+350 The cause of obesity is partially the fact that Lucky Charms is cheaper than Kashi. In our poor economy, people are turning to cheaper food options which are not always healthy food options, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Cheaper yet delicious.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Calories in a serving of Kashi GoLean: 200 Calories in a serving of Lucky Charms: 120 Your argument is poorly constructed

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Calories don't always equate health.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"The cause of obesity is partially the fact that Lucky Charms is cheaper than Kashi." Since Lucky Charms have fewer calories, that statement is simply untrue.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

What she said has nothing to do with calories.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Fewer calories doesn't make it healthier. Kashi has less sugar, fat and more nutrients than Lucky Charms.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

@1324353 (ItsAngie): To both of you, as well as anyone who's downvoting my comments: obesity is caused by excess calorie consumption. Since Kashi has more calories than Lucky Charms, replacing Lucky Charms with Kashi in a diet would promote weight gain. This is simple thermodynamics, and there's no arguing it. To ThisIsWhyImRite: maybe she didn't mean to say anything having to do with calories, but she inadvertently did so when she made the claim about obesity. To ItsAngie: I have never, not once, said that Lucky Charms are healthier than Kashi. What you said is not a response to anything I've said.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You can't just look at calories, though. You have to take into consideration the amount of fat and sugars as well as how the food effects metabolism and other things. But, nevermind. This is pointless. ono

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah let's stop, you obviously win

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You're right, calories cause you to gain weight, which means that people who are obese consume too many calories. HOWEVER, just because a food is lower in calories doesn't mean it's less likely to cause obesity. Kashi, although higher in calories, is also higher in fiber and nutrients, which means it is more satisfying both in terms of fullness and in feeling like you've eaten a nutritious meal. That means you a) have to eat less of it to feel full, and b) will stay full longer, so you won't consume as many calories later on in the day.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Finally, an actual response to something I said. You're right that different foods have different effects on satiety and could affect overall calorie intake beyond their inherent calorie content. However, cereals are generally very similar to each other in their ingredients and therefore their effect on satiety. For example Kashi has the tagline "7 whole grains on a mission" and Lucky Charms are also advertised as providing whole grains. Yes, Kashi has the higher healthy nutrient content, but this wouldn't increase its satiety so much as to make up for its increased calorie content. Consider that a typical bowl of Kashi has 3 servings, and a typical bowl of Lucky Charms has 2 servings (this is because a serving of Kashi is 2/3 cups instead of 1 cup). This means the bowl of Kashi would have 600 calories vs. 360 in the Lucky Charms. That is such a large discrepancy that Kashi would definitely promote obesity more than Lucky Charms.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

What I'm looking at says a serving of Kashi is 1 cup, not 2/3...but I guess that's really besides the point. You have to remember that Kashi has less sugar than Lucky Charms. Also, a lot of those "junk" cereals, like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops and such, came under fire for their high sugar content, so they use higher concentrations of artificial sweeteners (dextrose, modified corn syrup, etc.), which as I'm sure you know increase your cravings for sugar later on. Sugar is basically straight calories, so the Lucky Charms will more than make up for the deficit. Kashi, on the other hand, has no sweetener except "evaporated cane juice," which is basically just a fancy way to say natural sugar, and it's listed farther down on the ingredients list than any of the sweeteners in Lucky Charms (ingredients are listed by what makes up the highest percentage of the food). That being said, I'm not really sure what the point of this debate is...but oh well, I started it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I was watching something where a low class family said they bought fast food because the healthy food they actually wanted to buy was a lot more expensive.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If only healthy food was cheap and junk food was expensive...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And Kashi tastes like cat food

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Oh my god, I know, right? I tried it once, and I thought I was eating pet food and grass.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I ended up trying to feed it to my dog, and she refused to eat it

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I blame it all on the government and their subsidies to the corn industry. Google it. Educate yourselves.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Despite what people say it's actually not that hard to eat healthy with a budget, I do it every day. Find a whole-foods store and bulk buy, it's cheap AND healthy. Whole grain oat cereal, brown sugar, and maybe some apple slices is just as good as a breakfast food and a lot more cheaper. Health food companies, though going in the right direction, do usually rip people off. You're better off making your own food and getting both more nutritional and dollar value out of it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And then, those that are really poor and live in certain areas don't even have a health food store to go to in the first place. =/

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I grew up eating Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and I was never even close to obese - the difference was I ran around outside everyday playing various games, many kids today do not. I babysat a 7 year old last week who refused to play outside and instead watched television the whole time.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My country was going to abolish GST on Healthy foods, but gave up because the couldn't define what "Healthy food" was. But in all honesty, it's not that hard to eat healthy on a budget, maybe the expetion of meat, but there are healthy alternatives for everything. Like branded food is exactly the same as cheaper, unbranded food. And whoever thinks buying takeaways is cheaper is a joke, it accumulates to a lot more than grocery shopping every week. People just don't realise it because it is portrayed as much cheaper.

by Anonymous 12 years ago