3 Reasons to Always Read Food Labels

Posted by Ben:

Today’s post combines two widely known clichés: knowledge is power and you are what you eat. The thing about clichés is that they become overused often because they hold so much truth. These two stand atop the list of dead-on accurate truisms.

 

1) “Tell me what you eat, I’ll tell you who you are.”
                 ~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

We’ve talked about it again and again here on the blog, but you really are what you eat, or rather you are as healthy as the foods you consume. The problem is many people rely on the front of the box or package to inform them of the nutritional value of that particular food. Unfortunately, you can’t always trust that “information.”  It’s mostly marketing written to persuade you into buying the product. 
 

This problem is bigger than most people realize, and it stems from the complexity of how food labels are written, specifically the nutrition facts label. It’s a whole lot easier to read the “short version” on the front of the box than to breakdown the real info on the back. Think you know how to discern that information accurately? Watch this (somewhat quirky) video and see if you’re doing it right:
 
 

2) Practice Makes Perfect

Check the title of this post again. It’s not 3 Reasons to Read Food Labels, it’s 3 Reasons to Always Read Food Labels. In my other life as a swim coach, I like to use a slightly modified version of this when trying to motivate my athletes: "Practice doesn’t make perfect—perfect practice makes perfect." The only way to get better at anything, including improving your diet is to consistently practice.
 

If you think reading a label only on certain foods (like just in the junk food aisle), you’re missing the mark and potentially paying for it. It has to become a habit, and you have to train yourself to do it. Remember that second cliché: knowledge is power. You need to read every label carefully to make sure you’re not unintentionally consuming anything you shouldn’t. Which brings us to number three...
 

3) Hidden Dangers

You can’t stop after reading the nutrition facts. You also have to read the ingredients list. In fact, the list of ingredients may actually be more important than the nutrition numbers. Certain foods and certain ingredients can have differing effects on different individuals. Just ask someone who is sensitive to gluten or a diabetic.
 

There are (at least) three must-avoid ingredients for which you should always be on the lookout:

• Artificial Colors, Flavorings and Sweeteners:  these cheap, highly processed chemical derivatives have no place in healthy human nutrition. In fact, they have been shown to negatively impact metabolism, and several compounds have also been linked to various illnesses and diseases.
   
• High Fructose Corn Syrup:  this super-cheap (subsidized) alternative to traditional sugar is found in nearly every processed junk food. HFCS is not easily metabolized by the liver and has shown to increase risk of serious diseases like Type-2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer.
   
• Hydrogenated Oils:  a.k.a. shortening, these are some of the nastiest processed ingredients out there. They are industrially created fats (trans fats) that are found in over 40,000 products in the U.S. alone and have consistently been linked to high cholesterol and heart disease.
  (source: shine.yahoo.com)

 
Posted by Ben   

 
Further reading:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/9-ingredients-to-avoid-in-processed-foods-1268429/
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/Tipsheets/readthelabel.htm