugar, 143.5g Carbohydrate, 9g Protein, Cost/Serving: $3.97

Check this out: If a person chose to change their buying habits from Pass #1 to Pass #2 for 1 year* they would ELIMINATE from their diet 15 POUNDS OF FAT and 77 POUNDS OF SUGAR!!!! They would also SAVE $992.50!!!!

(* 1-year: 50 weeks, 5 days per week)

These results did not require extensive research. This was simply done on a whim using a common “Grab and Go” approach – a typical methodology for the average American rushing off to work.
Could this partially explain the obesity epidemic in our country?

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