by Margaret S Garrett - Published 6 months ago

Homemade Granola: Worth the Effort? Pros & Cons

Welcome to “Is It Worth It?”, a Healthyawen series examining the advantages and disadvantages of store-bought versus homemade foods. The series aims to provide you with the information needed to make nutritional choices aligned with your lifestyle, budget, values, and wellness goals.

Today's focus is on granola, a popular food recognized for its nutritional content and convenience as a fast breakfast option or healthy snack. We'll delve into cost, health benefits, time and effort involved, and environmental impact to determine if making it at home is truly worthwhile.

Comparing Costs

When comparing the expense of homemade granola versus store-bought, several factors come into play. Initially, buying ingredients for homemade granola might appear costlier. However, these ingredients can be used to make multiple batches, reducing the cost per serving over time. Conversely, store-bought granola tends to be more expensive due to attractive packaging, established brands, and ease of purchase.

Let's use a specific example to highlight the serving size comparison between homemade and store-bought granola.

Imagine spending $15 on ingredients for homemade granola. This could yield around 15 servings, resulting in a cost per serving of roughly $1. Now, consider a bag of store-bought granola costing $7 and providing approximately 7 servings. The cost per serving of store-bought granola is also $1.

After your first homemade granola batch, you'll have leftovers, enough for 15 more servings at no extra cost, lowering the price per serving to $0.50. However, store-bought granola's cost remains $1 per serving since you must buy a new bag.

Health Advantages

Homemade granola has advantages over store-bought, mainly due to ingredient control. You decide what goes in your own granola.

Though convenient, store-bought granola can't match homemade in aligning with your taste and nutritional goals.

Less added sugar: Many store-bought granolas contain excessive added sugars like white refined sugar, brown sugar syrup, tapioca syrup, and high-fructose corn syrup, which can negatively impact your health and weight loss. Homemade granola allows you to control the sweetness.
More fiber: DIY granola provides more fiber through oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Store-bought options often skimp on fiber due to cost. High fiber intake promotes a healthy weight, digestion, and may reduce heart disease risk.
More protein: Homemade granola allows for increased protein with nuts, seeds, and almond butter, helping with cell repair and building new ones. This aids in building and maintaining lean muscle mass, beneficial for weight loss, which store-bought granola may not offer.
No preservatives or additives: Commercial granola brands often use preservatives and additives for shelf life, which are absent in homemade granola.

Time and Work

Homemade granola takes time and effort, involving grocery shopping, mixing, baking, and cleanup. This process is more time-consuming than buying a pre-made bag from the store. If you value convenience or have a busy schedule, store-bought granola may be more appealing.

However, depending on your health and weight goals, the extra time could be beneficial. A typical serving of store-bought granola contains about 200 calories, with at least 50 of those calories coming from added sugars. If you consume 2-3 servings per week, that's an additional 400-600 calories each week, or 1600-2400 calories per month!

By using less added sugar, you can reduce the caloric value to around 150 per serving. This represents a saving of 50 calories per serving, or 100-150 calories per week, and 400-600 calories per month.

Environmental Effect

The environmental impact is another factor to consider when deciding between homemade and store-bought granola. Pre-packaged granola often comes in single-use plastic, contributing to waste.

On the other hand, homemade granola, especially when made with locally sourced or bulk-bought ingredients, significantly reduces the need for packaging and can be stored in reusable containers, making it a more environmentally friendly option.

Summary of Benefits and Drawbacks

Homemade Granola:

Advantages

Lower cost per serving when ingredients are used for multiple batches
Greater control over ingredients—make it healthier with less added sugar, more protein and fiber
Ability to use higher quality ingredients
Freedom to experiment with flavors and ingredients
More environmentally friendly if using locally-sourced or bulk-bought ingredients

Disadvantages

Making granola takes time and effort to shop, prepare, and clean up.
The ingredients for homemade granola may be more expensive initially.

Store-Bought Granola:

Pros

It's convenient and saves time, making it perfect for busy people.
There's a wide selection of flavors and options for different diets.
Pre-portioned servings make it easy to use.

Cons

Usually more expensive per serving because of packaging and brand recognition costs
Frequently has a higher amount of sugar and preservatives
The packaging adds to environmental waste

TRY: Coconut Quinoa Hazelnut Granola