Dr Oz: No-Sugar Strawberry Jam Recipe & Jelly vs Jam vs Marmalade

Dr Oz: Jelly vs Jam vs Marmalade

With so much of his May 8 show dedicated to nuts and nut butter, it made sense for Dr Oz to shine a light on one half of a timeless duo: jelly. But before we get to making one tasty nut butter and jelly sandwich, Mark Schatzker, thankfully, explained the difference between, jams, jellies, marmalades and the like.

American jelly is made from fruit juice and is often 55% sugar! Jam is made with crushed, cooked fruit and also contains as much as 55% sugar by weight. Marmalade contains pieces of peeled fruit but again, contains a lot of sugar. As Mark explained, none of them would be considered a health food, but he likes jam because he thinks it’s the closest to real fruit. The closer you stick to real food, the better.

Then he spoke about which is better, if you are trying to lose weight: grape jelly or sugar-free grape jelly?  Plus, what is an actual serving size of jelly or jam?  And, of course, Dr. Oz’s amazingly simple, 2-ingredient, no-sugar, strawberry jam recipe on the next page…

Is Grape Jelly or Sugar-Free Grape Jelly Better For You?

But obviously, the 55% sugar is concerning. So you think sugar-free jam must be a better option then, right? One look at the ingredient list will make you think twice. The first ingredient for grape jam is Concord grapes but then you get a ton of sugar. With the sugar-free version, you go from five ingredients to thirteen and the first ingredient on the list is water, with polydextrose being the second. As Mark explained, food companies essentially “make water gooey” then they add artificial sweetener, a coloring, an artificial flavor, and a little bit of fruit. According to Mark, this is the furthest away from real fruit of all the options.

Dr Oz: What’s a Serving Size of Jelly or Jam?

Mark also stated that it’s important to remember that jelly isn’t a fruit, it’s a treat. It should be considered a treat and you’re best off sticking to jam.

Renata then joined Dr Oz to share her tricks for keeping sugar levels down when making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A typical PB&J uses 50 calories and 12 grams of sugar worth of jelly (about a tablespoon). Renata likes to use a fork instead of a spoon to get her jelly out of the jar. Then draw an X on her bread with the jelly before spreading it out for the right portion size. Plus, if you use a sweeter butter like sunflower butter, you won’t need as much jelly.

Dr Oz: Homemade Fruit Jam

For the healthiest PB&J, why not make your own jam? Renata used an immersion blender to blend up real strawberries to make her own jam, and Dr Oz claimed it actually tasted even better! Knowing that, would you make your own jam or jelly at home? If so, what fruit or fruits would you use? To me, a strawberry and mango blend sounds like the perfect, unique spread to eat with some nut butter!

Dr Oz: Low-Sugar Strawberry Jam Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup water (as needed)

Directions:

1. Blend the strawberries using an immersion blender.  Frozen (but thawed) or fresh strawberries will both work!
2. Slowly add a little bit of water at a time, until you reach the consistency that you prefer.
3. Prefer other fruits? You can add any type of fruit to change the flavor!

This tastes MUCH better than the sugar-free jam that you buy at stores, plus, it has no chemicals and costs less! Win-Win-Win!!!