There is a lot in the news about food, always has been and I assume always will be. What is good for you, what is bad for you, too much sugar, too much fat, eat lots of it, avoid as much of it, and so on it goes. Recently the news was processed hams, bacon and sausage were terrible for you. However it all has to be taken into consideration. If you had nothing but a diet of Bacon ( bad), baked beans ( Bad) sausages ( Bad) fried eggs ( ?) steak ( red meat =Bad) along with ketchup ( Bad) then one would assume that you would not be long for this world. However, the average person does not eat like this, everything in moderation and most importantly Variation.

In this weeks Sunday Times ( UK) there was an interesting article on Granola, another of the “In” foods, and of course depending on the brand or type of Granola you choose there are many variations in quality and price.

“As the clean-eating epidemic ravages the middle classes, scoffing a flapjack (oats, sugar) feels like a filthy-pawed act of rebellion. Munching granola (oats, sugar), however, is a byword for wellness, a superior lifestyle breakfast choice for the savvy and nutrition-conscious. From Hemsley and Hemsley to Gwyneth Paltrow, every healthy-living guru has a seed-heavy, coconut-friendly recipe ” (The Sunday Times.)

One of the “in” Granolas, is the one created by 22 year old model and food blogger  Danielle Copperman. 

According to the Sunday Times , Copperman is in New York, but her cereal venture began after she’d moved out of her parents’ house in Bath and was eating granola three times a day, not realising it was “full of sugar”. After discovering her mistake, she says, “I set myself a rule that all I was going to eat was going to be natural”. However, she “was always running out of the door at 6 or 7am for shoots”, didn’t have time to cook eggs, didn’t like porridge, and had complicated her breakfast habits by banning gluten. “I just wanted something that would give me more of a boost.”

Experimenting in her kitchen, Copperman created the blueprint for Qnola, a granola that is 25 per cent quinoa which she says is much higher in protein, has amino acids and antioxidants and is relatively low in sugar. “I didn’t want to be eating something that was still really high in sugar even if it was natural.”

However, I am not sure how much of a nutritionist she is. When looking at the Glycemic index of various types of sugar, with Glucose weighing in at a hefty 100, Sucrose ( table sugar) 65, Honey at 61,  and moving down the scale Maple Syrup at 54, Otange Juice 50 and Agave and Fructose at a lowly 13.

So, Agave which is a plant native to Mexico and Agave syrup is 55-95% Fructose and Fructose is metabolised by the liver. It is not suitable for diabetics and has no nutritional value whatsoever . It also can not be heated as it gives off harmful toxins. And finally on agave syrup it has been banned by the Glycemic Research Institute of Washington.

Meanwhile, I like Granola, sprinkled over my yogurt and berries, but I like to make my own as then I have a better idea of what I am eating.

 

 
So to make my Granola, I use 

200 grms nuts, ( I prefer pecan or a mix with unsalted cashews)

1 Cup large cut oats

1/4 cup oil, ( I use light olive oil)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 beaten egg white

 Heat the maple syrup with the oil, when warm, add the nuts chopped, keep on the low heat and stir for about 5 minutes. When the nuts are golden add the beaten egg white and stir in. Remove from heat and stir in the oats until throughly mixed. Spread onto a nonstick baking tray and bake at 170 C for 20 mins. Be careful to keep an eye on it and stir from time to time to avoid the edges burning.

Leave to cool and mix well, when totally cool put into an airtight container, will keep for two or three weeks easily.

 

  
 Further reading can be found on the Times website. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article4604660.ece?shareToken=cb593d9f450a8b8204d1504164c2cb6d