FOOD LABEL READING 101 The things you should REALLY be looking at.
Good health starts with the food that you fuel your body with, and it can get really confusing when you’re in the supermarket to make a healthy choice. All the information is there, but it can be very hard to fully understand what the label is saying, and then how to put that information into context where you understand what who that product is being processed within your body.
Here are some starting points for having a better understanding of how to real food labels and how to make a well informed, healthy decision in terms of what food your are fuelling your body with.
FOCUS ON PER 100g
If you focus on the nutrition per 100g it is much easier to compare products. There is no standard serving size, the manufacturer determines the serving size so if you just look at nutrition per serving size it is very hard to compare products and brands.
Every 3g of sugar equals 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Sounds pretty straight forward. But when you have a look at the nutrition panel of sugars per 100g and see 30g of sugar, that equates to approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar. Many people believe they are making healthy choices, but once you break it down, that muesli bar, the tub of yogurt or that bowl of cereal may not look as healthy. As a general rule I look for products with under 10g of sugar per 100g.
Not all fat is created equal.
Looking at the total fat in a product doesn't give you a good picture of how healthy or unhealthy a product is. You need to look at the type of fat. The panel will show the total fat, the saturated fat and sometimes it may show the trans fat. If the saturated and/or trans fat make up the majority of the total fat then this is a product to steer away from. If for example it has 10g of fat in the product and of that only 1g is saturated, then you know that there are plenty of good fats in the product which are going to be anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective.
Sodium/Salt: Whats the deal?
Sodium is one of the ones that really creeps up on you and unless you have a heart condition, it probably isn't something you are even aware of when eating.
As a rough guide:
Low-sodium food: less than 140 milligrams per serving
Moderate-sodium food: less than 400 milligrams per serving
High-sodium food: more than 400 milligrams per serving
Sodium hides in everything from bread, to sauces, to instant soups. So this is where reading nutrition labels is really important, as bread isn't one that you would consider a ‘salty’ food but the sodium levels can really get quite high.
Pay minimal attention to the new health star rating system.
The health star rating is a new system which has been rolled out in Australia. It rates foods out of 5 stars. The more stars, the healthier it is for you. The aim of the initiative is to make it easier for people to make healthier choices. Unfortunately there are some major flaws when it comes to the system. A supermarket brand of beer battered chips was awarded a 4 star health rating. Whilst some the same brand greek yogurt was awarded a 1.5 health star rating. That is effectively telling people that frozen chips are a better option than plain yogurt. For this reason, pay minimal attention to this area of the nutrition panel.
Artificial colours, preservatives and flavours.
My general rule when it comes to these things is
to avoid avoid avoid. If you cant pronounce the ingredient, or it has a number attached it doesn't need to go in your body. Its as simple as that.
Aspartame is a big one to stay away from. This is an artificial sweetener which is a known toxin to the brain, it will be found in ‘sugar free’ products, so look for ‘zero’ drinks and the like.
