Nestle recently launched an aggressive, celebrity-laden campaign to promote its Carnation Breakfast Essentials, a pre-made drink intended to make breakfast more well-rounded and convenient for adults and kids. Their marketing is particularly aimed at parents of young ones, and suggests that the drink has everything a child needs to thrive.
There are definitely some key things to consider when preparing kids for the day with food: eating breakfast has been linked to higher performance at school, better social interactions, fewer instances of attention issues, and better weight maintenance. That is, of course, unless breakfast is a highly processed sugary cereal, toaster pastry… or the liquid equivalent. Carnation Breakfast Essentials is fortified with a number of synthetic ingredients suspended in not-so-nutritious food-esque ingredients, which makes them pretty much like liquefied Count Chocula. Let’s look at how these convenient cans and powders break down; then we’ll explore some other ways to work the same nutrition into your child’s day without quite so many preservatives and artificial additives.
Is Nonfat Milk really so great?
Nonfat milk is the transport device for all of the “nutrients” in Carnation Breakfast Essentials. Nonfat milk is a whitened, skimmed version of whole milk: when the full fat is removed, so are many nutrients. The nutrients have to be added back in artificially (read on for some examples of how Carnation does it). Manufacturers also add sugar to replace the flavor of dairy fat. Also, the removal of full fat means we’re less likely to feel full from consuming something, and the addition of sugar means we’re likely to need more of it to feel satisfied.
Sugar content
Sugar is listed as the second, third, and fifth ingredients: not promising for a product that claims to deliver “balanced nutrition so [kids] can be at their best”. Sugar is linked to attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity disorders, poor nutrient absorption, and not surprisingly, childhood obesity.
Dicalcium phosphate 101
Dicalcium phosphate, the purported calcium supplement in this drink, is a compound formed when calcium and phosphoric acid are combined. The result is a substance virtually insoluble in water (meaning it doesn’t dissolve or absorb into the body’s tissues easily). Interesting to note, too, that this particular substance is recommended for use under doctor supervision only.
Flavors…
Natural and Artificial Flavor – this could include anything from mink oil (extracted from the animal), soaked charred sawdust, to extracts of crude oil or tar that – to our senses – taste or smell the same as a ‘natural substance’. While anything labeled ‘natural flavorant’ must be derived from something commonly considered edible, artificial ingredients don’t have to come from a food source.
Vitamin sources
CBE also includes isolated synthetic supplemental sources of vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin A, B1, B6, B12, D, K, and folic acid.
Unspoiled on the shelf for months!
To remain unspoiled on a shelf for many months, as Breakfast Essentials must, the manufacturer adds emulsifiers and stabilizers: these keep the product’s consistency for upwards of a year. (What does that mean they’re doing inside our bodies?) Soy Lecithin is a yellow-brown fatty substance extracted from plant tissue. It’s often highly processed. It’s used here as an emulsifier, to hold all of the other compound ingredients together.
Similarly, Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate is stabilized vitamin E. This form is more commonly used in cosmetics and is not generally effective as a source of nutrition.
Carrageenan
Carrageenan, which has seen much media attention lately due to studies that suggest it’s an unsafe food product, is a highly processed derivative of red seaweed. It has no nutritional value and is used as an emulsifier. It has been linked to inflammatory conditions and to glucose desensitization (a precursor for diabetes) in animal trials.
There are several ways to work these essential nutrients and lasting energy into your child’s morning without resorting to pre-packaged drinks like Carnation Breakfast Essentials. It’s important to know that your child doesn’t require ALL of the vitamins on the nutrition spectrum in each meal; rather, aim for representation of each across a 24-hour period. You have two more meals (and snacks) throughout the day to cover their nutritional bases, so don’t worry too much about working in everything in one meal.
Where to get your essential nutrients
When it comes to providing ample energy to get through until lunch, aim for healthy fats and lasting protein. Avocado, almond butter, and flax meal provide a good dose of filling fat; nuts, seeds, whole grains, and yogurt alternatives provide protein.
Calcium can be found in leafy greens, almonds, and yogurt made from soy or almond milk.
Vitamin A is what gives orange veggies their bright color: think sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and even apricots. Vitamin B can be tricky on a plant-based diet, but incorporating nuts, seeds, spinach, banana, avocado, and nutritional yeast in addition to a B12 supplement can round out this nutrient in the diet. Vitamin D is widely available in fish as well as in mushrooms, and our best source of Vitamin K is leafy greens. (Seeing a pattern?).
Folate naturally occurs in staple plant foods like beans and greens (think: foliage), and in this form is more absorbable than when it comes from synthetic folic acid.
And if you need to add some real natural flavor, try vanilla bean, cinnamon, or nutmeg.
Considering all of these, some easy breakfast options include:
- a smoothie with greens, banana, almond butter, and flax meal
- brown rice flour or quinoa flour pancakes with cinnamon
- quinoa with almond milk, nuts or seeds, berries, and apricot
- an egg or tofu scramble with greens and mushrooms and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast
To my mind, the biggest benefit to avoiding premixed drinks like this one is the opportunity to limit sugar intake. Especially first thing in the morning, staying away from added sugars can promote better food choices throughout the day, fewer cravings, and better focus and attention at school.
Whole foods help kids develop a great relationship with real food and how it fuels them. It might take an extra minute to toss ingredients in the blender rather than pop open a can of Carnation Breakfast Essentials, but the long term benefits are worth it! Set your little ones up for a great day, and a healthy upbringing, by incorporating real foods as often as you can.
Have you tasted Carnation Breakfast Essentials? Thoughts? Comments? Bones to pick? Share it with us below! We want to hear it all!
At The Naked Label we love Amy’s tell-it-like-it-is approach to holistic nutrition! Why hide the goods? You’ll want to check out her site for even more HOT info that she’s cookin’ up on the daily. Click Here to check out Amy’s site.
Photo by: Taestell.
