The Truth About The 'World's Healthiest' Cookie

How do you get children to eat their vegetables? It's an age-old problem for parents and schools. The CDC reports that nine out of ten children aren't getting their recommended amount of vegetables, and roughly a quarter of the vegetables they do eat are in the form of fried potatoes. If french fries are going to count as a vegetable, then why not a cookie?

No, seriously. British chef Gurpareet Bains has a cookie recipe that includes four servings of vegetables and a full serving of fruit — all packed into a single cookie (via Metro). The recipe for the cookie is a secret, but what Bains calls a "Chikitsa Crumble" tastes like blueberries, and likely includes nuts, spices, pumpkin, carrot, and antioxidant-rich goji berries. The cookie's name is Hindi for "therapy" or "treatment." Bains created the cookie, which he says is just 280 calories and has the same nutrition as five bags of leafy greens, for his "veg-hating" nieces and nephews.

Bains is touting his cookie as the "world's healthiest snack," and who's to argue? The chef reached celebrity status when he unveiled "the healthiest meal in the world," a curry dish that's loaded with cinnamon and, Bains claims, is the antioxidant equivalent of 23 bunches of grapes (via Superfoodly). Bains' inspiration was to combine Western superfoods and Asian spices in traditional Indian dishes. He explains his concept only works in Indian kitchens, where spices will not overpower the food. The concept behind world's healthiest meal was expanded into a bestselling cookbook, Indian Superfood, according to Bains' LinkedIn page. Bains kept the theme going with the world's healthiest Christmas dinner, featuring turkey with all the trimmings and a fruit pudding, taking a meal that typically clocks in at 3,200 calories down to less than 1,000 (via BT.com).

The chef's newest creation, his healthy cookie, has become so popular among family and friends, that he bakes 100 of the gluten-free treats a week, and he's thinking about offering them to the public. When he does, perhaps the people who make the menus at school cafeterias can slip the Chikitsa Crumble where the French fries used to be.