Are Twinkies Healthier Than Popular Energy Bars?

Guess, what? Twinkies are healthier than some of your fave go-to snack bars.

According to Twinkie, that is!

The New York Post  recently reported that Twinkies cleverly compared its nutrition profile to products like Kind Bar and Clif bar.

According to the brand, Twinkie comes out the lowest in calories per gram, while Kind is the highest. It’s also near the lowest in terms of fats, but scores the worst of the bunch in sodium.

Friends, listen carefully — reading a nutrition facts panel without looking at the ingredient list is like buying a home without going inside.

Yes, a Twinkie does have less calories per gram than the above mentioned healthier snack items.  But, so, what?!

Why does this not matter? Because, calories are not all created equal.

Let’s break this down.

What is a calorie?

There is a reason why people say “a calorie is a calorie”.

Calories are a measure of the energy that is generated from food once inside the body. They abide by a simple law of physics: energy in – energy out = weight loss or gain.

This is true both in a test-tube and in some tightly controlled weight loss experiments, where people are basically locked-up and fed exactly the same number of calories, but from different types of diets.

However, this is far from the complete story. Things like hunger (controlled by hormones), cravings, emotions and even a social life tend to

Why Calories are Not All Created Equal

If calories were all created equal, then we might all choose to simply exist on a set number of calories from chocolate cake, right?

However, if we ate just spoonfuls of sugar all day, we would ultimately die because there are no nutrients to go along with those calories.  We all know that as humans we need things like protein, vitamin C and even fat.

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Foods are not made up of calories alone - this is a good thing -  but rather they are complex mixtures in terms of fiber and nutrients.

100 calories from jelly beans contains no nutrients.  100 calories from a few slices of an apple and a teaspoon of peanut butter is jam packed with nutrients.

The unhealthy jelly beans calories also make us hungrier versus the health promoting more satisfying apple and pb.

Similarly, the calories in a Twinkie have a far different nutrient make up than that of the Kind Bar. Nutrient profiles have vastly different effects on the hormones that control hunger (leptin) and those that direct our bodies to either burn or store fat (insulin).

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Lean protein, healthy fats and unprocessed, unrefined carbohydrates from sources like vegetables, beans and fruit will be less likely to send us running back to the fridge due to hunger and our hormones being out of whack.

When you focus on these foods you will naturally be taking in fewer calories overall by keeping your hunger and fat storage hormones in check.

Oh, and you’ll fight disease and keep your energy up, too.

So watch your total calorie intake (overdoing it on almonds and blueberries adds up too), but also remember that a cupcake (or a Twinkie) as an afternoon snack is no substitute for celery and hummus or (nut and fruit bar) - even if their calories say so.

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Keri Glassman is a nationally recognized celebrity nutritionist, registered dietitian, healthy cooking expert, published author and founder and president of Keri Glassman, Nutritious Life, a nutrition practice and health and wellness brand.