Healthier Junk Food
When you hear the name, "pizza rolls" are you thinking totally processed, totally junk food? I usually do. Last night I was walking past the frozen snack section (on my way to the check-out after grabbing my favorite frozen pesto sauce, if you must know.) and my eye caught on a package that said, Lean Pizza Rolls with 40% less fat." I stopped. I grabbed the bag. And as we speak, I have a serving (6 pizza rolls) baking in my toaster oven.
Granted there is still a long list of ingredients, putting this snack into the "processed snack food" category without a shadow of a doubt. But they did make these puppies with 4 grams less fat and 20 fewer calories per serving. And I just found out (munch, munch) that they taste pretty much the same.
The original pizza rolls have 210 calories and 10 grams of fat per 6 roll serving. Sodium is still present and accounted for though (480 milligrams per serving).
6 rolls (85 grams weight) =
190 calories
9 g protein
25 g carbohydrate
6 g fat
2 g saturated fat
.5 g trans fat
15 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
480 mg sodium
(4% vitamin A, 6% calcium, 10% iron)
This is all FYI, just in case you are looking for some processed frozen snack food to keep in your freezer for impromptu teen scene snacking or something.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Recipe: Garden Tomato and Basil Pesto Pizza, Sodas Skip Schools
Technorati Tags: junkfood, pizzarolls
Granted there is still a long list of ingredients, putting this snack into the "processed snack food" category without a shadow of a doubt. But they did make these puppies with 4 grams less fat and 20 fewer calories per serving. And I just found out (munch, munch) that they taste pretty much the same.
The original pizza rolls have 210 calories and 10 grams of fat per 6 roll serving. Sodium is still present and accounted for though (480 milligrams per serving).
6 rolls (85 grams weight) =
190 calories
9 g protein
25 g carbohydrate
6 g fat
2 g saturated fat
.5 g trans fat
15 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
480 mg sodium
(4% vitamin A, 6% calcium, 10% iron)
This is all FYI, just in case you are looking for some processed frozen snack food to keep in your freezer for impromptu teen scene snacking or something.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Recipe: Garden Tomato and Basil Pesto Pizza, Sodas Skip Schools
Technorati Tags: junkfood, pizzarolls
20 Comments:
What are the brand names of the pizza rolls and the pesto sauce?
The brand name on the pizza rolls is:
Totino's
and the pesto sauce I use isn't available nationally but it's Armanino
Farms.
THANKS for asking,
Elaine Magee
I have already tried the totino's pizza rolls & they are will good. My husband could not tell the difference either. So start snacking.
What makes these healthier? The low fat paradigm has been disproven -- 8 years and 50,000 women showed no health advantage in limiting fat. These are still loaded with refined junk carbs. Nothing "healthy" about them.
I think she was just trying to offer a "healthier" alternative to a popular snack. So if children ask for pizza rolls, now parents can provide a lower fat version without compromising taste.
And to say that limiting fat offers no health advantage is an uneducated statement. It is true that processed refined carbohydrates contribute to the growing problem of obesity in this country, but do you honestly think that high fat foods do not also play a major role?
Clearly, with regards to lipids (fats) in the diet and their association with consumer's health the issue at hand is quality NOT QUANTITY, for instance diets with ample ammounts of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids offer people lower risk for cardiovascular diseases, while people eating diets rich in TRANS and saturdated fat have elevated risks.
The earlier comment is right on the money too. These are a highly processed low nutrient item....so I'm not sure why there is even an article about them.
I have to say, as a researcher in experimental medicine and health advocate, that these pizza rolls don't fall into the "healthy" junk food category - considering that trans fats and saturated fats make up at least half of the 6 grams of fat you consume per serving. Healthy pizza rolls are easy enough to whip up at home using whole grain bread, pizza sauce and topping of choice - in which case you would have healthy food without the junk.
Maybe the point that should be made is that it's a step in the right direction and with some consumer input these companies can do better.
I think it is a step in the right direction since most of us have to take baby-steps for the family to start eatting right. I have tried to go "All Out" healthy and that didn't fly so maybe changing what they already eat with a low-fat version is a good start.
It's fine to pick up pizza rolls from the grocery store once in a while, but, what we should all be doing is taking the time to cook our own food. That way you and only you can control the amount of fat, sodium etc. in the foods you prepare. This is what I call making a healthier choice! It is the only way we can control calories and fat in our diets.
For someone who doesn't cook very often but does like to snack this suggestion is a plus...better to do something good while doing something not so good...by the way, no one lives for ever, (I am toasting my wife with a low fat pizza roll!)
To All:
Gretchen appears only to be giving us this snack suggestion as a lesser evil, people. Give her a break. If we are going to "Cheat" cheat with less fat.We all seem to like pizza or we wouldn't be reading this.Just take this as you would a friend mentioning a better solution to what you already threw into your cart. Note the title still says "JUNK" FOOD!!!!!
Excuse me, Elaine Magee gave this suggestion.
Elaine,
I am a working mother with a 2yr old and am always looking for quick and healthy snack and meal alternatives. My questions is, in regards to sodium content, are there are frozen dinners out there or snacks that you know of that are low sodium as well as low fat?
For a quick healthy snack I eat a handful of almonds or peanuts. You can't get much healthier. They have lots of antioxidants. You just have to watch the amounts.
Can anyone offer tips on how to GAIN weight for women over 40?
I think the store bought pizza rolls is ok as long as you don't over do it
To the person who needs assistance gaining weight, please visit the WebMD Underweight Board for information and support.
zbntxIt is also all of the MSG that they put in our food that contributes to the obesity problems and health problems too. By the way, there are about 35-40 different forms of MSG. examples: natural flavors, flavorings, soy...
yes i used to like totino's pizza rolls.They've been making them since the 60's. But I'm sure back then they didn't have MSG. BE AWARE that MSG has many different names.It makes you fat and sick, though you may not feel the affects right on, they are taking place in your body. BEFORE YOU GO PICK UP that pack of "LEAN" pizza rolls think about the ingredients not the fat.What we have to remember is; whats important more than ANYTHING when it comes to food choices: LOOK @ the INGREDIENTS not the fat, carbs, whatever.Large mass producing food corporations only have 1 agenda: to make you FAT so you will buy more food so they can make more $$. They use terms like "lean" to suck you in, but they still use MSG to make you fat..go to msgmyth.com and you can find out more.Why is America the fattest country in the world? Because the food companies are poisoning us with ingredients that make us fat and sick.
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