A handful of studies have indicated that slightly more than half of Americans actually read the nutrition facts and ingredients lists on processed foods while at the grocery store. It is very unlikely that you are lucky enough to eat processed foods without reading ingredient labels while eating healthy, nutritious foods. With more than 35% of U.S. citizens at least 35 pounds above a healthy weight, I'm not surprised so few people actually read what's in their food.
Try finding an ingredients list on a package. It's always on the back, side, or bottom. It's never on the front. Shouldn't it be? That's what you're buying. Not their marketing claims of "all natural" or "heart healthy", which often mean very little and lack government oversight. This is by design. The food companies don't want you thinking about what chemicals are in your food or how much fat, salt, and sugar they are loaded with. They spend millions of dollars lobbying against your best interest and information that could help you be healthier.
The FDA mandates the use of the nutritional panel on all food packaging. It alerts consumers to macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in their food. It also provides information on serving size and the percentage each ingredient makes up of the government's recommended daily amount. The first order of business when reading food labels is to make sure the serving sizes are close to the amount you typically eat. If you are going to eat five helpings, those seven grams of fat or 200 calories, then you need to adjust the numbers you're reading.
There are some issues you need to be aware of. First, these percentages only relate to a 2,000 calorie diet. You need to figure out your RDA's based on your own healthy calorie intake, not the average person's intake. Furthermore, the RDA percentage is often mistaken for a breakdown of the content of the food's nutrients. It is not. A product may show a 10% number for fat, but it could be over 60% or more of the food's nutritional value (or lack there of).
When looking at the actual ingredients list, the number of ingredients is often a good clue if an item is clean or not, although it' not a fool-proof method. You certainly want to eat as close to whole foods as possible, but if there are ten ingredients and they are all organic with no chemicals, it's cleaner than something with three ingredients that have preservatives or a sweetener. The ingredients are also listed in size order. The greatest quantity is listed first down to the smallest.
With the growth in usage of processed foods, due to convenience and lower costs, there are so many chemicals in our food today, often ones the average person knows nothing about. It pays to do your homework about every ingredient you ingest. If you're in a bind, a good rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, can't pronounce it, and you or your spouse wouldn't buy it separately to make a home-cooked meal, it's probably best to avoid.
The marketing claims on the front of a packaged food are typically worthless. Although some of them are straightforward and have oversight, like USDA Organic or Non-GMO Verified, most others have significant issues. They are either meaningless like the "all natural" food claim, which can be filled with chemicals and additives or their is no oversight. If you want to eat healthy, it pays to forget these claims or understand their shortcomings, and read your food labels.
Try finding an ingredients list on a package. It's always on the back, side, or bottom. It's never on the front. Shouldn't it be? That's what you're buying. Not their marketing claims of "all natural" or "heart healthy", which often mean very little and lack government oversight. This is by design. The food companies don't want you thinking about what chemicals are in your food or how much fat, salt, and sugar they are loaded with. They spend millions of dollars lobbying against your best interest and information that could help you be healthier.
The FDA mandates the use of the nutritional panel on all food packaging. It alerts consumers to macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in their food. It also provides information on serving size and the percentage each ingredient makes up of the government's recommended daily amount. The first order of business when reading food labels is to make sure the serving sizes are close to the amount you typically eat. If you are going to eat five helpings, those seven grams of fat or 200 calories, then you need to adjust the numbers you're reading.
There are some issues you need to be aware of. First, these percentages only relate to a 2,000 calorie diet. You need to figure out your RDA's based on your own healthy calorie intake, not the average person's intake. Furthermore, the RDA percentage is often mistaken for a breakdown of the content of the food's nutrients. It is not. A product may show a 10% number for fat, but it could be over 60% or more of the food's nutritional value (or lack there of).
When looking at the actual ingredients list, the number of ingredients is often a good clue if an item is clean or not, although it' not a fool-proof method. You certainly want to eat as close to whole foods as possible, but if there are ten ingredients and they are all organic with no chemicals, it's cleaner than something with three ingredients that have preservatives or a sweetener. The ingredients are also listed in size order. The greatest quantity is listed first down to the smallest.
With the growth in usage of processed foods, due to convenience and lower costs, there are so many chemicals in our food today, often ones the average person knows nothing about. It pays to do your homework about every ingredient you ingest. If you're in a bind, a good rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, can't pronounce it, and you or your spouse wouldn't buy it separately to make a home-cooked meal, it's probably best to avoid.
The marketing claims on the front of a packaged food are typically worthless. Although some of them are straightforward and have oversight, like USDA Organic or Non-GMO Verified, most others have significant issues. They are either meaningless like the "all natural" food claim, which can be filled with chemicals and additives or their is no oversight. If you want to eat healthy, it pays to forget these claims or understand their shortcomings, and read your food labels.
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