Chewing sweets: types, ingredients, main ingredients

We all loved sweets in our childhood. Without them, there is not a single holiday, and a tea without sweets is quite boring. Stand alone in their list are chewy candy. This is an excellent dessert that an adult and a child will like, and many people think that such sweets are the least harmful to the waist and the whole body. However, there are many nuances in which you need to be able to understand. Chewing sweets can contain a large number of dyes and flavors.

Useful properties of sweets

Let's first talk about what delicious sweets can give your body. For the most part in the composition of one sugar, pure glucose, from which the body can get energy. However, good chewy candies may include various useful fillers. This is fruit juice and berries, and nuts and seeds. That is, they are sources of minerals and vitamins, fiber and other nutrients.

Thus, the moderate use of sweets made from natural ingredients will only benefit you. But the question is: are all chewing candies suitable for this description? Let's look at the most popular brands that are on the shelves of our stores and pharmacies.

"Supradin" - chewing sweets

If you talk about what will really benefit you, then it is primarily vitamins for children. This form is a standard set of vitamins and minerals needed for your baby's body, which are encapsulated in a gelatinous shell. As sweeteners, glucose syrup, sugar and other ingredients are used. However, despite the obvious benefit of these supplements to food, they should be prescribed by a doctor as needed.

Candy "Mamba"

Bright, delicious and very loved by children sweets. Many remember them from the time of their own childhood, and now they are pleased with their own kids. Should we accustom the crumb to such delicacies? Probably not. "Mamba" is a chewing candy made on the basis of gelatin, which means animal fats. How useful these refractory fats are for a child's organism is difficult to say. But that is not all. In order to make gelatin sweet, it is saturated with sugar syrup. The abundance of carbohydrates, or rather, of simple sugar, is the so-called scourge of modern society, so the later you accustom your child to such products, the better. And finally the last moment: these sweets are stuffed with dyes and flavors to make them pink and green, smelling deliciously. Just these substances are extremely harmful to humans, and especially for a growing organism.

What you need to pay attention to in the composition

Buying chewing sweets (the photo shows us an abundance of bright pads, bears and other attractive shapes and colors), first of all pay attention to the composition. In fact, it is usually identical. These candies differ slightly, just some are made using natural fruit juices, contain vitamins and minerals, as well as pectin or agar-agar (extract from algae), and others - based on gelatin and artificial colors. The latter usually attract the attention of children with their bright colors, although their unnaturalness should alert them.

Are all "E" harmful?

We will continue the conversation about how to recognize chewy candy. The composition may include mysterious "E", which is already so legged that it is considered a priori harmful. In fact, under the mask "E" the natural dye curcumin or chlorophyll can hide (E 140). They usually do not give too intense coloring, and therefore you can already determine in appearance how you can give them to children.

Caloric content of chewing sweets

Often women, keen on losing weight, tend to choose them, when it is absolutely impossible without the sweet. And this is correct, especially if sweets are made on the basis of agar-agar, and fructose is used as a sweetener. It turns out low-calorie, but quite tasty dessert. On average, they are 350 kcal per 100 g of product. For comparison: in chocolate glaze about twice as many calories.

To chew candy can be attributed and toffee, but they include fat, condensed milk, molasses, and hence their caloric value will be much higher.

Homemade chewing sweets

In fact, such sweets can be very easily cooked at home on their own. Depending on your preferences, you can choose any components. For example, it can be a mixture of fruit and vegetable juice (apple and carrot), gelling components, as well as nuts. You can experiment and include in the composition of the condensed milk, then your sweets will have a rich creamy taste.

You should think carefully about which gelling agent you will use. The most dense structure gives agar-agar, in addition, this extract from algae has no extraneous taste and practically does not contain calories. Pectin - also a vegetable gelling component, which is obtained from apples, and its caloric value is higher. Finally, everyone familiar gelatin gives a consistency of jelly, which is difficult to form into sweets (it has high caloric value and there is a specific taste, since it is made on the basis of drawing from cartilage).

In addition, you will need a form in which you will fill the finished mixture. Let's start the cooking process. You will need to heat the base (water with sugar, juice, milk) and melt the gelling agent in it. Do not bring to a boil, the mixture must be removed from the fire and cool a little. In the form, add up everything you want to see in the filling role, and fill it with the resulting syrup. Leave the molds for several hours to completely solidify. After that, candy can be sprinkled with powdered sugar. Such sweets do not exactly contain anything harmful - they can treat children as often as you want. But with bright shop chewing jam, be more careful. Buy only the products of proven manufacturers and carefully study the composition. And it is better to buy home more fruits than sweets - it is also very tasty and useful.