While Digestive Biscuits have long held a prominent position in the market for biscuits consumed with tea, consumers are increasingly looking for a better option. To put it another way, it helps digestion and is hence preferred over regular biscuits. But how much of this is based on reality? Lets understand- “are digestive biscuits healthy”.
Digestive Biscuits
In keeping with its name, it’s a semi-sweet biscuit that’s great for digestion.
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Mostly 85% white flour is mixed with 15% fine bran to make this brown meal. When it comes to tea, milk, and coffee, this is a go-to food to pair with.
Digestive biscuits come in numerous flavors and fillings, including the classic chocolate-covered cookie, mint chocolate, orange-flavored chocolate, plain chocolate, and other sweets.
What ingredients are those? Let’s find out.
1. Wholemeal Wheat Flour
Gluten-sensitive people should avoid digestives since they contain wheat flour found in most cereals and biscuits. Gluten intolerance is a medical issue that affects people who eat rye, barley, or wheat.
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Bloating, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, and constipation are all common side effects. Patients with a severe case of this ailment may also experience headaches, fatigue, depression, and skin problems due to the medication.
If you’re allergic to wheat, consuming some digestives may cause swelling of the throat or mouth, shortness of breath, and even anaphylaxis in people with the allergy. Consult a doctor right once if you feel you have a wheat allergy.
To incorporate digestives into your diet, we recommend that you look for companies that provide gluten-free or wheat-free options, such as those manufactured with the following ingredients:
- Finely ground cornmeal
- Millet flour
- Tapioca flour
- Coconut flour
- Sorghum flour
- Rice flour
2. Added Sugars– Are Digestive Biscuits Healthy
Many digestive biscuits are now classified as a “semi-sweet meal” due to the combination of natural sweeteners and added sugars. But when compared to complete meals, additional sugars provide little nutritional benefit.
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Furthermore, they can readily supplant better-for-you food options in your diet and contribute to tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease if taken in excess.
How much-added sugars should you consume daily?
It is recommended that women and men can have daily added sugar limits of 100 calories and 150 calories for men (about 36g/9 teaspoons).
You can probably eat a couple of digestive biscuits during an afternoon tea, containing 5g of sugar on average. Four digestives contain 10 grams of sugar, 30 to 50 percent of the added sugar limit.
It will help your health greatly if you replace sugary goodies with healthier (i.e., no added sugar) snacks such as nuts, wholegrain crackers, veggie sticks, and seeds.
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There are also low-sugar digestives (around 1.7g of sugar per biscuit), such as those created for your daily tea ritual. Just make sure you don’t fall into these two pitfalls: overeating digestives and overeating too frequently.
If you want to avoid added sugars, be sure to check the labels on the products you buy. Some companies refer to sugar by other names, such as:
- Molasses
- Maple syrup
- Sucrose
- Glucose
- Agave nectar
- Glucose syrup
- Coconut palm sugar
- Corn syrup
- Hydrolyzed starch
Naturally-occurring sugar-containing foods, including fruits, milk, and other dairy products, are excellent choices. Table sugar can be replaced with any of these natural sweeteners if you’re making your digestive biscuits.
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Sugar Replacement while making digestive biscuits
- Stevia- The stevia plant is used to make this natural sweetener. These plants’ steviol glycosides, a bio-sweetener type, are up to 300 times sweeter than table sugar. They don’t have any fat, either.
- Erythritol– Sugar cane juice is 70 percent dearer than Sucrose, although it has fewer calories per serving. As a result, it has no effect on your blood sugar levels, causes cavities, or increases your weight.
Sugar and digestive problems
There is evidence that diarrhea can be caused by an inability to digest certain carbohydrates properly. The colon produces a lot of mucus if you have Crohn’s or celiac disease. Due of this, sugars and starches are complex for you to digest and absorb, which causes diarrhea, excess gas, and discomfort in your abdomen.
Excess sugar consumption can also lead to bloating, injury to the vagus nerve (gastroparesis), and metabolic dysfunction, leading to weight gain and obesity. To reduce your risk of acquiring chronic diseases, cut back on sugar and replace it with healthier alternatives.
3. Fats– Are Digestive Biscuits Healthy
Both high in saturated fat, palm oil and butter are commonly used as fats in digestive biscuits. Foods that cause gastrointestinal distress are referred to as gastrointestinal distress triggers.
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Saturated fat consumption should be kept at 22 grams per day for adults on a 2,000-calorie diet. A digestive biscuit can include up to 3g of saturated fat, depending on the brand. Increasing colonic contractions can cause stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, and rectal urgency if you go over the limit.
Aside from raising your bad cholesterol, consuming foods high in saturated fats increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating a low-fat diet can help you avoid the symptoms of digestive issues and lose weight without resorting to dieting.
Saturated fat level is lower in digestive biscuits made from plant-derived oils like sunflower, olive, and grapeseed, which can help you lose weight.
4. Sodium– Are Digestive Biscuits Healthy
Digestive biscuits from certain manufacturers contain salt that’s not readily apparent. Many of the biscuits sold at big-box stores are loaded with sodium. Whether it’s a biscuit with their morning coffee or a midnight snack, people who consume biscuits unknowingly consume more salt than they realize.
In addition to hypertension and stroke, higher sodium intake (more than 920mg/2.3g of salt per day) has been associated with bloating and changes in the makeup and function of the gut flora, which can exacerbate the symptoms of ulcerative colitis in certain people.
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Bottom Line- Read A Lot, But Make Smart Food Choices
Digestive biscuits, for the most part, aren’t as healthful as they’re promoted to be. Eat a few biscuits at a time and pay attention to the nutrition details of your food. Please pay attention to how a specific brand makes you feel when you eat something from it.
Bring the packaging to a nutritionist for evaluation to be on the safe side. In addition, healthier food choices, including legumes, seeds, whole grains, and sugar-free fruits, may help your digestion.
