Sweet and crispy cookies have always been popular among girls, and soda crackers have become the breakfast of choice. "Because many people believe that soda crackers are the most nutritious among cookies, in fact, soda crackers are not necessarily very nutritious or healthy," said Associate Professor Fan Zhihong, a member of the Nutrition Support Committee of the Chinese Association of Food Science and Technology. He introduced that the nutritional value of cookies is limited and they cannot replace a proper meal. They can be used as emergency food, but their consumption frequency should be reduced.
Unveiling the Four Common Types of Cookies 1. Soda Crackers
Problem: Generally made from refined white flour, their fiber content is very low. To achieve a layered effect, baking soda and other ingredients are added, which can reduce B vitamins.
Advantage: Low in sugar and oil. 2. Whole Wheat and Digestive Biscuits
Problem: The texture of fiber can be poor. To improve the texture and achieve a flaky effect, a lot of oil may be added, making the fat content high. This can easily raise blood lipids and is not conducive to preventing heart disease. It's worth mentioning that some biscuits use hydrogenated vegetable oil, which contains trans fatty acids and is detrimental to human health.
Advantage: Relatively high in fiber. 3. Filled Biscuits
Problem: This type of biscuit is generally made from refined white flour and has a high sugar content to improve the taste, which can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. The "filling" in filled biscuits, in pursuit of flavor and color, often uses additives, usually flavors and colors, with very little real fruit ingredient. For example, orange-filled biscuits do not contain real oranges but are made with mixed additives. Although additives are not necessarily harmful, they provide no nutrition and might be worse than plain biscuits.
Advantage: Sweet and delicious taste. 4. "Fortified" Biscuits
Problem: For many "high-calcium" or "iron-fortified" biscuits, consumers don't know exactly how much calcium or iron has been added. It would be more responsible to indicate what percentage of the daily recommended value the added ingredients constitute.
Advantage: Some fortified biscuits contain a significant amount of added calcium, iron, etc., making them relatively more nutritious than some other biscuits. How to Choose Relatively Healthy Biscuits?
When choosing biscuits, do you carefully check the ingredient list and nutritional information on the package? According to a survey by Fan Zhihong, less than 25% of consumers have the habit of reading food labels, and fewer than 10% of those who claim to understand them can actually do so. This makes consumers easily influenced by promotions and advertising and unable to truly understand the product quality. Adding coarse grains to ingredients increases nutritional value
The main ingredients of biscuits are flour and other grains, fats, and sugar. Regular flour (wheat flour) is mostly refined white flour, which has low nutritional value. If other coarse grains or legumes are added to the ingredients, its nutritional value is improved. Using vegetable oil is relatively better
Among the fats used in making biscuits, ordinary vegetable oil is relatively better. Animal fats such as butter, lard, and tallow have a higher saturated fat content and are slightly less valuable. "Shortening," "vegetable cream," and "hydrogenated vegetable oil," which contain trans fatty acids, are the most unhealthy. Use a paper towel to judge fat content
Relatively speaking, biscuits containing vegetables, with light salty and sweet tastes, and low fat content are healthier. To check the fat content, you can wrap a biscuit in a white paper towel, place a heavy object on top, and check how much oil has soaked into the paper after 20 minutes. The more oil on the paper, the higher the fat content. If the biscuit is crispy and not greasy to eat, but a lot of oil soaks into the paper towel, it indicates a high content of saturated fatty acids, which is even worse for your health.