At Christmas, nougats become the protagonists of the tables, offering a wide range of flavors and textures. Although many of these sweets are ultra-processed products with high levels of sugar and calories, some healthier options are emerging on the market.
A notable example is certain Mercadona nougats, which have been recognized for their most beneficial nutritional profile. These nougats, recommended by the Instagram account @transformatelavida, include varieties with high cocoa and almond content and low in sugar, offering healthier alternatives to enjoy during these holidays.
The three healthiest nougats from Mercadona
Among Mercadona’s nougats, three stand out for their healthiest qualities. These include:
- Nougat 72% cocoa and almonds Hacendado: Mercadona’s healthiest nougat is the nougat with 72% cocoa and almonds, which in its composition has only 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams. It has become one of the healthiest and most delicious options on the market, and that is why it has acquired great popularity. In addition, this nougat is characterized by its protein content, offering 15% protein per 100 grams, which contributes to its healthy nutritional profile and makes it a popular and delicious option on the market.
- Imperial almond nougat 0% Hacendado sugars: second place goes to this nougat, which has more than 60% almonds, 4 grams of sugar and 17 polyalcohols per 100 grams of product. In addition, this nougat provides a considerable 14% protein per 100 grams, which enhances its nutritional profile and makes it a healthier option.
- Chocolate and almond nougat 0% sugar Hacendado: this chocolate and almond nougat completes the podium, which has 8 grams of sugar per 100 grams of product, and 30% toasted almonds. In addition, this nougat is distinguished by its protein content, offering 13% per 100 grams, which makes it a more nutritious alternative compared to other Christmas sweets.
On the opposite side, the three worst quality nougats from Mercadona are the Caocream cookie nougat, the fruit nougat and the Catalan cream nougat, since they have about 55 grams of sugar per 100 grams, which is half of the product.
Mercadona and its wide assortment of nougats
Mercadona has prepared for Christmas with a wide assortment of nougats, in which there are healthy options like those mentioned and others that are not so healthy. What Juan Roig’s company has been concerned about is placing options in its stores for all tastes, including some innovative and surprising proposals.
Its main novelties are the cocoacream cookie nougat, which is one of the least healthy, and which consists of a milk chocolate nougat with pieces of the popular cookie that is a success among its customers; and the cheesecake nougat, a cheesecake nougat with a cookie with a white chocolate coating, a layer of red fruit jam and a cheese filling with cookie pieces.
Of course, chocolate nougats cannot be missing from their catalogue, where they sell varieties with crunchy cereals, with fried peanuts with honey, with a creamy filling of milk, hazelnuts and cookie pieces, with almonds, or with three chocolates, as well. like several options with dark and white chocolate.
There is also no shortage of classic soft and hard nougats, toasted yolk nougats or imperial almond cake, to which are added interesting options by Antiu Xixona such as guirlache nougat with toasted almonds, the more artisanal Jijona nougat or crocant nougat. nuts.
Finally, we have to make special mention of their wide assortment of nougats with original flavors:
- Pistachio nougat: Mercadona has for sale this combination of chocolate nougat with pistachio filling, which offers a creamy texture and has pieces of pistachio inside.
- Yogurt nougat with blueberries and strawberry and Catalan cream nougat: they are two nougats that have been designed to bring two very popular and tasty desserts to this format.
- White chocolate nougat with lemon: with a creamy interior and citrus flavor, this combination of white chocolate and lemon filling will conquer lovers of this fruit.
- Fruit nougat and coconut nougat: lovers of fruit and coconut mixtures can find these two proposals in the Mercadona catalogue, although the fruit nougat is one of the least healthy in its assortment.
Moderate consumption of Christmas sweets
Nougat is the “king” among Christmas sweets, although it is a type of sweet that usually has a large amount of sugar, to the point that, in certain cases, it is its main ingredient. Despite everything, it seems difficult to resist eating them on these important dates.
As a general rule, almond nougat is the healthiest, because, although it is very rich in fat, the vast majority of it comes from this nut, being a fat very similar to what we can find in olive oil. However, you must be aware that it also contains sugar and honey, so you should not consume it excessively, and, in addition, it is important that it is a hard nougat of extra or supreme quality.
Less healthy is chocolate nougat, since it is mainly made with sugar, and also contains cocoa butter, which is saturated fat. In them the nut content is very low and they also have a small amount of puffed rice.
On the other hand, shortbreads and marzipan are made up of 40% almond fat, but they are not recommended either due to their high content of sugar and glucose syrup. Polvorones, wine threads and roscones, for their part, are made very similar in terms of their nutritional values, all of them with sugar, refined flours and saturated fats, which are not very satiating and very rich in cholesterol. Therefore, its consumption should be very moderate.
