Biscuits are not for a bite

Know the facts before you eat!



Lot of biscuit varieties and brands are available in market. Many of us have them with coffee and tea. And offer to our children. We never stop at just one. Do we? There are many questions that need to be answered. Is it a junk food? Are they high in calories? What to and what not to give the kids? What to look for in the ingredients list?
Here are the points to breakdown the biscuit mania.
Most Biscuits are loaded with full of calories and chemicals in the form of emulsifiers, preservatives, colouring agents, and acidity regulators.
Ingredients (items to watch out):
1. Refined wheat flour or maida

Not healthy because most of the nutrients and fiber is wiped off. It releases sugar into the bloodstream quickly and leads to an insulin spike in the long-term. It can even lead to insulin resistance and diabetes.
2. White sugar or invert sugar

Biscuits are often heavy on sugar. White sugar /refined sugar/invert sugar increase the sugar level in blood. Leads to insulin spike cause diabetics, cavities, sugar addiction, obesity.

Different types of sugar used while baking

Liquid glucose, invert sugar syrup, corn syrup. Invert sugar syrup is mixture of glucose and fructose. It's more in fructose which is sweeter than sugar. Invert sugar is most harmful as the fructose is directly released into blood vessels. Whereas sugar breaks down glucose to fructose.
3. Vegetable oils

Vegetable oils are hydrogenated at very high temperature. The process changes it from liquid state to solid state form often called as Dalda or vanaspathi in most places. While processing, it creates a lot of trans fat which is dangerous to our health causing heart disease and cancer.
4. Raising agent, Artifical additives and preservatives

Raising agents are additives that not only rises but even gives texture. Baking powder or baking soda gives crispness and increases the volume by raising gas. Mostly used in almost all type of biscuits. Used to enhance the taste, soft, crunchy.

Preservatives are used to give long shelf life to free from fungi, bacteria and other micro organism. These are toxins added up.

Check for

1. Mono Sodium Glutamate MSG is the Sodium salt of glutamic acid. A taste enhancer.

2. Mono Potassium Glutamate is also harmful for body.
5. Artifical flavor

are additives that give color, smell and taste and are created artificially.
6. Milk powder / dried powder /powdered milk

Made by evaporating milk to dryness. It contains oxidized cholesterol which is not the form our body desires. Obesity is serious health issue in it.
7. Acidity regulators used during processing to prolong shelf-life and preserve the product from bacteria.
8. Emulsifiers

Allows the water and oils to remain mix together. It is a probable cancer causing agent.
Type of biscuits (sorted from worst to bad):
1. Cream biscuits (and fruit-flavoured ones) are loaded with artificial flavouring and not fruit sugars. Some types are sandwich biscuits, whipping cream at the centre different shape and size. Amount of sugar present in a single cream biscuit is most alarming(comparable anywhere from 5 to 10 spoons of sugar). We can do a quick math ourselves by looking at the sugar levels in the ingredient list.
2. Sugar-free biscuits

Replaces sugar with artificial sweeteners, that can still affect our metabolism, gut bacteria and appetite. A lot of sugar-free tablets are used in making biscuits. Definitely harmful for prolonged/bulk consumption. Crazy names to attract health conscious people.
3. Digestive biscuit

Oatmeal, wholewheat, light or digestive biscuits are not quite healthy either. The actual proportion of wholewheat, fibre and oats may be just 5-10% while the remaining composition is of unhealthy refined flour.
For a healthy replacement go for organic/home made biscuits without any preservatives, raising agents, additives, sweetners. Do check the ingredient list. At home try to make them with whole grains and millets. Jaggery/ honey/ palmsugar/ dates instead of artifical sweetners and syrups. Cold pressed oil instead of refined one. Cinnamon can be used as a flavor. This will make you the best replacement.
Stay healthy and eat healthy for a happier future. #sharingiscaring
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