Muffins…Not So Innocent!

Let’s face it.  A muffin is just cake in another shape.  

Sure, you can try to fool yourself into thinking it’s healthy because ‘it has raisins in it’ or ‘it’s a great source of fibre’, but the reality is that it’s almost always going to have some form of refined sugar, some form of a grain and is likely to pack  whopping calorie punch you might not have been expecting.

Case in point-  friend forwarded me a tweet the other day about a 1,000 calorie muffin…but it’s vegan (so it’s good for you?) sold at a popular vegan joint in Toronto, made from sweet potatoes and dates.

Sound benign?  Why, those two foods are actually Paleo!

And here I go.

The issue, even if the rest of the ingredients were Paleo (which they very likely are not, given we’re talking about a vegan theme), it’s simply too much sugar and too many calories.  

Did you know that one date has sixty-six calories, and of those calories, guess how many come from sugar?  Sixty-four.  In one.  You see where I’m coming from.  None of us, not even if we are endurance athletes, needs to ever eat a 1,000 calorie muffin in one fell swoop.

Paleo treats are all too often taken out of context, and I see clients including daily ‘paleo brownies, cakes and bars’ into their regime.

That’s not the idea.  Once in a while, sure, like on a birthday or holiday, but not every day and not in a serving worth 1,000 calories.

Compare that sneaky little muffin to this meal instead: 6 ounces of salmon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a cup of broccoli. You’d create a Paleo, macro-nutrient balanced meal of half the calories of that muffin, yet rich in nutrients with a low glycemic load and the right amount of volume* to create satiety, not over fullness.

More importantly, stop trying to trick yourself.  Rather than fooling anyone, you may end up feeling a fool!

*Just as an example- the amount of volume will depend on someone’s body size, of course, but the common goal is to finish eating before feeling full and just feeling sated.