A while back I was contacted by MyBlogSpark to do a review and/or giveaway on Hershey’s Moderation Nation. I’m always up for being a apart of something that is trying to promote a healthier lifestyle. In America we need a wake up call where our health is concerned, so I agreed to be a part of this promotion and chose to do a review and will also be giving away a Hershey’s Moderation Nation Prize Pack that includes a tee-shirt, journal and yummy bag of Hershey’s treats :o)
So, what do I think of Hershey’s Moderation Nation?
Overall, I think it’s a great idea. The website talks about exercise and physical activity and even gives events that you can attend nationwide. It talks about portion sizes with your meals and offers sample menu options. They mention keeping a journal of your progress, etc. Their heart is in a great place by wanting to help people and it could be a good starting place for some.
I’ll start by saying that they did put out some good info and some yummy recipes like the Double Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cookies (after all, they are all about chocolate and I sure do lurve me some DARK chocolate!) I just always tweak my recipes and it’s ingredients to make sure they are good, healthy and organic if possible. I also prefer REAL dark chocolate (over 62% cocoa) over milk because milk chocolate is full of extra added sugar!
The website (Hershey’s Moderation Nation) does offer some good info on portion sizes and they even have a pdf of visual objects for portion sizes, which is good. If more people knew this – they would probably realize how much more they are eating at every meal than they really should be eating.
They speak of keeping a journal and journaling is also something I think more people should do. When I work with a client I tell them to start by journaling their eating for 3 weekdays and 1 weekend day – before I even go into anything to do with an eating plan. It’s amazing how people are shocked at how much they are eating and didn’t even realize it. Then I think it’s good to journal if you are having any health issues, because you may be able to narrow down some things and begin to notice how your body reacts to certain foods. I am currently using the journal they sent me for a food journal. Many of you know I was having some issues over the past year and I started journaling some things down for myself. It’s been good for me. Had I not gotten the journal from them, I may not have started!
What didn’t I like all that much?
The one aspect of the information given on the site that I was not impressed with were the food choices. As a Health Coach and someone who is passionate about truly eating healthy, their food options did not make my cut for being healthy. In fact, many things they suggest will actually wreak havoc on your body and cause many health problems if people consistently consume them.
Without going into crazy detail on why I oppose those things – I’ll just say that suggesting you use margarine instead of butter is a huge no-no in my book. Remember my post about margarine vs. butter called “Fat or Plastic. You Choose”? Well, suggesting that eating a man made product that is full of toxins and chemicals that is basically plastic is not a good choice when trying to improve your health and eating habits. Too many people are consumed with the numbers of a certain food item (fat, calories, etc) – which isn’t always bad, especially when eating pre-packaged foods. It becomes bad when you put the numbers over the nutritional value of the food and try to replace it with a man-made product that your body doesn’t know what to do with. Eating margarine over butter to cut back on calories and healthy and natural fat your body needs is crazy. Just saying.
In their Moderation Lifestyle Tips they had this listed:
“Skim milk provides the same vitamins and minerals as whole milk – with less fat. Since the fat portion of whole milk does not contain calcium, when you take out the fat, you do not lose calcium.”
I was trying to figure out where they got that information. It is proven that when you skim milk and remove any amount of fat you lose many vitamins, minerals and essential enzymes. You already lose a large dose of those in the pasteurization process, then even more when milk-fat is removed. Also, people are so consumed with the ‘fat’ in milk and the calories it adds, but here’s what people don’t realize: The ‘fat’ in milk is a natural, healthy fat that our bodies need! They NEED! Our cell renewal process needs saturated fats to do it’s job. Our brain function is dependent on healthy fats – as is a women’s ability to be fertile and conceive. Our doctor’s want to remove all fat from our diets, including healthy fats (which man made fats should be complete removed) and in return all these health issues are cropping up and they don’t know why. Also, skim and fat free dairy is a factor in the rise of Diabetes (Type 1 & 2) as well as hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The reason for this is because the fat in our whole milk contains enzymes that help our bodies digest the milk-sugar and it allows the sugar to be released into the bloodstream slowly, which means the insulin will be released slower and there will not be a dramatic insulin spike or fall. When you skim the milk/dairy, you remove the enzymes that help promote easy digestion of the milk-sugar and the sugar is released too quickly into the blood and you have yourself a major insulin spike. You will also find that you drink more skim milk than you would whole, because it is not a filling drink when all the fat is gone. Healthy fats help aid in the satiety hormone being released, telling your body that you are full.
Other things they suggested using were Canola oil which is poisonous to our bodies. That is a post in and of itself. They mentioned crackers, cereals, granola bars, etc. as a part of this healthy eating plan, but those are all processed foods. Even if they have some whole oats or grains in them – the other 101 ingredients are toxic to your body – not to mention the high sodium content in pre-packaged foods. They spoke of cutting back using egg yolks in your cooking and baking to cut back on cholesterol and fat. I won’t even go into how wrong and off that is.
I realize this is the most convenient way for many people to eat, but as a company that had a panel of experts, I would have expected better knowledge being presented to the public. Most people won’t research this kind of stuff. They will take the info and run with it, especially from a national brand like Hershey’s. Unfortunately, when you have the wrong information, you can end up damaging your health in more ways than you know. If you are knowledgeable, you can take the info and recipes and substitute good stuff for the bad stuff. That’s usually how I work with most recipes anyway. Knowledge truly is power!
So I wasn’t overly impressed with it all, but I am glad to see that nationally known brand companies are starting to step up and encourage people to a healthier lifestyle! Hopefully more companies will follow their lead!
ps…I have hardly eaten any of the peppermint patties that I got. Bella thinks they’re too ‘spicy’ and Scout doesn’t quite get them. The cooling peppermint freaks him out a bit – haha!
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment and tell me why you want to take a step in improving your health! This will stay open until Saturday, December 4, 2010 – midnight! You do not have to follow my blog to enter!
The fine print: Hershey’s, through MyBlogSpark, provided the product and information for my own review.
“Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate.”
~Sandra Boynton
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