Each and every day, we consume products that have mandatory food labels - Nutrition Facts. These labels are designed to inform the consumer of the components of the foods that they are consuming.
The Nutrition Facts are based off of a 2000 calorie diet. A calorie is a quantity of energy that is derived from either a gram of fat, protein, or carbohydrate. Many people are so involved in counting calories that they forget to recognize nutritional content. One could consume 2000 calories and easily not receive any nutritional content; the body, hungry for nutrients, will request more food - the individual will oblige and consume more food. The result - an overfed and undernourished individual. Thus, it is important to know how to read food labels to ensure one receives adequate nutrition.
First, begin with the serving size. If the serving size is extremely small, chances are the manufacturer of the product wants the calorie, carbohydrate, total fat, and protein content to appear reasonable. To do so, they make the serving size unreasonably small.
Second, look at the ingredients. This is where one can obtain the best information in regards to the nutritional content of their food.
- Look for ingredients that have recognizable names - chemicals are long, difficult words and are added for flavor enhancement or as a preservative. These chemicals create long-term toxic effects on the body and on one's health.
- Ensure the presence of whole grains. Whole grains are capable of producing more grain when planted and are capable of producing valuable nutrition and health. Fragmented and processed grains (such as flour) do not produce any more grains if planted since they lack each vital element of whole grains. Remember, if flour and water are used to make paper-mache, what do flour and water do inside of you?
- Avoid artificial colors and flavors. Would you eat an apple made in a laboratory? Then why would you want to consume and artificial flavor or color? Artificial colors have a USDA certified tag FD&C - Food, Drug, and Cosmetic. These colors are approved for use in foods, drugs, and cosmetics. Many of these artificial colors have been linked to cancer.
- Avoid trans fats - they are poor for your health and do not occur in nature. Trans fats are for the benefit of the manufacturer because it increases food "shelf-life". Amounts of food content are permitted to be rounded down. For example, a product can have 0.49 grams of trans fat and still advertise that they do not contain any trans fat. The label will read 0 grams of trans fat! To avoid trans fats, do not consume any food that has "partially hydrogenated" oil listed in the ingredients.
- A "fully hydrogenated" fat is a manufactured saturated fat. These should be avoided as they do not occur in nature and the fat has been altered from its original form.
- Observe the sodium content. Sodium comes from salt and is a natural preservative - beef jerky preserves meat since the high quantity of salt prevents bacterial growth. Foods high in sodium are poor for your nutrition and good for shelf-life. Foods that are grown naturally are high in potassium; search for foods that have a low sodium and high potassium content.
- Avoid all artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup. Artificial sweeteners are chemically manufactured and are a toxic overload to the body. Accumulations of this chemical overload will lead to future health conditions. High fructose corn syrup is an ingredient that is inexpensive and very sweet. Unfortunately, fructose does not need a carrier to enter into a cell resulting in a “sugar spike” and a rapid accumulation of fat as the body converts the sugar to fat for storage.
At first, the practice of reading food labels can be a daunting experience, but with practice it well become easier and your health will thank you for it.
