I have a question, for a lot of you, because if the market is anything to go by I am in the minority...

I have a question, for a lot of you, because if the market is anything to go by I am in the minority. What are your thoughts on making junk food healthier? Do you ever bother? Do you feel it's a waste of time?

Take these brownies as an example. Three times the protein. Ten times the fibre. No sugar. I thought they were delicious, but I'm not a real brownie afficionado. (I did not factor in the icing since that didn't seem fair.) The only unreasonably expensive thing about them was the chocolate chips I had to get at a health food store (and can I just say it's sad that those even exist..)

It feels good to not have to work extra to fit food into my diet, like it's some kind of reward, or I have to feel guilty about it afterwards. I mean, this brownie, it unironically has better macros than a turkey sandwich I just built (wheat bread, fat free turkey, cheddar, spinach, mayo). I could have had that brownie for lunch, and been no worse off. And that just kind of amuses me.

Honestly, it's an irritating position to be in, because there is only a small selection of alternatives and I have to otherwise make my own. Baked chips, snap pea crisps, popcorn; and they're all very expensive. There's practically NOTHING for desserts, maybe the odd diet granola bar that costs three dollars.

I wish the FDA and big pharma didn't have a monopoly on US agriculture. We wouldn't be dealing with this healthcare crisis if not for them.

If we followed Japan's example and used Stevia as our primary sweetener, opposed to HFCS/refined sugars, we'd cut the rates of diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure in the US by 30% or more. Japan's used Stevia as their sweetener of choice for decades and it's done wonders for them.

There are a ton of healthier alternatives when it comes to snack foods but we have to go out of our way to purchase or make them when it should be the norm.

I hate it. junk food tastes good because of the salt, sugar, and fat in it. removing that to make it "healthy" defeats the purpose of eating it to begin with. if you're worried about beign healthy just eat less of it, or run up and down the stairs a couple times. if you ask me it's not even about health. the kind of people who buy sugar free ice cream and fat free butter feel guilty about eating and go for this "healthy" shit to make themselves feel better.

>junk food tastes good because of the salt, sugar, and fat in it
The problem with that assessment is most of our junk food isn't even made with that stuff anymore. It's all modified corn/soy, high fructose corn syrup, MSG/modified food starch, maltodextrin or worse refined sugars, and hydrogenated oils.

>MSG/modified food starch
These are two different things.

MSG is just a salt that tastes umami instead of salty, there's nothing wrong with it.

the point is that if I want to eat pudding I want to eat real pudding with milk and sugar, not some fake fat free sugar free shit that only superficially looks and tastes like pudding. I don't care if the sugar came from a cane or a beet or corn. it pisses me off when fake pudding outnumbers real pudding on the shelf 8:1 just because of dumb cunts who care about their food guilt more than flavor.

Most companies only care about profit. If they can make a premade brownie full of ultra cheap, ultra unhealthy garbage, which takes less time/care to make than of course they will.

Hell, if a brownie made with all natural everything, was healthy, had good protein and other macro/micro's in it, and it wasn't some gross "medicine" like brownie (or whatever) and cost only 2 dollars to make; if the cheap shitty brownie only cost 1.99 dollars to make, they'd still go for the cheaper one.

All that matters is money. Which is why if you really want to eat healthy anything, you do it yourself. Better than paying 15 dollars for 1 "healthy" chicken breast from some "healthy" restaurant.

If you could have a "healthy" brownie that tasted the exact same or better than a real full fat and sugar brownie, and was more affordable, wouldn't you?

The reason they aren't cheaper is because the FDA has a monopoly on agriculture and receives subsidies from the government to continue pumping the cheap artificial shit into the masses.

At this point you can't say they taste better than healthy alternatives either. It's all the cheap oils, artificial sugars, and corn/soy comprising junk food. A Hostess twinkie for instance tastes nothing like the original recipe using real ingredients decades ago, but you would still call the product they put out today "real" twinkies?

its really hard to change an habit you have since childhood, you wont be able to convince anyone to switch to healthy junk food no matter how much they need it

Junk food isn't meant to be healthy. It is, and always has been a showing off of wealth while simultaneously feeding our natural gluttonous urges. Period.

In a modern context brownies aren't luxurious at all, whereas even 100 years ago assembling the ingredients to make them cost a significant amount of money, 150 years ago, only wealthy people would have had access to them.

The key to enjoying junkfood without transforming oneself into a hamplanet is MODERATION. Simple as that.

Can you post the recipe for the healthy brownies?

Whats the source on them good brownies, OP? I want some ;-;

I like to dump a bunch of arugula on top of frozen pizzas after they're cooked.

>Junk food isn't meant to be healthy
doesn't mean it has to stay like that

In Japan it's also illegal to be fat. I think that would make a bigger difference.

>In Japan it's also illegal to be fat.
Sumo anyone?

100 years ago brownies wouldn't resemble what we see today. They'd essentially be an unleavened cake.

I eat so little junk food there's almost no reason for me to do this

I got into calorie counting to lose weight and yeah I make my own sweets slightly healthier. I've made healthy protein brownies (using zucchini, peanut butter, bit o' whole wheat flour, and bananas, they come great and fudgy), healthy orange cranberry muffins, a lot of healthier cakes and fruit pies.

It's really not that hard once you figure shit out. Most basic recipes put in extra butter/sugar for no good reason. You can usually half the butter used and get the same results. White whole wheat pastry flour tastes, looks, and rises the damn same. I used half fake stevia with half real in the beginning to cut sugar and it's not noticeable. Use half as much frosting and again cut the sugar with stevia.

But I always enjoyed baking and got into it the full sugar unhealthy way first and then as I learned how to do that well it wasn't a challenge to make say a regular already kinda healthy carrot cake that bit much healthier. I don't find it irritating because I do enjoy cooking but also because of how autistic I am with calories now it's just better to make it knowing a lot of food brands can be 20% off in nutritional info and not give a damn.

It's wild that my healthy strawberry cake is the most popular damn thing I sell now. It's near sugar free, minimum flour used and I always get orders of it from sweet little old diabetic ladies. That and the whole wheat with a pecan streusel coffee cake.

I absolutely do think it's worthwhile to try and make junk food healthier. We (collectively) eat so many empty calories, so much food that really does nothing for us. When I make "junk" food at home, whether it's brownies, or pancakes, or desserts breads or cakes, or muffins, I try to make them as nutritionally sound as possible. I save the empty calories and bad nutrition for occasional treats when I go out somewhere.

When I make browines, I use beans, avocado oil, and monkfruit extract.
When I make muffins, I use fruit purees (either freshly made by me, or if I'm in a hurry, baby food purees which come in convenient 4 and 8 ounce jars) instead of oil, and a mixture of more nutritious flours.
My pancakes are "infamous" in my family, they all will eat the hell out of them, and contain zero white flour, zero refined sugar, and are high in protein.
That's just a few examples of how I change things up to improve nutrition.

Sumos are considered a whole different class from regular people. In most of Japan, when you go for your yearly physical, they measure your waist, and if it's out of their normal range, they impose a tax.

How do you make those pancakes, user?

Doesn't matter how much you try to change it, it's still just junk food and the problem with it has always been a lack of moderation rather than the ingredients involved

got the recipe on those brownies?

Sorry, for the late reply. I'll be happy to share my pancake recipe, but I'm about to leave for lunch in a few minutes. I'll post it when I get back, though, I promise.

This is a myth.

The measuring thing does happen for people over the age of 40 or so, but there isn't a tax imposed if you're fat, they just try to help you be healthier.

Sorry, for the late reply. I'll be happy to share my pancake recipe, but I'm about to leave for lunch in a few minutes. I'll post it when I get back, though, I promise.

That's not a myth, taxes are imposed on the city, not the individual.

Wait, I think I have enough time, luckily my recipe was easy to find.

1 3/4 cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
1 Tablespoon banana flour (I don't know if you can find this, but it's a great source of resistant starch. I know you can order it on Amazon. I bought mine locally.)
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or the equivalent in vanilla bean)
1 cup soy, almond, or other milk of your choice
3 egg whites
1 whole egg

Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and whisk them until everything is well blended.
In another bowl, combine the milk, egg whites, egg, and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir until everything is blended, but don't over stir. Allow the pancake mix to stand for 15 minutes or so. Cook on an oiled griddle or pan as you would regular pancakes.
*If you like, you can add pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice to your dry ingredients for extra flavor, or just some cinnamon or nutmeg.
*If your batter seems too thick, add a little more milk.

The tapioca flour helps give the pancakes the classic pancake texture, and the other flours provide better nutrition and great flavor. If you are allergic to nuts, you could sub oat flour or whole grain flour for the almond flour.

>showing off wealth

nah mate people show off wealth through food by buying organic sustainably sourced kale & shit. I've never seen a wealthy person buy a 36 pack of twinkies, but I have seen poor scooterbeasts do it

I think food science and supporting legislation is what will eventually solve our health problems like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Educating people, clearer labeling, and general awareness will do nothing for these issues because of the simple fact that most people just don't give enough of a shit to care.

I think within the next decade or so we will see junk food like soda required to use 0-calorie sweetener or fried shit like frozen chicken nuggets be cooked with low calorie oils like olestra.

These things have their side effects or issues with taste currently but i'm sure these will be solved eventually.

some of the shit they put into "health" food to simulate the taste of the original is not any better than whatever they removed. or it just tastes like garbage.

generally when i want to eat sweets, i alter my diet the rest of the day or exercise more.

Thanks a lot! Sounds great.

No one uses olestra because of anal leakage

bullshit you do

post your fatass

i love this recipe, it's easy enough that i can make it correctly and very tasty. i only stopped doing it because peanut butter is too expensive where i live. never thought about doing brownies at home, i will look into it
scoobysworkshop.com/natural-bulking-bars/

This is why I make my own junk food when possible. If I get a craving for muffins, I don't get them from the store. Those heavy, stodgy, damp things leave me unsatisfied anyway.
I just bake a batch and pig out on them for a week until they run out. The only hydrogenated additive-laden stuff in them is the margarine and the chocolate chips, and even the chocolate isn't that bad because britain has access to cane sugar.

Taxed does not mean illegal, dipshit.