Since the hippie decade, the word "granola" has been synonymous with "healthy." Food companies, or should I say food empires, know this and they love to stick the word "granola" on their food packages. It helps sell their product. I mean something that tastes like a candy bar but is labeled as healthy "granola" is a guaranteed profit maker in the food industry. It also doesn't hurt that they are super quick to grab and easy to eat.
This is why half a grocery isle is now dedicated to granola bars. My personal favorite used to be the "sweet and salty" bars with nuts and yogurt on the bottom. I couldn't believe that something so healthy could taste so darn good!
But guess what?
I was TOTALLY WRONG!
There weren't healthy!
Granola bars in general, with only rare exceptions, are NOT healthy. This is especially true for anyone who is working on reversing their diabetes, preventing diabetes, or making sure diabetes doesn't come back into the picture.
Now, if you are like me, I was totally addicted to both the taste and convenience of granola bars and it took me literally months before I stopped craving them. But I have to tell you that you really must stop eating them if you want to reverse diabetes. You can probably find some that are healthier than others, but even the organic ones all (hard to find) seem to be full of sugar. There are certainly better things for you to eat.
As I type this paragraph, I am holding a Kellogg's Special K Granola Bars box in my left hand. Yes, I'm typing with one hand and holding the box with the other hand so I can read the ingredients label. Oh wait, the list of ingredients is so small, I need a magnifying glass to read them. Be right back...
Ok... I'm back with my magnifying glass and having now scanned the ingredients I can see why they would want to make them so small it is difficult to read them.
But... before I discuss the ingredients, I need to let you know that the biggest word on the front of the box is "Granola." The picture of the granola bar looks absolutely delicious and there are some oats spilling out of the crunchy chewy bar which has been broken in half. How deceptive is that? Looks healthy but reading the ingredients I can assure you it isn't.
Ok, here we go. The first ingredient is "soluble corn fiber." In case you don't already know this, the first ingredient is the most abundant ingredient. So the most abundant ingredient in these granola bars are not oats or some other healthy grain but rather "soluble corn fiber," a highly processed "corn" derivative (probably chemically processed). Since this is not an organic product, this means the soluble corn fiber is derived from GMO corn (genetically modified), most likely from grown from Monsanto seed. If you want to reverse diabetes, you need to avoid GMO corn and other GMO foods completely. GMO is not something you should just cut back on or reduce. It is something you should eliminate 100% from your diet.
At this point, I'm wrinkling up my nose and sticking out my tongue at these bars but let's continue...
Sugar is the third ingredient and each bar contains 7 grams of sugar. There's also fructose and corn syrup, both most likely derived from GMO corn.
These granola bars also contain "isolated soy protein." This is most likely another GMO ingredient because most non-organic foods that contain soy contain GMO soy. Nowadays, the only way to get non-GMO soy is to buy organic or buy a product that very specifically states it is non-GMO soy (very very rare). Lots of soy isn't good for you anyway, regardless of whether or not it is GMO but GMO soy is by far worse. The idea that lots of soy is healthy is a myth perpetuated by the food industry that wants you to buy food that they can make a bigger profit on. Soy is cheap for them to add as a "filler," especially GMO soy. Diabetics should generally speaking avoid all soy. A little non-GMO soy won't hurt you but it should only be occasional. Diabetics trying to reverse diabetes should eliminate ALL GMO soy.
These delicious looking granola bars also contain one of the most toxic artificial foods the industrial revolution ever produced: hydrogenated oils!!! This is one of the very worst things a person trying to reverse diabetes could put into their mouth.
Specifically, they contain "hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated palm kernel, palm, canola, and/or coconut oil" AND "hydrogenated rapeseed and/or cottonseed oil." The canola oil is most likely GMO because if the product isn't organic and it contains canola oil, it is most likely GMO canola oil. Rapeseed and cottonseed oils are two of the most toxic oils used in the world. Both are very cheap and are known to produce health effects like heart legions. Truly toxic but cheap to buy which is why the food industry uses it. It certainly isn't added for your health!
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils means TRANS FAT and this is a recipe for damaged cell membranes which leads to insulin resistance, i.e. type 2 diabetes. If you want to reverse diabetes, it is absolutely imperative that you eliminate ALL trans fat, not just reduce it. Don't eat anything that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated on the label. When I see this I immediately think of a skull and cross bones poison label because that's essentially what it is to your body's cell membranes: POISON. It won't kill you fast but it can kill you slow.
There are other undesirable ingredients too like soy lecithin which is probably GMO and things like "artificial flavors" which who knows what that is but do you trust it is safe from a company that is putting GMO foods and trans fat into your supposedly healthy "granola bars?" I certainly don't.
Here's the bottom line to what I am saying here:
Virtually all granola bars contain ingredients you should not have if you want to be healthy. This is especially true for anyone who wants to reverse diabetes as these ingredients not only hinder that goal, they can cause diabetes.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news because I know how tasty and convenient granola bars can be. There are days I wish I was still under the illusion that they are actually healthy but when you get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and it really sinks in what all that can mean if you don't reverse it (15 years shorter lifespan on average, heart problems, kidney problems, high risk for amputations, general fatigue all the time, etc, etc...), you begin to search for the the real truth about things. I dug deep and I am appalled at what the food industry gets away with. How they trick us into believing certain foods are healthy when in fact they are very unhealthy. When in fact they are the very foods we need to avoid eating.
If you are serious about reversing diabetes there is knowledge that you absolutely must have or you won't be successful and you must know how to read food labels. The best thing you can do for your health is to get a comprehensive guide on how to reverse diabetes like this one at this link. I recommend this one because it is 1) cheap and 2) comprehensive and 3) a very easy read. Overall, it is one of the best resources I have encountered on teaching someone how to reverse diabetes.
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