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There is a “Dummy” guide for just about everything these days, and I think there should be one for reading food labels as well. Come on, raise your hand if you’ve held up traffic in the grocery isle while trying to figure out how many grams of saturated fat are in one serving of your favorite brand of ice cream? And do you fall into this trap too — reading the list of ingredients and wondering what the heck everything is, or if it is any good for you or not? I do this ALL the time. Luckily, there is help…check out eBrandAid, a website that helps you read the labels, and also compare brands, which is terrific if you also like to compare the ingredients between competing brands. The site also offers free email tips, the “best” brands (i.e, the healthiest options available), and answers to common questions, such as, “what is better, margarine or butter?”
Check it out – it’s free!
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Finally, a better way to get the REAL scoop on your favorite foods’ nutritional content. Label Watch makes it a snap to find out if the number of fat grams in your favorite Starbucks Mocha Latte are within your daily allotment. You can also find out if the data provided on every box in your pantry is accurate or not (and don’t be shocked when you discover it isn’t — remember, no one is really policing this stuff, so you must learn to be your own “truth in nutrition” advocate.)
They also have recipes, health and nutrition advice, and a handy tool for creating a shopping list. And, it is FREE!!!
Check it out… Label Watch
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We’re all well versed in what to look for on food labels:
Calories per serving
Fat percentages
Carbohydrate
Sodium
Vitamins/minerals
At a glance, we’re able to determine whether a food is good choice or not, and whether it will help us meet the daily quota for a particular food group.
Look further down the label to the “ingredients” list, however, and you see a very long list of ingredients – some of which are difficult to pronounce. “What is this stuff?” you may, and should, wonder. That is a very good question. The answer? Lots of stuff: chemicals, additives, flavoring, sweeteners, preservatives, moisture controls, nutritional supplements – some natural, some synthetic, herbicides (yes, I said herbicides), and pesticides. These “additives” do serve a purpose – they help food stay fresh longer, they are emulsifiers, texturizers, neutralizers, buffers, bleaching agents, clarifying agents…the list goes on. My point — there are many additives in food we regularly consume that our bodies don’t want, or need.
So how do you avoid consuming these food additives? Eat fresh. Buy and eat foods that are wholesome and natural (fresh fruits and vegetables) and organic, and try to avoid pre-packaged foods containing high levels of hydrogenated oils, nitrates and nitrites, and MSG.
If you see an ingredient listed on a food label and want to know what it is, find out on www.nutritiondata.com. This site lists most food ingredients in their database, and also has tools for analyzing recipes, so plug in your favorite dish and find out what you’re really eating. Another super site is www.foodadditivesworld.com — here you’ll be able to look up the ingredient in questions and find out other names for that ingredient, as well as what it is made of. This site also has information about the glycemic index and the effects of processing on food.