Ok, let’s talk peanut butter.

The average reduced-fat version of peanut butter has 12 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons (versus 16 for the regular stuff), but it also contains more sugar and sodium– and only 10 fewer calories. Surprised? According to the NuVal scale, most full fat peanut butters score higher than the reduced-fat kind. Check out these scores:

Regular peanut butter:

• KREMA PEANUT BUTTER NATURAL SMOOTH & CREAMY: 51
• BRAD’S ORGANIC SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER: 37
• TEDDIE ORGANIC ALL NATUREAL PEANUT BUTTER: 36
• POLANER REGULAR CRUNCHY: 34

Reduced-fat peanut butter:

• SMUCKER’S REDUCED FAT NATURAL STYLE PEANUT BUTTER: 26
• KROGER CREAMY REDUCED FAT PEANUT BUTTER 25% LESS: 25
• SKIPPY REDUCED-FAT PEANUT BUTTER: 18
• JIF REDUCED-FAT PEANUT BUTTER: 7

As you can see, reduced-fat peanut butter generally scores lower on the NuVal scale. Why? The fat in peanut butter is the healthy monounsaturated kind, so swapping it out for sugar and salt just doesn’t make sense from a health standpoint. When it comes to peanut butter, it’s more nutritious to choose the full fat variety.  

As you can see, “reduced fat” isn’t necessarily synonymous with more nutritious. Foods can be low in fat, but high in sodium or sugar. Foods can be low in fat, but have very few positive nutrients (think fiber, calcium, vitamin D) that still benefit our health. Also, not all fat is bad.

Have you ever traded-up from a “reduced fat” or “low-fat” product for the regular variety?

Coconut Water

As you probably know, coconut water is all the rage right now. The media portrays it as a magical health beverage and plenty of celebrities drink and endorse it. Clearly, coconut water is “hot,” but is it nutritious? Find out what I discovered about my beloved coconut water.

I love those little packets of chocolate powder than instantly turn into a warm mug of hot cocoa, but I always thought they didn’t provide much nutrition (if any). I figured all of my favorite brands scored a 1 or a 2 on the NuVal scale. I mean, aren’t they just sugar?

For the most part, most hot cocoa on the market is just sugar, so they score pretty low on the NuVal scale, but there are several varieties that are either fortified with vitamins and/or have no sugar added, which brings up their score and make them a more nutritious hot cocoa option.

Check out these scores:

• Ghirardelli White Mocha Premium Hot Cocoa Chocolate (NuVal score: 1)
• Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix Milk Chocolate Flavor (NuVal score: 2)
• Land O Lakes Chocolate Graham Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 3)
• Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix with Marshmallows (NuVal score: 8 )
• Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets No Sugar Added (NuVal score: 14)
• Swiss Miss Great Start Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 22)
• Nestle Fat Free Rich Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix (NuVal score: 25)
• Green & Black’s Organic Cocoa Powder (NuVal score: 29)
• Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets Diet – 25 Calories Hot Cocoa (NuVal score: 33)

What’s your favorite kind of hot cocoa?

Thanks to NuVal, I already knew that the traditional Kraft Macaroni & Cheese scores just a 4 and a couple of the seemly nutritious boxed varieties don’t score much higher, including Annie’s Shells & Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese, which gets a 5 and Back to Nature Macaroni & Cheese Dinner, which gets a 4. So, I went in search for some more nutritious options. Here’s what I found!

GOOD

Kraft Whole Grain Macaroni & Cheese (NuVal score: 18)

BETTER

Annie’s Homegrown Organic Whole Wheat Shells & White Cheddar (NuVal score: 21)

BEST

Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Macaroni & Cheese (NuVal score: 24)

As you can see, boxed macaroni and cheese is not the most nutritious meal, but you can trade-up for a better box with the help of the NuVal scores. Better yet, you can always throw in some fresh steamed broccoli (NuVal score 100) or cauliflower (NuVal score: 100) for some added nutrition!

As you probably know, coconut water is all the rage right now. The media portrays it as a magical health beverage and plenty of celebrities drink and endorse it. Clearly, coconut is “hot,” but is it nutritious?

Sadly (for me), the answer is not really. Check out these NuVal scores for some common brands of coconut water on the market:

• C2O PURE COCONUT WATER: 8
• ZICO POMBERRY PURE PREMIUM COCONUT WATER: 7
• ZICO MANGO PURE PREMIUM COCONUT WATER: 7
• GOYA COCONUT WATER JUICE CONTAINS 80% JUICE: 5

As you can see, these kinds of coconut water don’t score very high on the NuVal scale, which is mostly due to the amount of sugar added to these drinks. For instance, 88% of the calories in a serving of the C2O Pure Coconut Water comes from sugar. It also doesn’t include any vitamin A or C and very small amounts of calcium and iron. Basically, it doesn’t have much going for it to bring up the score.

Even after discovering the low NuVal scores for coconut water, I still plan to drink it. It’s so delicious and it’s become a key part of my post-run recovery. I don’t know what I would do without it!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 5!

I love my classic Better Homes and Gardens cookbook – the one with the red plaid cover! It has all your basic recipes that you could ever need.

Congrats, Stacey! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

The day was exciting and jam-packed, so I never really had a chance to eat. By the time, I got to Penn Station to take the train home, my stomach was seriously growling, so I grabbed a salad for dinner. In it was romaine lettuce, broccoli, beets, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and tomatoes– and it was awesome!

Once I finished eating my salad, I decided that I needed to recreate it at home– it was that delicious! As I was plotting my recreation, I realized that the salad ingredients were a combination of fresh and canned. Working at NuVal, I’ve learned that if you look for canned vegetables with low- or no-sodium, they can be just as nutritious as the fresh kind.

Here’s what’s in my recreated salad:

• Romaine lettuce (NuVal score: 100)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Tomatoes (NuVal score: 96)
• Eden Organic Garbanzo Beans No Salt Added (NuVal score: 100)
• PriceChopper Sliced Beets No Salt Added (NuVal score: 99)
• Mezzetta Marinated Artichoke Hears (NuVal score: 30)

As you can see, all of these salad ingredients– even those from cans– score high on the NuVal scale. The Mezzetta Marinated Artichoke Hearts score much lower than the others, but I used the oils and seasoning as my salad dressing. If you want to trade-up the the artichoke hearts, try the frozen variety. Bird’s Eye Fresh Frozen Artichoke Hearts get a 99 on the NuVal scale!

Have you ever wondered the difference between steel-cut oats versus rolled oats? According to EatingCleanWorks.com, there are several differences between it and the typical rolled oat variety. These include:

• Much longer cooking time (30 minutes)
• More cholesterol lowering soluble fiber than other oatmeal
• Takes longer to digest so you stay fuller longer
• Chopped with steel blades resulting in a “chewier” oatmeal

Steel-cut oats are basically a less processed version of the rolled oats, which often means more of the nutrients are retained and often leads to a higher NuVal score.

I was so impressed with the steel cut oats that I ate in New York City, I decided to look up the NuVal score of a few common brands at the grocery store:

• McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal: 91
• Country Choice Irish Style Steel Cut Oats: 91
• Arrowhead Mills All Natural Steel Cut Oats: 75

Pretty high scores, right? Well, surprisingly, not all of the steel cut oats on the market score that high, which is why the NuVal system is so helpful:

• Quaker Steel Cut Oats 100% Whole Grain Hearty Oats: 59
• Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats: 58
• Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats Hot Cereal: 56

As you can see, some brands of steel cut oats score around the same as regular rolled oats and hot cereal:

• Lowes Foods Whole Grain Quick Oats: 62
• PriceChopper100% Natural Rolled Oats: 59
• Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Whole Grain Rolled Oats: 57
• McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal Hot Cereal: 55

I’m glad that I checked out these NuVal scores before I went to the grocery store and just bought any ol’ canister of steel cut oats. Since I was already at the grocery store, I bought some oats (Old Wessex LTD Irsh-Style Oatmeal: NuVal score 55 + McCann’s Irish Oatmeal: NuVal score 55) and a fun oatmeal bowl to giveaway on Trading Up Downtown.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite way to eat oatmeal. I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday morning.

Good luck!

Thankfully, I have access to the NuVal database of scores, so I did a little research the other day to see how my favorite kinds of hummus scored. I also searched for more nutritious varieties to pick up at the grocery store the next time I am there. Check them out!

My favorite hummus varities and their scores:

• ATHENOS HUMMUS ROASTED RED PEPPER MADE WITH 100% OLIVE OIL: 46
• CEDARS GARLIC LOVERS HUMMUS: 45
• TRIBE ROASTED GARLIC HUMMUS: 44
• TRIBE ALL NATURAL CLASSIC HUMMUS: 44

Top scoring hummus:

• NASOYA ORIGINAL SUPER HUMMUS: 64
• MARZETTI BLACK BEAN HUMMUS: 57
• MARZETTI SOUTHWEST CHIPOTLE HUMMUS: 55
• WILD GARDEN HUMMUS SUN-DRIED TOMATO: 52
• GIANT EAGLE LEMON PEPPER HUMMUS: 49

Lower scoring hummus:

• SABRA GREEK OLIVE HUMMUS: 23
• SABRA ROASTED PINE NUT HUMMUS: 25
• SABRA CHIPOTLE HUMMUS: 26
• SABRA SUPREMELY SPICY HUMMUS: 26

What’s your favorite kind of hummus? If it’s not listed here in this post, leave a comment, and I’ll give you its NuVal score!

Check out these seemly nutritious yogurts:

• BREYERS INSPIRATIONS 1% MILK CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP LOWFAT YOGURT: 12
• FAGE TOTAL 2% LOWFAT GREEK YOGURT WITH HONEY: 16
• SUNNYSIDE FARMS FRUIT ON THE BOTTOM PEACH 99% FAT FREE: 18
• MEIJER BLACKBERRY LOWFAT YOGURT: 20
• LIBERTE MEDITERRANEE LEMON YOGURT FRUIT BOTTOM: 22

Not the best NuVal scores, right? Now, check out how you can trade-up to a more nutritious yogurt:

• STONYFIELD ORGANIC PLAIN SMOOTH AND CREAMY NONFAT YOGURT: 100
• KROGER BLENDED NON-FAT PLAIN GRADE A NON-FAT YOGURT: 100
• DANNON ALL NATURAL NONFAT YOGURT PLAIN: 96
• FAGE NONFAT GREEK STRAINED YOGURT: 94
• BROWN COW PLAIN SMOOTH & CREAMY NONFAT YOGURT: 94

As you can see, the plain yogurt varieties score the highest, but you can spice-up your yogurt and make it more nutritious by combining it with a bit of crushed up Shredded Wheat (NuVal score 91) for staying power from fiber, and then top it with chopped apple (NuVal score 96) or sliced banana (NuVal score: 91) for extra nutrients. You can even add spices– like cinnamon and nutmeg– to your yogurt to literally spice it up!

 How do you like to eat your yogurt?

Caribbean Cinnamon Crème

Southern Butter Pecan

Vanilla Caramel Brownie

Chocolate Mint Truffle

White Chocolate Raspberry

All of these sounds like desserts, right? Well, they sort of are desserts in creamer form. Can you believe such delicious-sounding coffee creamers exist? If only they scored high on the NuVal scale!

Check out some of the sub-par scores for coffee creamers:

• COFFEE HOUSE INSPIRATIONS VANILLA CARAMEL CREAM: 2
• INTERNATIONAL DELIGHT LIQUID COFFEE CREAMER MOCHA ALMOND FUDGE: 1
• INTERNATIONAL DELIGHT FAT FREE LIQUID COFFEE CREAMER FRENCH VANILLA: 1
• NESTLE COFFEE-MATE PLAIN REFRIGERATED COFFEE CREAMER: 1
• NESTLE COFFEE-MATE COFFEE CREAMER ITALIAN SWEET CREME: 1

Yikes, right? Melissa blogged about coffee creamers on A Better Bag of Groceries awhile back, and she asked NuVal’s Nutrition Communications Manger about the super low scores, and here’s what she said: 

“The Coffee Mate scores low because the third ingredient is partially hydrogenated oil, a source of trans fat.  It also has a higher energy density (calories per gram) and more added sugar.”

I don’t want to consume trans fat every morning in my coffee, so those low NuVal scores make sense to me. It’s just too bad those delicious coffee creamer flavors score so low! There are, however, a bunch of creamers on the market that score much higher on the NuVal scale:

• Land O’Lakes Fat Free Half and Half Ultra: 41
• Hood Simply Smart Fat Free Half and Half: 55
• Food Club Fat Free Half and Half Ultra: 59

Much better! Isn’t NuVal great?

My favorite thing to add to coffee is Silk Unsweetened Soymilk, which receives a 91 on the NuVal scale. Much, much, much better! I plan to still enjoy those dessert-like creamers in my coffee, but only as a treat every so often.

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway to celebrate National Yoga Month! Here are your two winners: 5 & 9!

Congrats! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.