How To Read Food Labels

FEBRUARY 12, 2017 19:56

Let's talk about how to read food labels, as well as how to make healthy choices when buying food and drink products at the super market. It can be a daunting task and often making the right choice can be difficult.

I would like to share with you a few simple tips that will make choosing the right food and drink products much easier.

Tip 1.

Ingredients are listed in descending order, from most to least abundant.
Suppose you buy a jug of apple juice and on the ingredient label you see water followed by sugar as the first two ingredients. This means that water is the most abundant ingredient followed by sugar which means that the apple juice is primarily made up of water and sugar. Now if sugar was the last or second to last ingredient listed that would mean that the sugar is one of the least abundant ingredients, which is good. Anytime sugar is listed as one of the first three ingredients it is best to stay away. When buying juice what you want to see is water followed by fruit juice (apple, orange grape etc.) The best juice products will have sugar listed last or near last or not at all.

So remember all food and drink products have their ingredients listed from most to least abundant.

Tip 2.
If you can't pronounce it don't buy it.

Nowadays food and drink products are filled with all kinds of harmful and needless chemical additives and preservatives. Let's say you pick something off the shelf at your local supermarket and when reading the ingredients you notice all kinds of strange names listed such as, gellan gum, aspartame , monosodium glutamate or any other of the countless hard to pronounce additives found in our food and drink, then it is best to stay away. Chances are you can find a similar product for around the same price without having to ingest harmful chemicals. I have read countless studies about each of the commonly used chemical food additives and there is absolutely nothing in them that suggests human beings should be putting them in their bodies. I would strongly suggest to everyone that they take the time to look up and research at least a few of the most commonly used chemical additives, it will be eye opening to one and all.

So remember, if you can't pronounce it don't buy it.

Tip 3.

Less is better.

Many food and drink products today are made up of an exorbitant amount of ingredients. Often the simplest foods such as cottage cheese or a can of soup end up having an unnaturally high number of ingredients. It is completely ludicrous for something such as a can of soup to be made up of 30 ingredients. There is really no reason for a food as simple as a can of soup to have that many ingredients. More than likely it is filled with a variety of chemical additives and preservatives. Simple foods should have a simple amount of ingredients. This is often a key indicator of whether or not a food product is good. If you see a large amount of ingredients listed, start reading and if there are numerous ingredients that you can't pronounce you should put it back on the shelf.

So remember Less is better.

The importance of understanding how to read food labels cannot be overstated. This knowledge will allow you to make an informed decision about what you put in your body. With some practice you will be able to pick a product off the shelf look at the ingredients and instantly know if it is worth buying and consuming. So remember to follow these three simple rules and you will find making good healthy choices at the supermarket much easier.

1. Ingredients are listed from most to least abundant

2. If you can't pronounce it don't buy it

3. less is better

I hope you have found this information both informative and helpful.

Happy Eating!