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Just an FYI...A standard jar of Nutella contains over 50% sugar, followed by palm oil, and only small amounts of hazelnuts, cocoa, and skim milk powder.
Palm oil in its natural state is full of antioxidants, has a bright crimson color, is spicy, and favorable. Now, for ultra-processed food manufacturers (UPF), all that flavor and color doesn't make for yummy Nutella, or any other popular processed foods that most Americans consume daily.
The palm oil used is not just ordinary oil—it's refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) to create the smooth, shelf-stable texture people associate with Nutella.
Oils for UPF need to be flavorless, bland, and chemically engineered to make an edible product.
These oils go through extreme heat and chemical processing, stripping them of any nutritional value and producing inflammatory compounds that can negatively affect your circulatory system and metabolic health.
In combination with sugar, these oils form a metabolic disaster:
The sugar spikes blood glucose and insulin levels, while the RBD oils promote chronic inflammation and oxidative stress—a key early step in the development of atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries).
🍫 Easy to Eat, Hard to Stop
Another danger lies in how easy and habitual Nutella is to consume. It’s marketed as a breakfast staple or an innocent snack for kids—spread on toast, swirled in oatmeal, or even eaten by the spoonful.
This convenience and palatability make it a perfect example of an ultra-processed food that overrides natural satiety signals. Children in particular are vulnerable, not just to the addictive sweetness, but to the early development of unhealthy eating habits and metabolic damage.
Here's the real danger. Heart disease doesn’t begin in adulthood.
Studies show that early signs of arterial stiffness and fat accumulation in arteries can begin in childhood, especially in diets high in added sugars and industrial oils. Giving young kids Nutella regularly may seem harmless, but it’s laying the groundwork for lifelong health risks.
🧠 The Bottom Line
Nutella is more than just a sugary spread—it’s a highly engineered, ultra-processed product loaded with ingredients that harm your body at a cellular level.
The combination of refined sugar and processed oils contributes to chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and early markers of heart disease—especially concerning when consumed by children.
If you’re looking for a safer alternative, consider making your own nut butter at home with roasted hazelnuts, a small amount of natural sweetener, and real cocoa. We used dates, blended them all up...Delicious!
Give it a try!
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