It’s 11 o’ clock Thursday morning. Your class starts at 11:05 across campus. Your stomach sounds like it is eating itself after a long night of exercise at Wednesday night Shooters. You are faced with two decisions: turn to the trusty vending machine, or struggle through that hour class. If you chose vending machine, kudos! But that is only half the battle. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but some snacks can do more harm than good and leave your stomach feeling the same way as before.
Eating food from a vending machine is never ideal. I bet there’s rarely a time you voluntarily choose to grab a quick meal or ‘healthy snack’ when you’re in front of the vending machine. However, there are some vending machine ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’. SO next time you find yourself facing a vending machine before class, in the middle of class, or sometime late at night, here are a couple of tips:
Bad Guys:
Famous Amos Cookies
Why? They contain trans fat, even though the label says less than 0 (FDA allows them to say ‘0 grams’ if it has below one gram). They contain artificial flavoring. Count the ingredients.
Wheat Thins Toasted Chips
Why? Despite the fact they say “wheat” in the title, they are made with refined flours. They have over 20% of the daily maximum of sodium. They have artificial coloring. If that’s not enough, they are also made with ingredients that are similar to the notorious bad guys: high fructose corn syrup and MSG.
Gummy bears:
Why? There is nothing natural about them. If you could find a gummy bear growing in a ground that wasn’t made from an eclectic combination of artificial color and flavorings, I might consider taking them off the list. Until then, they’re staying right here, still choc full of sugar and zero nutritional value.
Snackwell’s Chocolate Sandwich cookies:
Why? Don’t let the name fool you. These cookies are made with high fructose corn syrup, contain trans fats, and have a lot of added artificial flavoring. Counting the ingredients only makes the situation worse.
Rice Krispie Treats
Why? They are loaded with sugar and contain two controversial preservatives that have caused debates with the FDA. If any of you have made these delicious treat, you know that they only involve three ingredients–yet check out the amount that are added to the packaged ones, including high fructose corn syrup.
Fruit Snacks:
Why? Loaded with sugar, corn syrup and tons of controversial colors and flavorings. Don’t let the “real fruit” deceive you! They are made with fruit concentrate, which is essentially just fruit sugar.
Cheetos, Lays and Doritos
Why? Loaded with fat (including trans fats), artificial flavoring and equivalents to MSG.
Pop Tarts
Why? They are made with refined flours, have controversial additives and flavorings, have more ingredients than you can count and have high fructose corn syrup in them, just to name a few.
Microwave Popcorn
Why? It is loaded with fat and contains controversial additives.
“Better” Guys:
Kashi Trail Mix bars or fruit bars
Why? Although they do have some fat, it is the good fat that you need. You also won’t find any scary artificial ingredients in here.
Clif Bars
Why? Although Clif bars have more than a few ingredients, none of them are too bad if you need a quick meal replacement between classes. They are also pretty high in sugar, but the energy you will get from these dense bars will definitely last you though a class period.
Pirates Booty
Why? With only 130 calories and 5 grams of fat, they are a perfect alternative to cheese if you need a cheesy fix.
Lara Bars (yes they are in some Duke vending machines, I swear)
Why? They are only made with fruit, nuts and spices. Can’t get more pure than that.
Clif Kids Crispy Z Bar
Why? Although low in calories, and therefore guaranteed to not fill you up like the real Clif bars, these bars have pretty basic ingredients and are perfect to satisfy your sweet tooth after a big meal.
Popcorners
Why? Popcorners chips are made out of popcorn, are low in fat and taste delicious. They are essentially the love child of popcorn and tortilla chips with white cheddar topping.
Pretzels
Why? Pretzels are a perfect alternative to chips if you are craving something salty and crunchy. Although not perfectly natural, nothing in them is too bad for you.
Nature Valley Bars:
Why? Although they have a decent amount of sugar in them, I have found them to be a great snack between meals if you need something crunchy and sweet. They are also amazing in yogurt.
Pistachio Trail Mix
Why? Although the small packet is high in calories and fat, you get the benefits of good fat, which will keep you fuller longer. They also don’t contain any shady ingredients.
Planters Peanuts
Why? Planters are also pretty high in fat and calories, but once again it is the good fat that will keep you fuller longer and stop you from continuously snacking between meals.
All the snacks above can be found at Duke vending machines, but obviously not all vending machines were created equal, so you might have to look around. Nutrition tips about the ingredients found in each of these products came from a great app for iPhones called Fooducate.
Image source: http://www.self.com/images/fooddiet/2009/06/vending-machine-foar296.jpg
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Duke chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.