The Truth about Nutella

There seems to be a lot of talk about Nutella in my world! My husband LOVES Nutella- seems like the rest of the world does too! The big question – Is Nutella GOOD or BAD for you?

The Nutella website claims that Nutella is full of energy- “Spread some Energy”. TRUE!  Yes Nutella is full of energy, however the majority of this energy comes from sugar, creating an initial “high” and then a crash shortly after. Also, since cocoa is an ingredient in Nutella, there are traces of caffeine in a yummy morning tablespoon serving! (Coffee plus Nutella sounds even better, don’t you think?… mmmm Nutella Mocha) Problem: Sugar high=Sugar Low. Solution? More Nutella and then an afternoon nap!

Lets look at the ingredients. This delicious spread is made from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a touch of cocoa. Healthy right? It also has no artificial colors or preservatives. BUT Nutella conveniently forgets to mention that the two MAIN ingredients are sugar and modified palm oil (I like to forget about that part). The truth is that Nutella’s slogan should actually be: “Nutella is a yummy sugary, modified oil spread, with delicious hazelnuts, tons of cocos and “touch” of skim milk power”. Yes, the ugly truth told like a fairy tale.

I Like to compare Nutella with our other yummy friend, Peanut Butter. When compared, both have the same amount of calories per serving: 1 tbsp= 100 calories. Peanut Butter has more fat than Nutella, however PB is actually a natural fat which is better for you and not modified. The reason Nutella appears to have less fat, is mostly because there is much more sugar in it acting as a filler.  Okay so the most staggering difference  between PB and Nutella is the sugar content! Unfortunately it’s bad,  11g vs 1g.  My solution- adding an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill!

Comparing Nutella & Peanut Butter just makes me think of how wonderful the combination of both would taste! Thank goodness for my amazing friend Mary, the creator of Delightful Bitefuls with the perfect recipe! (She can’t seem to get her hands off the Nutella too!)

You NEED to try her Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Cups! They are out of this world amazing!

32 thoughts on "The Truth about Nutella"

  2. Perfect timing! On Tuesday I was spreading some on some toast for a little kiddo thinking to myself, ‘this cant really be good’; just good marketing! Thanks for the info~!

  5. oh man, i love the combination of nutella and peanut butter together as well. those delightful bites look and sound amazing!

    but i have had to cut down on my nutella intake. it used to be bad. i used to eat it by the spoonful. sick right?! hahaha. but yeah its totally bad for you. it’s been almost two years since i’ve really allowed myself to indulge in nutella and now i actually find it way too sweet and can only eat it in small doses. =P

    Kristy Eléna – Full Time Fabulous
    Vogue Gone Rogue
    Twitter: @kristyelena

  8. Great post! Plus, we can’t forget that the palm oil ingredient most likely comes from formerly thriving natural rain forest areas, cleared to create palm plantations. Just sayin’ 😉

    Also, I am a bit horrified that Nutella commercials show moms feeding that stuff to their children. Modified oil = not good for kids!

  11. Wow this is fantastic I so needed something for citz were doing about good and bad foods the latest topic is “is your usual foods actually healthy” I bet I’ll get a level 8+ on my report.

    Thanks Amy XD

  12. Whomp whomp, a bit dissapointed. I purchased nutella today thinking its healthy for u and an equivalent to pb, but reading these reviews and what you posted regarding the matter has left me a bit discouraged. I purchased it because I’m always hearing from people how great it is, asted it too, taste heavenly, I’m still going to eat it, just in moderation. Thanks for the post

  13. I eat nutella by the jar i once ate 4 jars of nutella in 3 days. I think I’m addicted to it, now that I know that it’s bad for me I will resist the urge to eat it even though it so delicious and tasty. I will miss it. I ate it for breakfast lunch and dinner and even for a snack with a spoon and eat the whole jar in 10minutes, and still want more so I would buy more and eat more. recently I have gained a couple pounds and I wondered were in the world it came from o work out every day and I was still getting heavier so now that i have learned that it’s not healthy I will stop eating it and see if that helps and I start losing weight and get back to my original weight and lose more weight.
    THANK YOU
    J

  15. let’s see, servings for a person is 2 tbsp. 200 calories in a serving. Lol. You do the math.

    Answer: That’s 100 calories sitting in a spoon!

    P.S. I really enjoy nutella. Just like everything else tho, it’s not what you eat…. It’s how much you eat. Enjoy!! -Scott

  16. I know its bad but can’t resist it.
    I made a 2 minute microwave cake in a mug and added a table spoon in the mixture and a tablespoon or the mug cake until its melted and sprayed fresh cream on it. Hmmmm yummy. Get the recipe from me on [email protected] I know its bad but boy oh boy its damn good.

  17. wow.. at my old work there was a dude who would literally buy a jar of it every 2 days! I just bought some myself this week to try it as everyone seems to like it and i was curious on how it tasted and if it was in fact better for you than pb. Nope… it has ALOT more sugar and the fat content is close to double. Both are yummy though. I was hoping Nutella was good for you or at least almost good for you…

  18. There’s GOTTA be a way to make a more nutritional-tella. Like a home recipe. Or one of those natural versions at the tree-hugger food stores?

    I am enjoying the imported German-made one very much, but it is like being an addict with a jar of crack cocaine in the kitchen. WAY too tasty for the sugar level and bad oils.

  19. The suger in the Nutella does nothing to me but makes me sleepy it might be because I’m ADHD anyway usually it would make people hyper but its the opisite for me. Suger does not affect me like it would every one else my age

  20. It’s really not that hard to make homemade Nutella…check out this recipe
    http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/02/21/homemade-nutella-recipe/
    Also you can easily cut back the sugar( I sometimes use as little as half a cup) I personally believe the store bought stuff is way too sweet. I prefer to fast the hazelnuts plus if I’m going to spend $7 or whatever it costs to buy it I would rather spend the money on the hazelnuts not processed oily sugary crap…

  21. Oh and I substitute coconut oil for the hazelnut oil simply because its what I usually have on hand…

  22. What if you spread it on a banana?? Does that make it any better??? LOL!! I’ve been doing that all week! YIKES!

  25. 🙁 I think Nutella is tasty but for some reason it always gives me a bad stomach ache… Maybe it’s that modified oil. Still wondering what could be the source.

  28. So glad I found this article and your website – have saved it to my favourites!
    I have a friend who eats a tablespoon of nutella before each gym session because she believes it gives her the energy to get through the session, yet she doesn’t understand why she gets so tired after!

  29. The Italian version of Nutella uses vegetable oil, not palm oil. I don’t understand why here in the U.S. things have to be more unhealthy

  30. I am so addicted to Nutella. I had to dump a brand new, unopened jar in the trash yesterday. I’ve been eating it out of the jar with a spoon, going through a jar every 2-3 days. No wonder my clothes are getting tight. I decided yesterday, it has to go. I simply cannot control myself around this stuff. It is like a drug. I’ve never had a food addiction like this to anything else. I now know that I cannot even have a tiny little taste. I am going through Nutella withdrawals. But I have to lose some weight and cut this stuff out of my life for good!

  31. Eat a PB sandwich for breakfast. Don’t eat nutella sandwiches, because it is extremely sugary 😀 I ate it once. It tastes good, but I stopped when I saw the Nutrition Facts.

  32. You only live once…live life to the fullest! People worry too damn much about everything.

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